The InfoQ Podcast

Elena Samuylova, Co-founder and CEO of Evidently AI, shares her expertise in LLM-powered application evaluation. She highlights the importance of distinguishing between model and system evaluations. Elena introduces the concept of using an LLM as a judge, discussing its benefits and limitations. She emphasizes the workflow for LLM evaluation, including iterative checks and stress testing. Furthermore, she advises on designing custom LLM judges and stresses the significance of team roles in this process, encouraging developers to adapt their skills as the field evolves.

Brian Fox, CTO and co-founder of Sonatype and a key figure in open-source projects like Maven, dives into the implications of the EU Cyber Resilience Act. He discusses the hidden risks it poses to open-source maintainers, highlighting potential legal liabilities and sustainability challenges for registries. Fox reveals how major cloud providers account for much of Maven Central's traffic and suggests innovative solutions like repository managers and cost-structures to tackle inefficiencies in software consumption. His insights are critical for navigating today’s complex software landscape.

Savannah Kounowski, Managing Director at IDEO, explores how human-centered design influences technology, emphasizing the need for simpler interfaces in generative AI adoption. Daniel Dominguez, managing partner at SunX Labs, discusses the importance of on-device models for privacy and cost. They delve into the rise of multimodal AI, everyday robotics, and the role of language models in robotic planning. Insights include AI's impact on software development, the shift to no-code platforms, and the need for trust in AI products.

In this conversation, Suhail Patel, a Principal Engineer at Monzo, discusses the rapid scaling of the fintech platform and the core infrastructure. He shares insights on the evolution of microservices and the importance of automation in supporting growth. Patel emphasizes securing buy-in from teams to showcase true platform value and the necessity of minimum viable architectures. He also dives into team dynamics, highlighting communication's role in leadership and the integration of AI in enhancing engineering practices.

In a captivating conversation, Justin Sheehy, Chief Architect at Akamai, shares insights on making software safer and more resilient. He discusses the futility of root cause analysis and stresses the importance of a shared language for incident discussions. The need for malleable and observable software is highlighted, along with the understanding that all technology decisions are inherently business-oriented. Sheehy also addresses how AI's rise complicates engineers' abilities to handle production incidents, making resilience even more crucial.

Marcin Grzejszczak, a key player in the Spring and Micrometer open source teams, shares insights on observability in distributed systems. He discusses the shift from monolithic applications to microservices, emphasizing the crucial role of monitoring. The conversation explores the evolution of observability tools, like OpenTelemetry, and how Micrometer enhances metrics collection. Marcin also addresses the business implications of observability practices, including cost considerations and the necessity of effective context propagation for seamless service communication.

Andrew Lamb, a Staff Engineer at Influx Data with extensive experience in Rust and low-level systems, discusses why Rust is ideal for low-latency development. He shares insights on Rust's memory safety and productivity benefits compared to traditional languages like C/C++. The conversation touches on challenges with cloud integration, emphasizing the importance of caching strategies for real-time data access. Lamb also highlights collaboration in database development using the FDAP stack and the role of tools like 'rustfmt' in enhancing code quality.

In this engaging conversation, Geoffroy Couprie, a Rust engineer at ProtonMail, and Laurent Doguin, Director of Developer Relations at Cashbase, delve into the cutting-edge world of WebAssembly. They discuss the evolution of Wasm from a web technology to a pivotal server-side solution, emphasizing its advantages in application security and isolation. The duo shares strategies to optimize virtual machine boot times to just one millisecond and examines the challenges of integrating Wasm with Kubernetes, exploring its ongoing evolution in the tech ecosystem.

Asgaut Mjølne Söderbom and Ola Hast, seasoned developers from Sparebank1, dive into their transformative journey towards continuous deployment and pair programming. They discuss the innovative 'waste clock' method for pinpointing process inefficiencies and emphasize the cultural shifts necessary for agile success. By sharing their insights on tackling challenges in a Kubernetes environment, they highlight the importance of collaboration, trust, and maintaining code quality while adopting a decentralized team structure. Discover their fresh approach to agile, free from traditional task management tools like Jira.

Join experts Marcus Osterdijk, an AWS hero and Chief Technologist at Adesso, Catherine Jarmol, a privacy guru in data systems, and Eric Steiger, a serial tech founder specializing in AI, as they tackle crucial topics facing European developers. They explore the balance between US and European cloud services, discussing data sovereignty and privacy challenges. The conversation also highlights innovative architectural designs like local-first principles, urging a shift towards new strategies in cloud computing. Prepare for insightful previews of the upcoming InfoQ Dev Summit in Munich!