When Reality Drifts

Jan 16, 2026

Nick Gerace, Engineering Manager at System Initiative, shares insights on the cutting edge of infrastructure management and AI-native tooling. He discusses how System Initiative's imperative model contrasts with traditional IaC, emphasizing that Git isn’t the ultimate source of truth. The conversation explores the role of AI in automation, Nick's advocacy for domain-driven design in Rust, and the ethical implications of AI on industries like music. He encourages curiosity and embracing new tools amidst the evolution of software development.

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ANECDOTE

Networked Entry Into System Initiative

Nick Gerace found System Initiative via Twitter and joined after networking with founders and contributors.
That social interaction plus technical contributions accelerated his move from NetApp to startups and then to SI.

INSIGHT

Digital Twins Over Declarative State

System Initiative models infrastructure as a one-to-one digital twin on an immutable graph rather than using declarative files like HCL.
That design enables an imperative, bidirectional workflow where the system can surface real-world drift and let users choose how to resolve it.

ADVICE

Discover Before You Migrate

Do discover your existing cloud resources in System Initiative before switching so you can model current infrastructure without immediate migration.
Then use change sets to contend with drift and decide whether to enforce the model or accept real-world changes.

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Nick Gerace, Engineering Manager at System Initiative, joins Kris and Matt to explore what infrastructure management looks like beyond Terraform. Nick walks us through how System Initiative differs from traditional IaC, why git isn't really your source of truth, and how the company pivoted to AI-first tooling. The conversation turns to Claude Code and MCP tools before landing on a nuanced discussion about distributed systems, and how the messy, eventual consistency of real life mirrors the systems we build.

As always, we've got supporter content! This week that includes deep dives into System Initiative's architecture evolution from Postgres to a custom graph database, Nick's passionate defense of domain-driven design in Rust monorepos ("if I see a util directory, I go a little nuts"), why AI won't replace musicians (or you), and a spicy take on AI, capitalism, and power structures. Not a supporter yet? Fix that today by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

If you prefer to watch this episode, you can view it on YouTube.

This week's episode of Break continues the conversation. Nick sticks around as the hosts compare audio engineering backgrounds, discuss the IC to manager journey, and take a hard turn into hardware—dual 3090 TIs with NVLink, the case for water cooling, Kris's absurd home lab, and everyone's temptation toward Framework Desktops and Mac Studios. Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show/24.

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Table of Contents:

Prologue (00:00:00)
Chapter 1: Meet Nick Gerace (00:01:21)
Chapter 2: The Power of Networking (00:05:38)
Chapter 3: What is System Initiative? (00:14:54)
Chapter 4: Terraform vs System Initiative (00:19:58)
Chapter 5: Git Isn't Your Source of Truth (00:25:47)
Chapter 6: SI Architecture: From Postgres to Graph [Extended] (00:34:47)
Chapter 7: Rust Monorepos & Domain-Driven Design [Extended] (00:35:10)
Chapter 10: AI Won't Replace Musicians (or You) [Extended] (00:35:34)
Chapter 12: AI, Capitalism & Power Structures [Extended] (00:36:03)
Chapter 8: The AI Pivot at System Initiative (00:37:14)
Chapter 9: Claude Code & MCP Tools (00:47:30)
Chapter 11: Distributed Systems Are Just Real Life (00:54:13)
Chapter 13: Data Centers, Water & Nuance (01:00:20)
Epilogue (01:08:11)

Hosts

Kris Brandow - Host
Matthew Sanabria - Host
Nick Gerace - Guest

Socials:

(00:00) - Prologue
(01:21) - Chapter 1: Meet Nick Gerace
(05:38) - Chapter 2: The Power of Networking
(14:54) - Chapter 3: What is System Initiative?
(19:58) - Chapter 4: Terraform vs System Initiative
(25:47) - Chapter 5: Git Isn't Your Source of Truth
(34:47) - Chapter 6: SI Architecture: From Postgres to Graph [Extended]
(35:10) - Chapter 7: Rust Monorepos & Domain-Driven Design [Extended]
(35:34) - Chapter 10: AI Won't Replace Musicians (or You) [Extended]
(36:03) - Chapter 12: AI, Capitalism & Power Structures [Extended]
(37:14) - Chapter 8: The AI Pivot at System Initiative
(47:30) - Chapter 9: Claude Code & MCP Tools
(54:13) - Chapter 11: Distributed Systems Are Just Real Life
(01:00:20) - Chapter 13: Data Centers, Water & Nuance
(01:08:11) - Epilogue