<![CDATA[The Forward Slash Podcast]]>Brought to you by Callibrity, The Forward Slash dives into the world of software engineering, digital transformation, and the future of technology, featuring insights from the people who live and breathe it every day. 

]]>https://zencastr.com/The-Forward-Slash-PodcastRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Mon, 02 Nov 2026 19:44:04 GMTTue, 18 Nov 2025 15:49:12 GMT60Callibrity<p>Brought to you by Callibrity, <i>The Forward Slash</i> dives into the world of <b>software engineering, digital transformation, and the future of technology</b>, featuring insights from the people who live and breathe it every day. </p>episodicCallibritytheforwardslash@callibrity.comno<![CDATA[/ai output: is a sea of same good enough]]>Everyone has the same AI now — so what’s left to compete on? UX researcher Colleen Pellissier and James Carman dig in on this week’s Forward Slash. Her read, after eight years studying what people do versus what they say: AI nails the themes but parks on the safe center line — a sea of same — and never reaches the ideas that earn real trust. The bigger trap is speed: racing from a good question to a locked answer, skipping the messy middle where insight lives. Her case — sit in the uncertainty a little longer before you bet the roadmap on the average.

]]>d706de8f-860e-4cd4-882b-238d28cd891fWed, 21 Oct 2026 14:34:53 GMT<p>Everyone has the same AI now — so what’s left to compete on? UX researcher Colleen Pellissier and James Carman dig in on this week’s Forward Slash. Her read, after eight years studying what people do versus what they say: AI nails the themes but parks on the safe center line — a sea of same — and never reaches the ideas that earn real trust. The bigger trap is speed: racing from a good question to a locked answer, skipping the messy middle where insight lives. Her case — sit in the uncertainty a little longer before you bet the roadmap on the average.</p>no01:17:24/ai output: is a sea of same good enoughfull<![CDATA[/software factories: the governance gap nobody closed.]]>What happens when your engineers stop writing code and just tell the machines what to build? That’s a software factory, and in 2026 every IT leader is being pushed to stand one up. Adam Barrett returns to The Forward Slash for a record third time and calls it what it is: vibe coding that finally got respectable. He and James Carman get into how far you can let the agents run — and the governance gap nobody’s closed: who answers for a system that writes, ships, and spends on its own? Nobody sues the model when it breaks.

]]>0ca0882e-b7b7-43fb-b203-891c84b08c80Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:03:28 GMT<p>What happens when your engineers stop writing code and just tell the machines what to build? That’s a software factory, and in 2026 every IT leader is being pushed to stand one up. Adam Barrett returns to The Forward Slash for a record third time and calls it what it is: vibe coding that finally got respectable. He and James Carman get into how far you can let the agents run — and the governance gap nobody’s closed: who answers for a system that writes, ships, and spends on its own? Nobody sues the model when it breaks.</p>no01:20:16/software factories: the governance gap nobody closed.full<![CDATA[/AI spend: why it still doesn't know your business]]>Your AI budget keeps going up. The business feels about the same. Michael Schank has a theory about why: AI trained on the whole internet, and it still knows nothing about your company. He calls that the context gap, and it's where most enterprise AI quietly stalls before it ever ships. We get into the three places AI actually lives at work — running tasks, running processes, running the organization — and why most teams never make it past the first.

]]>731f976e-e834-4d6d-aa54-d123792e8981Wed, 07 Oct 2026 16:16:03 GMT<p>Your AI budget keeps going up. The business feels about the same. Michael Schank has a theory about why: AI trained on the whole internet, and it still knows nothing about your company. He calls that the context gap, and it's where most enterprise AI quietly stalls before it ever ships. We get into the three places AI actually lives at work — running tasks, running processes, running the organization — and why most teams never make it past the first.</p>no01:06:25/AI spend: why it still doesn't know your businessfull<![CDATA[/AI speed: faster code, slower business]]>Your engineers are shipping code faster than ever with AI — so why hasn't your time-to-market moved? Thanos Diacakis's answer: the bottleneck just moved with it. The fractional CTO who led Uber's JUMP bikes integration joins us to discuss why faster code doesn't mean a faster business — the real constraint jumps to deciding what to build and whether customers even want it — and what the teams actually seeing returns do differently: they redesign how they work, not just which tool they buy.

]]>27a5d96e-965c-4457-a4e8-91914d0919f5Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:07:49 GMT<p>Your engineers are shipping code faster than ever with AI — so why hasn't your time-to-market moved? Thanos Diacakis's answer: the bottleneck just moved with it. The fractional CTO who led Uber's JUMP bikes integration joins us to discuss why faster code doesn't mean a faster business — the real constraint jumps to deciding what to build and whether customers even want it — and what the teams actually seeing returns do differently: they redesign how they work, not just which tool they buy.</p>no01:19:15/AI speed: faster code, slower businessfull<![CDATA[/AI's trust problem: let it work, not decide]]>Loving a technology and trusting it are two very different things — and Tamara Laine would know. She's the founder of MPWR, where her team builds policy-bound, audit-ready AI for highly regulated financial-services work. She joins James Carman to get specific: on the highest-stakes calls — like whether someone gets a loan — AI should never decide. It does the grunt work and hands a human the file. She also flips the script on regulation, making the case that firm rules aren't the enemy of innovation but the guardrails that let it move fast. Her bottom line for any leader deploying agents right now: let AI do the work — just not the deciding.

]]>84ddc5b3-9203-46f6-b9f6-78cd6e70b919Wed, 16 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT<p>Loving a technology and trusting it are two very different things — and Tamara Laine would know. She's the founder of MPWR, where her team builds policy-bound, audit-ready AI for highly regulated financial-services work. She joins James Carman to get specific: on the highest-stakes calls — like whether someone gets a loan — AI should never decide. It does the grunt work and hands a human the file. She also flips the script on regulation, making the case that firm rules aren't the enemy of innovation but the guardrails that let it move fast. Her bottom line for any leader deploying agents right now: let AI do the work — just not the deciding.</p>no01:11:16/AI's trust problem: let it work, not decidefull<![CDATA[/AI's power problem: rethinking the chip it runs on]]>Your AI costs keep climbing, and the power bill climbs with them. The usual answer is just "buy more compute." But what if the real ceiling is the 80-year-old design inside every chip? Steve Brunker, a 30-year enterprise CIO now CEO of Brain CA Technologies, joins us to explain why a fruit fly runs on a fraction of a watt while our data centers strain the grid, and why the next leap in AI may come from rethinking the chip it runs on.

