Lessons from Twilio’s multi-year platform consolidation

In this episode, host Laura Tacho speaks with Jesse Adametz, Senior Engineering Leader on the Developer Platform at Twilio. Jesse is leading Twilio’s multi-year platform consolidation, unifying tech stacks across large acquisitions and driving migrations at enterprise scale. He discusses platform adoption, the limits of Kubernetes, and how Twilio balances modernization with pragmatism. The conversation also explores treating developer experience as a product, offering “change as a service,” and Twilio’s evolving approach to AI adoption and platform support.

Where to find Jesse Adametz: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesseadametz/

• X: https://x.com/jesseadametz

• Website: https://www.jesseadametz.com/

Where to find Laura Tacho:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauratacho/

• X: https://x.com/rhein_wein

• Website: https://lauratacho.com/

• Laura’s course (Measuring Engineering Performance and AI Impact) https://lauratacho.com/developer-productivity-metrics-course

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Intro

(01:30) Jesse’s background and how he ended up at Twilio

(04:00) What SRE teaches leaders and ICs

(06:06) Where Twilio started the post-acquisition integration

(08:22) Why platform migrations can’t follow a straight-line plan

(10:05) How Twilio balances multiple strategies for migrations

(12:30) The human side of change: advocacy, training, and alignment

(17:46) Treating developer experience as a first-class product

(21:40) What “change as a service” looks like in practice

(24:57) A mandateless approach: creating voluntary adoption through value

(28:50) How Twilio demonstrates value with metrics and reviews

(30:41) Why Kubernetes wasn’t the right fit for all Twilio workloads 

(36:12) How Twilio decides when to expose complexity

(38:23) Lessons from Kubernetes hype and how AI demands more experimentation

(44:48) Where AI fits into Twilio’s platform strategy

(49:45) How guilds fill needs the platform team hasn’t yet met

(51:17) The future of platform in centralizing knowledge and standards

(54:32) How Twilio evaluates tools for fit, pricing, and reliability 

(57:53) Where Twilio applies AI in reliability, and where Jesse is skeptical

(59:26) Laura’s vibe-coded side project built on Twilio

(1:01:11) How external lessons shape Twilio’s approach to platform support and docs

Referenced:

• The AI Measurement Framework
• Experian
• Transact-SQL - Wikipedia
• Twilio
• Kubernetes
• Copilot
• Claude Code
• Windsurf
• Cursor
• Bedrock