The End of Specialization? How AI Shapes Modern Dev Teams | Vercel’s Lee Robinson
Is front-end vs. back-end an antiquated way to structure engineering teams? With AI augmenting skills, a new model is emerging: the product engineer.This week, Andrew sits down with Lee Robinson, VP of Product at Vercel to crack open the future of the web. As a respected educator and voice in the webdev community (check out his YouTube!), Lee shares his unique perspective on building both cutting-edge tools and high-performing teams.As the VP of Product, Lee charts the evolution of developer roles and illustrates for us the rise of "product engineers" who own features end-to-end. Learn how AI tools are not just augmenting specialists but enabling designers, PMs, and founders to build "personal software." We also cover changing team dynamics and get Lee's advice on navigating the hiring process in the AI era, including: why personalization is key for candidates, how managers can spot authenticity (hint: AI-generated cover letters are obvious!), and why building in public is critical for career growth today.Check out:Beyond Copilot: What’s Next for AI in Software DevelopmentSurvey: Discover Your AI Collaboration StyleFollow the hosts:Follow BenFollow AndrewFollow today's guest(s):Website: leerob.comYouTube: @leerobLinkedIn: Lee RobinsonVercel: vercel.comNext.js: nextjs.orgv0 by Vercel: v0.dev Referenced in today's show:This week in social, we noticed: AIDuolingo has an AI mandate tooGoogle Just Launched an AI-Powered Duolingo AlternativeIntel CEO announces layoffs, restructuring, $1.5 billion in cost reductions, expanded return to office mandate | Tom's HardwareSupport the show: Subscribe to our Substack Leave us a review Subscribe on YouTube Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn Offers: Learn about Continuous Merge with gitStream Get your DORA Metrics free forever
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54:42
AI Gets Eyes and Ears | LiveKit’s Russ d’Sa
We've spent decades teaching ourselves to communicate with computers via text and clicks. Now, computers are learning to perceive the world like us: through sight and sound. What happens when software needs to sense, interpret, and act in real-time using voice and vision?This week, Andrew sits down with Russ d'Sa, Co-founder and CEO of LiveKit, whose technology acts as the crucial infrastructure enabling machines to interact using real-time voice and vision, impacting everything from ChatGPT to critical 911 responses.Explore the transition from text-based protocols to rich, real-time data streams. Russ discusses LiveKit's role in this evolution, the profound implications of AI gaining sensory input, the trajectory from co-pilots to agents, and the unique hurdles engineers face when building for a world beyond simple text transfers.Check out:AI Code Reviews: An Engineering Leader’s Survival GuideSurvey: Discover Your AI Collaboration StyleFollow the hosts:Follow BenFollow AndrewFollow today's guest(s):Website: livekit.ioGitHub: github.com/livekitX: x.com/livekitRuss: x.com/dsaReferenced in today's show:The Rise of Slopsquatting: How AI Hallucinations Are Fueling a New Class of Supply Chain AttacksHas the VSCode C/C++ Extension been blocked?OpenAI tells judge it would buy Chrome from GoogleChain-of-Vibes | Pete Hodgson Seattle crosswalk signals with deepfake Bezos audio may have been hacked with just a cellphone Support the show: Subscribe to our Substack Leave us a review Subscribe on YouTube Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn Offers: Learn about Continuous Merge with gitStream Get your DORA Metrics free forever
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53:33
The Shift to Agent-Driven API Consumption | Speakeasy’s Sagar Batchu
Think building killer APIs like Stripe or Twilio is purely a technical feat? Think again.This week, we dive into why crafting successful APIs is fundamentally an organizational challenge, demanding internal excellence long before code is deployed. Sagar Batchu, co-founder and CEO of Speakeasy, joins us to unpack the crucial role of ownership, design principles, and why even internal APIs benefit from treating them like first-class products. Discover how Conway's Law dictates your API's fate and why achieving that coveted developer experience starts with your company's structure.Getting these foundations right is more critical than ever, as the landscape now faces a dramatic shift with the rise of LLMs and agentic AI. This potentially multiplies API usage and introduces the concept of "Agent Experience" (AX), demanding even greater rigor around clear standards, documentation, and metrics like "Time to First 200." Sagar also explores the emerging Model Context