]]>75d86270-a49c-4644-8099-0d5ea900b3c0Wed, 09 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT<p>Your AI costs keep climbing, and the power bill climbs with them. The usual answer is just "buy more compute." But what if the real ceiling is the 80-year-old design inside every chip? Steve Brunker, a 30-year enterprise CIO now CEO of Brain CA Technologies, joins us to explain why a fruit fly runs on a fraction of a watt while our data centers strain the grid, and why the next leap in AI may come from rethinking the chip it runs on.</p>no01:05:34/AI's power problem: rethinking the chip it runs onfull<![CDATA[/AI tokens: stop paying to ask twice]]>Your AI bill went up this year, so why does it feel like you're paying to ask the same question twice? Ilan Man's fix: stop using AI everywhere and start using it on purpose. The founder of Paradox Machines and former data lead at Squarespace joins James Carman with a test any leader can run. Let AI move fast where being wrong is cheap, keep a human where it's costly, and once you know the answer you want, put it in code instead of paying for it on repeat.

]]>2b263d70-f49e-44c9-9001-3eb42b40f2b4Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:19:50 GMT<p>Your AI bill went up this year, so why does it feel like you're paying to ask the same question twice? Ilan Man's fix: stop using AI everywhere and start using it on purpose. The founder of Paradox Machines and former data lead at Squarespace joins James Carman with a test any leader can run. Let AI move fast where being wrong is cheap, keep a human where it's costly, and once you know the answer you want, put it in code instead of paying for it on repeat.</p>no01:19:24/AI tokens: stop paying to ask twicefull<![CDATA[/ai slop: writing got cheap, reviewing didn't]]>Who's actually reviewing the open source code your business runs on? Rich Bowen — Apache Software Foundation member since the late '90s, six terms on its board, now an open source strategist at AWS — tells host James Carman that maintainers are drowning in AI-generated pull requests that fix problems nobody has. He calls them "pizzas I didn't order." James and Rich cover what AI slop means for the dependencies buried in your stack, the software supply chain regulation Log4Shell set in motion, and how to judge whether an AI foundation's governance is real or pay-to-play.

]]>a665502d-d6a3-4ddc-9665-c8efcea33975Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:11:53 GMT<p>Who's actually reviewing the open source code your business runs on? Rich Bowen — Apache Software Foundation member since the late '90s, six terms on its board, now an open source strategist at AWS — tells host James Carman that maintainers are drowning in AI-generated pull requests that fix problems nobody has. He calls them "pizzas I didn't order." James and Rich cover what AI slop means for the dependencies buried in your stack, the software supply chain regulation Log4Shell set in motion, and how to judge whether an AI foundation's governance is real or pay-to-play.</p>no01:14:21/ai slop: writing got cheap, reviewing didn'tfull<![CDATA[/prove it or park it: AI's ROI reckoning]]>Nearly every company is "using AI" now — but for most, it still isn't showing up in the P&L, and boards have noticed. Todd James says that gap is a leadership problem, not a technology one. The former Chief Data & Technology Officer at 84.51° and head of AI at Kroger — now advising leaders through Aurora Insights — joins James Carman to unpack why AI stalls after the first pilot, why the fix starts with the P&L, what to build versus rent, and what you should never hand to an outside model. Plus the Coast Guard lesson behind his bottom line: waiting can be as risky as moving too fast.

]]>431232ea-f0a6-414e-a9f7-280c4fe32b34Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:51:56 GMT<p>Nearly every company is "using AI" now — but for most, it still isn't showing up in the P&amp;L, and boards have noticed. Todd James says that gap is a leadership problem, not a technology one. The former Chief Data &amp; Technology Officer at 84.51° and head of AI at Kroger — now advising leaders through Aurora Insights — joins James Carman to unpack why AI stalls after the first pilot, why the fix starts with the P&amp;L, what to build versus rent, and what you should never hand to an outside model. Plus the Coast Guard lesson behind his bottom line: waiting can be as risky as moving too fast.</p>no01:13:44/prove it or park it: AI's ROI reckoningfull<![CDATA[/agents on the payroll: who your AI is and what it's allowed to do]]>When an AI agent starts writing and shipping code inside your platform, who is it — and what is it allowed to do? Host James Carman sits down with Ajay Chankramath — CTO Platform Engineering Consulting, and former head of platform engineering at ThoughtWorks — on the questions IT leaders are wrestling with right now. They get into agent identity and governance: should an agent get a login like a developer, and how do you bound its authority by time and intent. They dig into why unmeasured platforms quietly get defunded, and the "generic developer fallacy" behind Ajay's new book on domain-driven platform engineering — because a payments team and a data-science team never needed the same golden path. Plus: why DevOps is a culture, not a job title, and why the best platforms win

]]>9056c973-f42b-41c6-9e2b-46aeb31dfbf2Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:40:59 GMT<p>When an AI agent starts writing and shipping code inside your platform, <i>who</i> is it — and what is it allowed to do? Host James Carman sits down with Ajay Chankramath — <b>CTO Platform Engineering Consulting,</b> and former head of platform engineering at ThoughtWorks — on the questions IT leaders are wrestling with right now. They get into agent identity and governance: should an agent get a login like a developer, and how do you bound its authority by time and intent. They dig into why unmeasured platforms quietly get defunded, and the "generic developer fallacy" behind Ajay's new book on domain-driven platform engineering — because a payments team and a data-science team never needed the same golden path. Plus: why DevOps is a culture, not a job title, and why the best platforms win</p>no01:15:29/agents on the payroll: who your AI is and what it's allowed to dofull<![CDATA[/seats for everyone: the AI rollout that quietly burns your budget]]>Your company just gave everyone a Claude or ChatGPT seat — so why isn't the ROI showing up? Host James Carman and YNDR founder Chris Thomas break down why handing out AI licenses isn't a strategy, why tokenmaxxing and prompt engineers won't deliver results, and how homegrown AI agents you actually own beat seven-figure SaaS contracts.

