Behind the Docs

Jeff Cross, Senior Manager of Technical Writing at Arctic Wolf, who has led complex migrations and carved out translated content after acquisitions. He talks about documenting tricky third‑party security integrations. He explains running a DITA migration with a small team using AI, tackling translation edge cases, and fixing high-impact docs like a tricky sign‑in checkbox.

Dachary Carey, a technical writer and documentation strategist at MongoDB who created the Agent-Friendly Documentation Spec, discusses how AI agents struggle to read docs. She highlights surprising agent failure modes, the importance of formats like llms.txt, serving markdown, and making docs discoverable to machines. Practical steps and tools like afdocs are covered.

Manny Silva, Head of Documentation at Skyflow and creator of Doc Detective, is a systems-driven technical communicator who builds automated doc workflows. He discusses turning Slack threads into structured drafts, enforcing style and tests with AI, and testing docs like code with Doc Detective. Short, practical takes on doc ops, agentic tooling, and keeping documentation accurate as products change.

Sara Feldman, Director of Member Engagement at the Consortium for Service Innovation and former technical writer, champions knowledge-driven customer experience. She discusses Knowledge-Centered Service, intelligent swarming for faster routing across teams, practical AI rollouts focused on outcomes, and why trusted, structured knowledge and reducing customer friction matter more than AI-first thinking.

In this episode of Behind the Docs, Ren sits down with Melanie Denise Davis — journalist-turned-technical-communication leader, AI Wrangler, and founder of Dragonfly Diva Docs.Melanie’s career spans the evolution of modern technology itself: from punch cards and mainframes to structured content and AI. She shares what it was like entering tech before technical writing was even a defined profession, helping shape the field alongside early STC efforts, and now contributing to the ISO standard defining technical communication management.Together, they explore:✨ Why technical communicators are far more than “glorified typesetters”✨ The difference between writing words and engineering information✨ Why structured content is essential for AI success✨ How technical writers are the natural curators of generative AI✨ The importance of allies, mentorship, and resilience as a woman of color in tech✨ Why clarity — not grammar — is the true hill to die onMelanie also discusses her role with The Content Wrangler, her work in the upcoming Women in Technology anthology, and why this may finally be the moment technical communicators step fully into their power.If you care about clarity, collaboration, and the future of AI-ready content, this episode is packed with wisdom you won’t want to miss.Helpful LinksMelanie on LinkedinDragonfly Diva DocsWomen in Technical Communication

In this episode of Behind the Docs, Patrick Bosek interviews Dave Koelmeyer, the Content Operations Manager at IDEXX. Dave shares his unexpected journey from IT support to becoming a professional technical communicator.He discusses the importance of consistency in documentation, scaling of technical content using structured content and a CCMS, and the significant role of advocacy and education to help colleagues understand the benefits of high-quality self-help content.They also touch on the future of technical content with the integration of AI and the importance of understanding business strategy and stakeholder engagement.This episode is ideal for those interested in technical communication, content management, and the evolving role of AI in documentation.

In this special episode of Behind the Docs, Ren sits down with Heretto’s own Jarod Sickler — philosopher-turned-structured-content expert, and one of the most genuinely thoughtful voices in the documentation world.Jarod shares how a grad-school paper and a chance encounter in a Rochester coffee shop set him on an unexpected path into technical documentation (and eventually into Heretto). He opens up about the early days of learning DITA from scratch, the realities of content conversion, and why “doing life with a weight vest on” actually makes him a stronger practitioner.Together, Ren and Jarod dig into:The moment documentation shifted from “supplemental” to “part of the product”Why structured content is seeing a resurgence thanks to AIWhat new teams should actually measure before adopting a CCMSCommon misconceptions about content conversionThe coolest emerging trends in docs and in-app helpThe joy of reuse, personalization, and helping teams finally break the copy-paste cycleIf you love docs, workflows, or a good origin story that starts in a coffee shop, this one’s for you.

In this episode of Behind the Docs, we sit down with Sandie Markle, content engineer and CEO of Blueberri, whose journey through food tech, structured content, and accidental content engineering is one of the most fascinating we’ve ever featured.Sandie shares how a career pivot from finance to Shanghai led her into the world of recipe platforms, shopability, metadata, localization, and the early foundations of structured content—long before she even knew what the term meant. We talk about the realities of scaling content across platforms, building teams from scratch, navigating startup chaos, and how her experience helping home cooks ultimately shaped her philosophy on documentation and user experience.We also dig into her new venture, Blueberri, where she helps food tech companies and creators turn content into scalable systems, and her upcoming book Create Once, Share Everywhere, aimed at bridging the massive gap between creators and technology.If you love content ops, structured content, or just great stories about people who carve their own path into tech, this one’s for you.Find Sandie on LinkedIn or join her book's early reader group!

In this episode, we welcome Laura Minaie to Behind the Docs!Laura recently joined our team and brings a fascinating journey from editing training documents at Chili's to becoming a content strategist in the tech documentation world. She shares her 12-year career at Citrix/LogMeIn, discussing how she discovered technical writing, led a major DITA migration, and learned crucial lessons about proving the value of tech docs in organizations.Laura also discusses the complex relationship between marketing and technical communications, the importance of structured content, and why future-proofing your documentation is essential.

Episode OverviewJoin host Patrick Bosek in conversation with Karissa Van Baulen, a customer education professional with over a decade of experience in technical communication and knowledge management. Karissa shares her journey from customer support at startup Hotjar through building education programs that saved millions annually.Guest BioKarissa Van Baulen has spent 11+ years in technical communication and customer education. She started at Hotjar as employee #23 and grew with the company through its acquisition, eventually becoming their Knowledge Base Owner. Her passion lies in knowledge management, documentation, and creating self-service experiences that genuinely help users.Connect With KarissaFind Karissa Van Baulen on LinkedIn to continue the conversation about customer education and knowledge management.