Protocol (MCP) and explains why focusing on developer productivity today prepares you for the AI-driven future of tomorrow.Check out:AI Features Demo: The Future of Productivity Is AI-DrivenSurvey: Discover Your AI Collaboration StyleFollow the hosts:Follow BenFollow AndrewFollow today's guest(s):Website: speakeasy.comLinkedIn: SpeakeasyX: @speakeasydevReferenced in today's show:It costs nothing to be polite unless you're talking to ChatGPT - then it costs tens of millionsAnnouncing the Agent2Agent Protocol (A2A) - Google Developers Blog A Deep Dive Into MCP and the Future of AI ToolingSupport the show: Subscribe to our Substack Leave us a review Subscribe on YouTube Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn Offers: Learn about Continuous Merge with gitStream Get your DORA Metrics free forever
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How Marketing Ruined Shift Left | Semgrep’s Tanya Janca
When it comes to securing software, most developers feel like they're playing catch-up instead of setting the rules.Tanya Janca (SheHacksPurple), author of "Alice and Bob Learn Secure Coding," brings her 28 years of IT and security expertise—spanning counter-terrorism to enterprise training—to Dev Interrupted. She unpacks the common pitfalls teams face when security is treated as an afterthought, highlighting the developer frustration of being held accountable for security without the tools or knowledge needed to succeed.Explore how transforming security from a final gate into an ongoing practice saves money, reduces conflict, and builds better software through clear requirements and true developer empowerment. Tanya provides concrete advice for developers and leaders on creating internal knowledge libraries, fostering continuous learning habits, and critically evaluating AI-generated code to ensure it meets security standards. Speaking of AI's growing role, we're curious how it's reshaping workflows across the industry. Share your own experiences with AI adoption by taking our quick survey to discover your spot on the adoption graph (and what you can do to level up).Check out:Beyond Copilot: Gaining the AI AdvantageSurvey: Discover Your AI Collaboration StyleFollow the hosts:Follow BenFollow AndrewFollow today's guest(s):Website: SheHacksPurpleLinkedIn: Tanya JancaBook: Alice and Bob Learn Secure CodingReferenced in today's show:Shopify CEO says staffers need to prove jobs can’t be done by AI before asking for more headcountAnthropic flips the script on AI in education: Claude’s Learning Mode makes students do the thinkingCelebrate 50 years of Microsoft with the company's original source codeSupport the show: Subscribe to our Substack Leave us a review Subscribe on YouTube Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn Offers: Learn about Continuous Merge with gitStream Get your DORA Metrics free forever
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48:52
How to Build AI Workflows You Can Trust | Infactory’s Brooke Hartley Moy
Is your company rushing headlong into AI, only to find it's a 'square peg in a round hole'?This week, Andrew tackles the critical issue of building trust in AI systems with Brooke Hartley Moy, CEO and co-founder of Infactory.Brooke, with her experience at companies like Google and Samsung, cuts through the hype and reveals the biggest misconceptions businesses have about AI. We dive into the 'black box' problem, the importance of high-quality data, and why not all AI is created equal.From seating Matthew McConaughey in the rain to high-stakes medical decisions, we explore the crucial role of domain expertise and the need to move beyond LLM-centric thinking. If you're an engineering leader grappling with AI implementation, this episode is your essential guide to building trustworthy and impactful AI systems.Check out:The Future of Productivity Is AI-DrivenFollow the hosts:Follow BenFollow AndrewFollow today's guest(s):infactory.aiBrooke Hartley MoyReferenced in today's show:OpenAI declares AI race “over” if training on copyrighted works isn’t fair useExploring Generative AI - Birgitta BöckelerAI is "tearing apart" companies, survey findsSupport the show: Subscribe to our Substack Leave us a review Subscribe on YouTube Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn Offers: Learn about Continuous Merge with gitStream Get your DORA Metrics free forever
The Dev Interrupted Podcast is the premier podcast for software engineering leaders. Hosts Dan Lines, Ben Lloyd Pearson, and Andrew Zigler invite expert guests from around the world to explore strategy and day-to-day topics ranging from dev team metrics to accelerating delivery. Join us weekly for new episodes.
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