]]>f0c8eac7-693d-460b-acb0-2d3e3207b238Wed, 05 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT<p>Your company just gave everyone a Claude or ChatGPT seat — so why isn't the ROI showing up? Host James Carman and YNDR founder Chris Thomas break down why handing out AI licenses isn't a strategy, why <i>tokenmaxxing</i> and prompt engineers won't deliver results, and how homegrown AI agents you actually own beat seven-figure SaaS contracts.</p>no01:14:41/seats for everyone: the AI rollout that quietly burns your budgetfull<![CDATA[/vibe coded, now what?: the cost that comes later]]>Cancel the SaaS contract and vibe code it yourself? In this episode, host James Carman talks with Kendra Ramirez, CEO of KR Digital and a global Claude ambassador who's been building bots since 2018, about where AI actually earns its keep for business leaders. They find the line between a fast prototype and production-grade software, when off-the-shelf tools like Copilot, Claude, and ChatGPT are all you need, and why the smartest first move is often to audit your tech stack before you spend a dollar on something new.

]]>5b75e874-182b-4da6-bab1-58613746839dWed, 29 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT<p>Cancel the SaaS contract and vibe code it yourself? In this episode, host James Carman talks with Kendra Ramirez, CEO of KR Digital and a global Claude ambassador who's been building bots since 2018, about where AI actually earns its keep for business leaders. They find the line between a fast prototype and production-grade software, when off-the-shelf tools like Copilot, Claude, and ChatGPT are all you need, and why the smartest first move is often to audit your tech stack before you spend a dollar on something new.</p>no00:55:17/vibe coded, now what?: the cost that comes laterfull<![CDATA[/vibe coded, now what?: the cost that comes later]]>Cancel the SaaS contract and vibe code it yourself? In this episode, host James Carman talks with Kendra Ramirez, CEO of KR Digital and a global Claude ambassador who's been building bots since 2018, about where AI actually earns its keep for business leaders. They find the line between a fast prototype and production-grade software, when off-the-shelf tools like Copilot, Claude, and ChatGPT are all you need, and why the smartest first move is often to audit your tech stack before you spend a dollar on something new.

]]>c1ae757c-b37c-4088-a6dc-6094fe6b0109Tue, 28 Jul 2026 19:02:21 GMT<p>Cancel the SaaS contract and vibe code it yourself? In this episode, host James Carman talks with Kendra Ramirez, CEO of KR Digital and a global Claude ambassador who's been building bots since 2018, about where AI actually earns its keep for business leaders. They find the line between a fast prototype and production-grade software, when off-the-shelf tools like Copilot, Claude, and ChatGPT are all you need, and why the smartest first move is often to audit your tech stack before you spend a dollar on something new.</p>no00:55:1779/vibe coded, now what?: the cost that comes laterfull<![CDATA[/running AI on Kubernetes: what actually works]]>If you're running AI on Kubernetes, you've probably hit this question: does the cluster actually help with inference, or is it just where everything ends up? Host James Carman gets a straight answer from William Morgan — the engineer who coined "service mesh," created Linkerd, and now leads Buoyant. Two people who've built this infrastructure for a living talk through where Kubernetes earns its keep for LLM workloads and where it gives you almost nothing, how to run inference without wasting GPUs, why open-weight models are changing the cost math for anyone budgeting AI, and the bigger question every engineering leader is weighing — where "AI takes our jobs" actually leads if you follow it out.

]]>763f4b01-9340-40cc-bfc0-15a70fcf946dWed, 22 Jul 2026 13:05:51 GMT<p>If you're running AI on Kubernetes, you've probably hit this question: does the cluster actually help with inference, or is it just where everything ends up? Host James Carman gets a straight answer from William Morgan — the engineer who coined "service mesh," created Linkerd, and now leads Buoyant. Two people who've built this infrastructure for a living talk through where Kubernetes earns its keep for LLM workloads and where it gives you almost nothing, how to run inference without wasting GPUs, why open-weight models are changing the cost math for anyone budgeting AI, and the bigger question every engineering leader is weighing — where "AI takes our jobs" actually leads if you follow it out.</p>no01:06:45/running AI on Kubernetes: what actually worksfull<![CDATA[/hotfix: AI just became infrastructure — now what?]]>June 2026: the month AI stopped being a tool and became actual infrastructure. Covering the 19-day Fable 5 regulatory blackout, GLM 5.2's un-censorable open weights, and the supply chain attacks that made self-hosting the security team's problem. The /hotfix from The Forward Slash — a short-form read on the AI news engineering leaders actually need to track.

]]>01ffefb7-462d-4b38-8946-659251c2f09fWed, 08 Jul 2026 15:25:26 GMT<p>June 2026: the month AI stopped being a tool and became actual infrastructure. Covering the 19-day Fable 5 regulatory blackout, GLM 5.2's un-censorable open weights, and the supply chain attacks that made self-hosting the security team's problem. The /hotfix from The Forward Slash — a short-form read on the AI news engineering leaders actually need to track.</p>no00:22:04/hotfix: AI just became infrastructure — now what?full<![CDATA[/the uncomfortable middle: ai without the layoffs]]>What if AI adoption didn't have to mean layoffs? Diane Weaver, co-founder and COO of Baryons, joins James to explore the "uncomfortable middle" of enterprise AI — the gap where jobs are being reshaped but new ones haven't arrived yet. They dig into why top-down AI mandates breed shadow work and sabotage, how IKEA turned 8,000 at-risk support reps into a $1.5B new revenue line, and why the organizations that win will rethink workflows — and the human role — instead of just cutting headcount.

]]>0fb857d3-fa6b-472b-a226-2da5791aa568Wed, 01 Jul 2026 09:15:06 GMT<p>What if AI adoption didn't have to mean layoffs? Diane Weaver, co-founder and COO of Baryons, joins James to explore the "uncomfortable middle" of enterprise AI — the gap where jobs are being reshaped but new ones haven't arrived yet. They dig into why top-down AI mandates breed shadow work and sabotage, how IKEA turned 8,000 at-risk support reps into a $1.5B new revenue line, and why the organizations that win will rethink workflows — and the human role — instead of just cutting headcount.</p>no01:24:14/the uncomfortable middle: ai without the layoffsfull<![CDATA[/ready, fire, aim: the AI tool trap]]>Most companies are buying AI tools before they've decided what they're for. James Carman, Callibrity CTO, and Jason Swafford, founder of Drag6, make the straight-talking case for the other way around.

From there they cover why "failing" at AI is often just R&D in disguise, how to reframe shadow IT as innovation instead of a threat, why governance should feel like a head start rather than a tax, where vibe coding helps versus where it leaves a mess to clean up, and whether the Chief AI Officer role is here to stay.

