The MonkCast

Jennifer Marandola, Technical Writing Manager at Cribl, joins RedMonk's Kelly Fitzpatrick for a discussion on the evolving role of technical writing in an era of AI copilots and assistants. She shares insights on how her team collaborates with Cribl's AI team to enhance documentation, making it more accessible and effective for both human users and AI tools. The discussion also covers the changing nature of user queries, the importance of clear documentation, and advice for aspiring technical writers navigating this new landscape. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/03/10/rmc-making-docs-better-for-ai-and-humans-with-jennifer-marandola/

Dr. Cat Hicks, a psychologist specializing in software teams, joins the conversation to highlight the crucial link between psychology and technological innovation. She discusses her research on code review anxiety and the concept of "AI Skill Threat" impacting developers. Dr. Hicks emphasizes the need for inclusivity in STEM and the importance of a scientifically informed culture in software development. She also shares insights from her writing journey and her upcoming book on the psychology of software teams, reflecting on cultural challenges within the tech industry.

In this RedMonk Conversation, Kedasha Kerr, Developer Advocate and Technical Content Creator at GitHub, and Andrea Griffiths, Senior Developer Advocate at GitHub, chat about the importance of educational content for developers, language accessibility, community engagement, the value of open source, and the role of AI in learning, with Rachel Stephens, Research Director at RedMonk. They discuss the need for foundational skills in programming and the importance of finding supportive communities for self-taught learners. This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by GitHub.

In this conversation, Jason Lengstorf shares his journey from aspiring rock star to tech media mogul with Kate Holterhoff, senior industry analyst at RedMonk. Jason digs into his experiences at IBM, Gatsby, and Netlify—and he doesn't hold back. Jason discusses the challenges of navigating corporate structures, the importance of community in open source projects, and the impact of venture capital on innovation. He also reflects on the current state of GraphQL and front-end frameworks including Next.js, Astro, and Gatsby. In this conversation, Jason outlines the importance of long-term planning in leadership, the challenges executives face in maintaining focus, and the value of doing the 'boring' work that improves products. Finally he shares thoughts about his latest project, CodeTV, including insights on innovative content creation in for developer audiences.

In this RedMonk conversation, Avni Khatri Fein, Senior Director of Education at GitHub, chats with Kelly Fitzpatrick, senior analyst at RedMonk, about GitHub Education's mission to make coding accessible to everyone. They discuss the importance of bridging the gap between coding education and tech careers, the evolving nature of computer science, and how AI can enhance learning experiences. Avni shares insights from her experiences at hackathons and emphasizes the need to lower barriers to entry in technology. This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by GitHub.

In this RedMonk conversation, Alex Zenla, founder & CTO at Edera, chats container security and virtualization with Rachel Stephens, research director at RedMonk. Alex shares her unique journey from Minecraft to the tech industry. She emphasizes the importance of security in computing, particularly in the context of IoT and legacy systems. The conversation also explores the differences between eBPF and secure design principles, as well as the potential of WebAssembly in the tech landscape and a proactive approach to security in technology.

As the industry increasingly talks about AI “agents” and “agentic” apps, that leaves some important questions to answer: what are they? What do those terms mean? In this RedMonk conversation, analyst Steve O'Grady is joined by Couchbase's Jeff Morris to discuss agentic apps, examples of them in practice, and the role of the database in building them. TThis RedMonk Conversation was originally published in video form on February 12, 2025.

In this RedMonk conversation, Derek Collison, founder and CEO of Synadia and creator of NATS.io, discusses the evolution and importance of messaging systems with Kate Holterhoff, senior analyst at RedMonk. In this wide-ranging interview, Derek shares insights from his time at TIBCO building Rendezvous, Google co-founding AJAX APIs, VMware co-founding Cloud Foundry, and now Synadia maintaining NATS. Derek not only talks about the history of the tech industry and how it has evolved since the 90s, but also his current views on AI, streaming, open source foundations, edge computing, distributed systems, and the rise of enterprise application integration (EAI).

In this RedMonk conversation, Cassidy Williams, Senior Director of Developer Advocacy at GitHub, discusses GitHub Copilot's role as a coding companion with Kate Holterhoff, senior analyst at RedMonk. Cassidy addresses Copilot's evolution and newest features, its business value, adoption trends, and the importance of context. In addition to tackling skepticism about AI coding assistants among developers and engineering leadership, Cassidy underscores GitHub's commitment to the open source community and the accessibility of Copilot for all developers. This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by GitHub.

In this RedMonk conversation, Zack Chapple, Co-Founder and CEO of Zephyr Cloud, discusses how micro frontends and module federation are empowering developers to work more efficiently. Zack shares insights from Zephyr Cloud's recent Acceleration Week, the importance of open source, the role of AI in development, and how Zephyr Cloud is positioning itself to meet the challenges of the evolving tech landscape. This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by Zephyr Cloud.