]]>8fa0c1ae-dd82-4463-a510-e835aad8e7cbWed, 24 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT<p>Most companies are buying AI tools before they've decided what they're for. James Carman, Callibrity CTO, and Jason Swafford, founder of Drag6, make the straight-talking case for the other way around.</p><p>From there they cover why "failing" at AI is often just R&amp;D in disguise, how to reframe shadow IT as innovation instead of a threat, why governance should feel like a head start rather than a tax, where vibe coding helps versus where it leaves a mess to clean up, and whether the Chief AI Officer role is here to stay.</p>no01:01:35/ready, fire, aim: the AI tool trapfull<![CDATA[/wave, not bubble: cutting through the ai noise]]>Bubble about to burst, or a wave you can't sit out? In Part 2, James and Sid Dutta go from technical to strategic: why AI is a wave, not a bubble; the "harvest now, decrypt later" threat and what's just hype; the "Kardashian effect" drowning real expertise on LinkedIn; and why you won't compete with AI — you'll compete with peers who use it better. Perfect for the leaders who'd rather learn from operators than influencers.

]]>1142eda2-5e77-4147-8b0c-0242db8379c2Wed, 17 Jun 2026 12:28:33 GMT<p>Bubble about to burst, or a wave you can't sit out? In Part 2, James and Sid Dutta go from technical to strategic: why AI is a wave, not a bubble; the "harvest now, decrypt later" threat and what's just hype; the "Kardashian effect" drowning real expertise on LinkedIn; and why you won't compete with AI — you'll compete with peers who use it better. Perfect for the leaders who'd rather learn from operators than influencers.</p>no00:39:09/wave, not bubble: cutting through the ai noisefull<![CDATA[/compliant isn't secure: data protection in the age of ai agents]]>Your AI agent inherits your permissions. It doesn't inherit your intent — and that's the gap nobody's watching. James sits down with Sid Dutta — founder of Privaclave and a 24-year data protection executive (Amex, Worldpay, Microsoft Gaming) — for a two-part series on why being compliant doesn't equal secure, the single prompt that exposes data across silos, and the shift from static inventories to runtime enforcement.

]]>8ec6b7c7-263c-433e-be9e-010ff20dca02Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:19:33 GMT<p>Your AI agent inherits your permissions. It doesn't inherit your intent — and that's the gap nobody's watching. James sits down with Sid Dutta — founder of Privaclave and a 24-year data protection executive (Amex, Worldpay, Microsoft Gaming) — for a two-part series on why being compliant doesn't equal secure, the single prompt that exposes data across silos, and the shift from static inventories to runtime enforcement.</p>no01:22:41/compliant isn't secure: data protection in the age of ai agentsfull<![CDATA[/pilot purgatory: why your ai initiative isn't showing roi]]>Leadership mandated AI. Now they want the return — and your pilots have nothing to show for it. James sits down with Bob White, a 20-year ed-tech and SaaS operator (Cengage, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, VPG) who now advises companies on AI adoption, for an honest teardown of why most enterprise AI never pays off: escaping "pilot purgatory" with a problem-first funnel, why nobody being on the hook is the real reason ROI never lands, the financial giant forcing employees to hit AI-usage quotas (and why it backfires), and why bolting AI onto a broken process just makes it faster and more expensive.

]]>a535e9e0-4da3-43be-8b79-d730ffd152cbWed, 03 Jun 2026 15:19:11 GMT<p>Leadership mandated AI. Now they want the return — and your pilots have nothing to show for it. James sits down with Bob White, a 20-year ed-tech and SaaS operator (Cengage, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, VPG) who now advises companies on AI adoption, for an honest teardown of why most enterprise AI never pays off: escaping "pilot purgatory" with a problem-first funnel, why nobody being on the hook is the real reason ROI never lands, the financial giant forcing employees to hit AI-usage quotas (and why it backfires), and why bolting AI onto a broken process just makes it faster and more expensive.</p>no01:11:11/pilot purgatory: why your ai initiative isn't showing roifull<![CDATA[/hotfix: the week ai got real]]>Five AI stories from the same week. One thesis: AI just moved from pilot to production. The first /hotfix from The Forward Slash — a new short-form read from James Carman on the AI news engineering leaders actually need to track. ~20 minutes covering EY and Microsoft's billion-dollar forward-deployed engineer concession, the 83/29 agentic AI security gap, Anthropic overtaking OpenAI on enterprise revenue, Kubernetes winning the AI runtime war, and the VS Code extension that walked off with 3,800 GitHub repos.

]]>6a03badf-5171-4da7-a953-702dcfa7fffcWed, 27 May 2026 12:33:48 GMT<p>Five AI stories from the same week. One thesis: AI just moved from pilot to production. The first /hotfix from The Forward Slash — a new short-form read from James Carman on the AI news engineering leaders actually need to track. ~20 minutes covering EY and Microsoft's billion-dollar forward-deployed engineer concession, the 83/29 agentic AI security gap, Anthropic overtaking OpenAI on enterprise revenue, Kubernetes winning the AI runtime war, and the VS Code extension that walked off with 3,800 GitHub repos.</p>no00:17:56/hotfix: the week ai got realfull<![CDATA[/apocaloptimist: ai leadership in 2026]]>Is your AI strategy replacing people, or amplifying them? James sits down with Mike Hruska — founder of Baryons, former NIST material scientist, and TEDx speaker on what magic teaches leaders — for a human-first tour of AI leadership in 2026: the two kinds of executives this market is creating, why high-performing teams shrink to two or three when AI joins the room, what AIQ — Authentic Intelligence Quotient — actually measures, and what "apocaloptimist" leadership looks like when the calculus has changed under your feet.

]]>d62726de-0b65-4d78-ab52-96ac7370ea43Wed, 20 May 2026 09:30:00 GMT<p>Is your AI strategy replacing people, or amplifying them? James sits down with Mike Hruska — founder of Baryons, former NIST material scientist, and TEDx speaker on what magic teaches leaders — for a human-first tour of AI leadership in 2026: the two kinds of executives this market is creating, why high-performing teams shrink to two or three when AI joins the room, what AIQ — Authentic Intelligence Quotient — actually measures, and what "apocaloptimist" leadership looks like when the calculus has changed under your feet.</p>no01:13:28/apocaloptimist: ai leadership in 2026full<![CDATA[/ai agents: more steak, less sizzle]]>
  • Is your enterprise AI actively shipping, or just sitting pretty in a deck? James sits down with John Capobianco, head of AI and Developer Relations at Itential and former senior network architect for Canada's House of Commons, for an engineering leader's tour of what's actually shipping in 2026: spec-driven development with Ralph loops, MCP as the next generational protocol, agents built like org charts instead of Swiss Army knives, and the open-source agent security stack. 21 minutes for engineering leaders ready to ship.
    • ]]>    c49b7758-e027-473f-b8de-e7a0803c0bb7Wed, 13 May 2026 17:32:48 GMT<ul><li>Is your enterprise AI actively shipping, or just sitting pretty in a deck? James sits down with John Capobianco, head of AI and Developer Relations at Itential and former senior network architect for Canada's House of Commons, for an engineering leader's tour of what's actually shipping in 2026: spec-driven development with Ralph loops, MCP as the next generational protocol, agents built like org charts instead of Swiss Army knives, and the open-source agent security stack. 21 minutes for engineering leaders ready to ship.</li></ul>no01:16:27/ai agents: more steak, less sizzlefull    <![CDATA[/agent guardrails: you can't blame the bot]]>The hardest question in enterprise AI isn't "can we build agents?" — it's "how do we let them act on our behalf without losing the company?" In Part 2 of our conversation with John Willis, co-author of The DevOps Handbook, James gets concrete about what agent guardrails actually look like in regulated environments: delegated authority, read/write/execute permissions, kill switches, and the Andon Cord for AI. Twenty-one minutes for engineering leaders who've been told to "go faster on AI" without a plan for what happens when an agent misbehaves.

    ]]>    258ab0ea-f44a-49db-97dc-7c6aec05d9eaWed, 06 May 2026 11:00:00 GMT<p>The hardest question in enterprise AI isn't "can we build agents?" — it's "how do we let them act on our behalf without losing the company?" In Part 2 of our conversation with John Willis, co-author of The DevOps Handbook, James gets concrete about what agent guardrails actually look like in regulated environments: delegated authority, read/write/execute permissions, kill switches, and the Andon Cord for AI. Twenty-one minutes for engineering leaders who've been told to "go faster on AI" without a plan for what happens when an agent misbehaves.</p>no00:21:04/agent guardrails: you can't blame the botfull    <![CDATA[/ai agents: don't be the next knight capital]]>The AI agent horror stories your vendors aren't telling you — and what to do before they happen to you.

    John Willis, co-author of the DevOps Handbook and one of the original pioneers of the DevOps movement, joins James for part one of a two-part conversation on what autonomous AI agents are actually doing inside enterprise infrastructure right now. From vault secrets dumped to open source to entire repos deleted by a hallucinated command, John shares the real-world incidents every engineering leader needs to hear before they become the cautionary tale. Part two drops next week.

    ]]>    9a3971c6-dfe9-44ec-a43c-788b3f152339Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:00:00 GMT<p>The AI agent horror stories your vendors aren't telling you — and what to do before they happen to you.</p><p></p><p>John Willis, co-author of the DevOps Handbook and one of the original pioneers of the DevOps movement, joins James for part one of a two-part conversation on what autonomous AI agents are actually doing inside enterprise infrastructure right now. From vault secrets dumped to open source to entire repos deleted by a hallucinated command, John shares the real-world incidents every engineering leader needs to hear before they become the cautionary tale. Part two drops next week.</p>no00:43:26/ai agents: don't be the next knight capitalfull    <![CDATA[/enterprise ai: why your agents can't run without guardrails]]>Is your enterprise ready to run AI agents in production — or just in demos?
     Logan Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Waxell AI, joins us to explore why deploying autonomous AI agents at enterprise scale is a fundamentally different challenge than building them. From runaway costs and unpredictable agent behavior to PII exposure and AI governance, we break down what actually breaks when agentic systems go live — and why engineering leaders are building guardrails and AI control planes around their agents instead of into them to move from pilot to production without losing control of what their agents do next.

    ]]>    fbf0a3e5-0126-42b5-a5ac-5e333443bc7cWed, 22 Apr 2026 12:43:39 GMT<p>Is your enterprise ready to run AI agents in production — or just in demos?<br /> Logan Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Waxell AI, joins us to explore why deploying autonomous AI agents at enterprise scale is a fundamentally different challenge than building them. From runaway costs and unpredictable agent behavior to PII exposure and AI governance, we break down what actually breaks when agentic systems go live — and why engineering leaders are building guardrails and AI control planes around their agents instead of into them to move from pilot to production without losing control of what their agents do next.</p>no00:55:48/enterprise ai: why your agents can't run without guardrailsfull    <![CDATA[/tech leadership: why climate tech is now a cfo conversation]]>Is your biggest cost reduction opportunity hiding in your energy bill?
     Josh Dorfman, CEO of Supercool and climate entrepreneur, joins us to explore why the smartest companies have stopped treating clean energy as a sustainability initiative — and started treating it as a CFO conversation. They break down how AI is compressing diligence cycles, optimizing fleets, and unlocking business models that make clean energy the financially obvious choice.

    ]]>    76ce0345-724e-4c44-b9b7-a9d396f70e46Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:23:02 GMT<p>Is your biggest cost reduction opportunity hiding in your energy bill?<br /> Josh Dorfman, CEO of Supercool and climate entrepreneur, joins us to explore why the smartest companies have stopped treating clean energy as a sustainability initiative — and started treating it as a CFO conversation. They break down how AI is compressing diligence cycles, optimizing fleets, and unlocking business models that make clean energy the financially obvious choice.</p>no01:07:31/tech leadership: why climate tech is now a cfo conversationfull    <![CDATA[/survive the spike: scaling systems for millions of users]]>What does it take to survive a 20x traffic spike?  Part two concludes our chat with Matthew McDole. This week, he shares how Yum! Brands scales systems for Super Bowl Sunday—plus lessons on performance, resilience, and AI in engineering.

    ]]>    a06d7ad8-c156-421f-b490-169e69f2282bWed, 08 Apr 2026 16:53:47 GMT<p>What does it take to survive a 20x traffic spike?  Part two concludes our chat with <b>Matthew McDole. </b>This week, he shares how <b>Yum! Brands</b> scales systems for <b>Super Bowl</b> Sunday—plus lessons on performance, resilience, and AI in engineering.</p>no00:55:24/survive the spike: scaling systems for millions of usersfull    <![CDATA[/engineering growth: build skills, not titles]]>How do you grow your engineering career without chasing titles?  This week, we have a two-parter! Matthew McDole joins James Carman to break down platform engineering, build vs. buy decisions, and why working on the right problems matters more than promotions.

    ]]>    b52ffcd4-42dd-4c90-9f9e-57b375c06b4bWed, 01 Apr 2026 09:00:00 GMT<p>How do you grow your engineering career without chasing titles?  This week, we have a two-parter! <b>Matthew McDole</b> joins <b>James Carman</b> to break down platform engineering, build vs. buy decisions, and why working on the right problems matters more than promotions.</p>no01:00:02/engineering growth: build skills, not titlesfull    <![CDATA[/skills shelf life: the two year problem]]>How do you keep your workforce competitive when the skills they built two years ago are already expiring?  Ben Tasker leads an AI academy upskilling 36,000 employees in the public utility sector. This week, he joins us to unpack why 95% of organizations are getting AI adoption wrong — and why the problem is almost never the technology. They explore what skills-based workforce design actually looks like in practice, how to prepare teams to work alongside AI agents, and why change management is the foundation most companies skip.

    ]]>    eadb47e0-22c8-40ad-9b2d-3123cdebb135Wed, 25 Mar 2026 12:13:53 GMT<p>How do you keep your workforce competitive when the skills they built two years ago are already expiring?  Ben Tasker leads an AI academy upskilling 36,000 employees in the public utility sector. This week, he joins us to unpack why 95% of organizations are getting AI adoption wrong — and why the problem is almost never the technology. They explore what skills-based workforce design actually looks like in practice, how to prepare teams to work alongside AI agents, and why change management is the foundation most companies skip.</p>no00:48:34/skills shelf life: the two year problemfull    <![CDATA[/AI governance: speed without exposure]]>As enterprise AI adoption accelerates, how do you move fast without introducing new security and compliance risk?  Cordell Robinson, CEO of Brownstone Consulting Firm, joins James to explore why AI governance and cybersecurity can’t be an afterthought. They break down the risks behind shadow AI, data leakage, and weak vendor oversight — and why organizations that build governance early will be better positioned than those trying to retrofit it later.

    ]]>    73dcd23b-6d25-4293-bfef-244f18ab09b0Wed, 18 Mar 2026 13:27:06 GMT<p>As enterprise AI adoption accelerates, how do you move fast without introducing new security and compliance risk?  Cordell Robinson, CEO of Brownstone Consulting Firm, joins James to explore why AI governance and cybersecurity can’t be an afterthought. They break down the risks behind shadow AI, data leakage, and weak vendor oversight — and why organizations that build governance early will be better positioned than those trying to retrofit it later.</p>no01:11:32/AI governance: speed without exposurefull    <![CDATA[/AI development: velocity without fragility]]>As AI accelerates software development, how do you keep complexity from accelerating with it?  This week, Mike Spiegel of SpotOn joins us to examine how platform engineering must evolve in an AI-driven development era. As code velocity increases, testing discipline, reliability, and governance become even more critical.

    They explore how internal developer platforms create organizational clarity, why today’s golden paths can become tomorrow’s constraints, and how SRE principles are being absorbed into modern platform teams. From navigating CNCF tool sprawl to aligning developer experience with business outcomes, this conversation unpacks what it takes to scale innovation without losing control.

    ]]>    eecfe3ff-6b09-45d8-9303-d206d55f936aWed, 04 Mar 2026 13:37:32 GMT<p>As AI accelerates software development, how do you keep complexity from accelerating with it?  This week, Mike Spiegel of SpotOn joins us to examine how platform engineering must evolve in an AI-driven development era. As code velocity increases, testing discipline, reliability, and governance become even more critical.<br /><br />They explore how internal developer platforms create organizational clarity, why today’s golden paths can become tomorrow’s constraints, and how SRE principles are being absorbed into modern platform teams. From navigating CNCF tool sprawl to aligning developer experience with business outcomes, this conversation unpacks what it takes to scale innovation without losing control.</p>no01:07:04262/AI development: velocity without fragilityfull    <![CDATA[/creative intelligence: scaling influence]]>What happens when AI becomes better than the average designer?  This week, Hikari Senju, founder and CEO of Omneky, joins James to explore how generative AI is transforming advertising from an art form into a measurable, automated system.

    They unpack how AI is redesigning enterprise workflows, why advertising may replace large portions of traditional sales, and what it means when attention itself becomes an auction-based capital market. From automated creative testing to products validated by ads before they’re built, this conversation examines how AI is changing not just marketing — but how companies allocate capital and scale growth.

    ]]>    2bccc021-4a05-4188-95d3-207aaf2b56beTue, 10 Mar 2026 09:00:00 GMT<p>What happens when AI becomes better than the average designer?  This week, Hikari Senju, founder and CEO of Omneky, joins James to explore how generative AI is transforming advertising from an art form into a measurable, automated system.</p><p>They unpack how AI is redesigning enterprise workflows, why advertising may replace large portions of traditional sales, and what it means when attention itself becomes an auction-based capital market. From automated creative testing to products validated by ads before they’re built, this conversation examines how AI is changing not just marketing — but how companies allocate capital and scale growth.</p>no00:57:26/creative intelligence: scaling influencefull    <![CDATA[/product adoption: the design advantage]]>Why do so many well-funded products still struggle with adoption? Mark Brehaut, Head of Design at Clair, joins us to unpack how design directly impacts activation, retention, and business performance — especially in high-stakes industries like FinTech.

    From onboarding friction and time-to-value to validating assumptions before they hit production, Mark explains how human-centered design moves beyond aesthetics and becomes a measurable growth lever. We also dig into AI-assisted tooling, compliance constraints, and why great design is often invisible but still measurable.

    ]]>    af802899-b3b3-4968-bcd6-4e95294050faTue, 24 Feb 2026 10:00:00 GMT<p><b>Why do so many well-funded products still struggle with adoption? Mark Brehaut, Head of Design at Clair, joins us to unpack how design directly impacts activation, retention, and business performance — especially in high-stakes industries like FinTech.</b></p><p><b>From onboarding friction and time-to-value to validating assumptions before they hit production, Mark explains how human-centered design moves beyond aesthetics and becomes a measurable growth lever. We also dig into AI-assisted tooling, compliance constraints, and why great design is often invisible but still measurable.</b></p>no01:01:55/product adoption: the design advantagefull    <![CDATA[/shadow AI: bringing it into the light]]>If AI is already embedded in your teams’ workflows, are you leading it — or reacting to it?  This week, Holly Laiveling, CTO at FEG Investment Advisors, shares what enterprise AI adoption really looks like inside complex, regulated environments. As generative AI moves from experiment to everyday tool, we break down how technology leaders can shift from gatekeeper to enabler through practical AI governance, tiered access models, and production-ready guardrails.
    James and Holly also explore how to buy back time through automation, close the judgment gap, and evolve IT from control center to strategic partner.

    ]]>    50ee95ff-f7dd-4016-bd23-75fe56163d4cWed, 18 Feb 2026 22:54:29 GMT<p><b>If AI is already embedded in your teams’ workflows, are you leading it — or reacting to it?  </b>This week, Holly Laiveling, CTO at FEG Investment Advisors, shares what enterprise AI adoption really looks like inside complex, regulated environments. As generative AI moves from experiment to everyday tool, we break down how technology leaders can shift from gatekeeper to enabler through practical AI governance, tiered access models, and production-ready guardrails.<br />James and Holly also explore how to buy back time through automation, close the judgment gap, and evolve IT from control center to strategic partner.</p>no00:56:57/shadow AI: bringing it into the lightfull    <![CDATA[/platform engineering: the AI inflection point]]>If AI is the future of infrastructure, why does production still feel experimental? Joel Vasallo, Senior Director of Platform Engineering at TAG (The Aspen Group), joins us to explore what AI adoption actually looks like inside real production environments. From agent gateways and MCP servers to AI-assisted monitoring, we discuss the operational tradeoffs, why many pilots never scale, and what it really takes to move from cloud-native to AI-native.

    ]]>    82f1e9ef-eac6-4019-b2f1-4ac6fccb637aWed, 11 Feb 2026 14:05:19 GMT<p>If AI is the future of infrastructure, why does production still feel experimental? Joel Vasallo, Senior Director of Platform Engineering at TAG (The Aspen Group), joins us to explore what AI adoption actually looks like inside real production environments. From agent gateways and MCP servers to AI-assisted monitoring, we discuss the operational tradeoffs, why many pilots never scale, and what it really takes to move from cloud-native to AI-native.<br /></p>no01:01:14/platform engineering: the AI inflection pointfull    <![CDATA[/AI productivity: effort vs outcomes]]>What happens when AI adoption becomes a leadership challenge, instead of a technology change? This week, James sits down with Nikki Barua, CEO and co-founder of Flipwork, to explore why AI progress often stalls even after real investment. They unpack the growing gap between executive expectations and team readiness, why traditional change management no longer works, and how leaders can rethink identity, value, and work itself in an AI-first era.

    ]]>    8679fcc9-2891-4b83-9758-dc0d0ae67931Wed, 04 Feb 2026 11:00:00 GMT<p>What happens when AI adoption becomes a leadership challenge, instead of a technology change? This week, James sits down with Nikki Barua, CEO and co-founder of Flipwork, to explore why AI progress often stalls even after real investment. They unpack the growing gap between executive expectations and team readiness, why traditional change management no longer works, and how leaders can rethink identity, value, and work itself in an AI-first era.</p>no00:54:4958/AI productivity: effort vs outcomesfull    <![CDATA[/leadership: escaping constant firefighting]]>When everything feels urgent, how do you make progress instead of just reacting?
    In this episode, we talk with Erkang Zheng, founder of JupiterOne and Ariso, about why so many leaders get stuck in reactive mode and what it takes to build systems that hold up under pressure. They explore proactive leadership, lessons from scaling companies, and how AI and better structure can help teams move from constant firefighting to real momentum.

    ]]>    a5b88022-450e-45e1-b333-04013a00981bWed, 28 Jan 2026 13:00:00 GMT<p><b>When everything feels urgent, how do you make progress instead of just reacting?</b><br />In this episode, we talk with Erkang Zheng, founder of JupiterOne and Ariso, about why so many leaders get stuck in reactive mode and what it takes to build systems that hold up under pressure. They explore proactive leadership, lessons from scaling companies, and how AI and better structure can help teams move from constant firefighting to real momentum.</p>no01:01:14/leadership: escaping constant firefightingfull    <![CDATA[/AI impact: still waiting]]>If AI is so powerful, why hasn’t it changed your organization the way you expected?
    In this episode, James sits down with strategy advisor Justin Trombold to unpack why GenAI progress feels slower than promised and why the biggest barriers usually aren’t technical. They explore what organizational readiness really means, how small workflow wins create momentum, when agentic automation is worth the risk, and how to avoid scaling the wrong things too early. A grounded conversation for tech leaders turning experimentation into real impact.

    ]]>    b5899732-ab63-4b9b-be35-d7252081cdd6Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:52:12 GMT<p><i>If AI is so powerful, why hasn’t it changed your organization the way you expected?</i><br />In this episode, James sits down with strategy advisor Justin Trombold to unpack why GenAI progress feels slower than promised and why the biggest barriers usually aren’t technical. They explore what organizational readiness really means, how small workflow wins create momentum, when agentic automation is worth the risk, and how to avoid scaling the wrong things too early. A grounded conversation for tech leaders turning experimentation into real impact.</p>no01:09:20/AI impact: still waitingfull    <![CDATA[/AI analytics: the adoption problem]]>Why do AI analytics tools look impressive… but still don’t get used?
    James Carman talks with Pete Hunt, CEO of Dagster Labs and one of the original engineers behind React, about what it really takes for AI-powered analytics to stick. They unpack why adoption is often the biggest challenge (not accuracy), how bringing analytics into Slack changes decision-making, and what “fast, directionally correct” can unlock when teams trust the path to an answer.

    ]]>    a723bf6c-5981-436b-9df1-aa09706e819dWed, 14 Jan 2026 10:00:00 GMT<p>Why do AI analytics tools look impressive… but still don’t get used?<br />James Carman talks with Pete Hunt, CEO of Dagster Labs and one of the original engineers behind React, about what it really takes for AI-powered analytics to stick. They unpack why adoption is often the biggest challenge (not accuracy), how bringing analytics into Slack changes decision-making, and what “fast, directionally correct” can unlock when teams trust the path to an answer.</p>no01:09:50/AI analytics: the adoption problemfull    <![CDATA[/production-ready AI: the prototype trap]]>If AI can build a prototype in a day, why does shipping still take months?
    In this episode, James Carman is joined by David Arenas, a senior technology leader across industrial automation, fintech, and global data platforms. Together, they unpack why AI is accelerating development, but also making the gap between demo and production more expensive. They break down what it takes to ship AI-built work at enterprise scale.

    ]]>    75c5b477-3ae6-443d-b31c-40ca1450c00aWed, 07 Jan 2026 15:26:38 GMT<p>If AI can build a prototype in a day, why does shipping still take months?<br />In this episode, James Carman is joined by David Arenas, a senior technology leader across industrial automation, fintech, and global data platforms. Together, they unpack why AI is accelerating development, but also making the gap between demo and production more expensive. They break down what it takes to ship AI-built work at enterprise scale.</p>no00:55:16/production-ready AI: the prototype trapfull    <![CDATA[/AI on AI: a reality check with chatGPT]]>What did we actually learn about AI this year?
    To close out 2025, James interviews an unexpected guest: ChatGPT. They talk honestly about what teams got wrong, what actually improved, and why AI’s biggest wins came from small workflow shifts — not sweeping transformation. They also dig into software engineering, documentation, onboarding, junior engineers, and what tech leaders will need to operationalize in 2026 as AI becomes a system, not a tool.

    ]]>    79cdaaf9-c735-49e1-a02e-3eb473a52364Wed, 31 Dec 2025 12:30:00 GMT<p><b>What did we actually learn about AI this year?</b><br />To close out 2025, James interviews an unexpected guest: <b>ChatGPT</b>. They talk honestly about what teams got wrong, what actually improved, and why AI’s biggest wins came from small workflow shifts — not sweeping transformation. They also dig into software engineering, documentation, onboarding, junior engineers, and what tech leaders will need to operationalize in 2026 as AI becomes a system, not a tool.</p>no00:25:4353/AI on AI: a reality check with chatGPTfull    <![CDATA[/human-centered design: fixing broken systems]]>What if the systems we rely on every day fail because they were never designed for how work actually happens? This week, we sit down with product design leader and founder Sharmeen Aqeel to explore how human-centered design and AI are reshaping how products get built, decisions get made, and businesses move forward. Sharmeen shares how deep user research exposes where traditional processes break down, how simplifying workflows creates speed without sacrificing trust, and why AI is becoming a true partner in modern product design and entrepreneurship. 

    ]]>    c3327489-f06d-4fc7-b5f7-26643a152113Wed, 17 Dec 2025 17:40:05 GMT<p>What if the systems we rely on every day fail because they were never designed for how work actually happens? This week, we sit down with product design leader and founder Sharmeen Aqeel to explore how human-centered design and AI are reshaping how products get built, decisions get made, and businesses move forward. Sharmeen shares how deep user research exposes where traditional processes break down, how simplifying workflows creates speed without sacrificing trust, and why AI is becoming a true partner in modern product design and entrepreneurship. </p>no01:02:15/human-centered design: fixing broken systemsfull    <![CDATA[/AI engineering: shipping after sundown]]>What happens when shipping software is no longer limited by human hours? This week, Max Heckel — CTO of Ariso and creator of the open-source AI orchestrator “Ivan” — breaks down how his team literally codes while they sleep. Max shares how AI coding agents can tackle tasks overnight, open PRs by morning, double development velocity, and redefine what engineering teams focus on. This conversation is a roadmap to what’s coming next.

    ]]>    c766b217-9ea8-4adb-a20b-9cf581f2cdf9Wed, 10 Dec 2025 15:08:16 GMT<p>What happens when shipping software is no longer limited by human hours? This week, Max Heckel — CTO of Ariso and creator of the open-source AI orchestrator “Ivan” — breaks down how his team literally codes while they sleep. Max shares how AI coding agents can tackle tasks overnight, open PRs by morning, double development velocity, and redefine what engineering teams focus on. This conversation is a roadmap to what’s coming next.</p>no01:09:02/AI engineering: shipping after sundownfull    <![CDATA[/transformation: the power of simplicity]]>What if the real key to transformation isn’t more technology, but more humanity?
    This week, Nora Osman joins James to explore why simplicity, trust, and human experience are the real engines of organizational change. From zero-to-hero moments to the “red carpet in, red carpet out” philosophy, Nora shows how better leadership—not bigger tech stacks—drives lasting results.

    ]]>    d77972e1-78e1-4b99-9717-eb2bfdbcbc38Wed, 03 Dec 2025 15:56:06 GMT<p>What if the real key to transformation isn’t more technology, but <i>more humanity</i>?<br />This week, Nora Osman joins James to explore why simplicity, trust, and human experience are the real engines of organizational change. From zero-to-hero moments to the “red carpet in, red carpet out” philosophy, Nora shows how better leadership—not bigger tech stacks—drives lasting results.</p>no01:05:11/transformation: the power of simplicityfull    <![CDATA[/AI agents: keeping systems (and costs) in check]]>Can your AI agents survive production AND your budget? In this episode, Yaron Schneider, CTO and co-founder of Diagrid and creator of the foundational open-source tools Dapr and KEDA, joins James to unpack what it takes to build AI agents that are durable, cost-aware and enterprise-ready.

    ]]>    21048ec3-673f-420c-8c84-85b87a7c7c31Wed, 19 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT<p>Can your AI agents survive production AND your budget? In this episode, Yaron Schneider, CTO and co-founder of Diagrid and creator of the foundational open-source tools Dapr and KEDA, joins James to unpack what it takes to build AI agents that are durable, cost-aware and enterprise-ready.</p>no00:53:2049/AI agents: keeping systems (and costs) in checkfull    <![CDATA[/technical storytelling: speak so they listen]]>What separates teams that build features from those that solve problems? Ryan Donnelly, product leader and proud Callibrity alum, shares how his engineering roots shaped his approach to driving impact at scale. He unpacks the mindset behind modernizing in-house payments, building with empathy, and leading through storytelling. If you're navigating tech, product, or leadership—this one's for you.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/J2V8egIW2fbec808-636a-446a-897c-5d09e441b7cbWed, 21 May 2025 11:00:00 GMT<p>What separates teams that build features from those that solve problems? Ryan Donnelly, product leader and proud Callibrity alum, shares how his engineering roots shaped his approach to driving impact at scale. He unpacks the mindset behind modernizing in-house payments, building with empathy, and leading through storytelling. If you're navigating tech, product, or leadership—this one's for you.</p>no00:44:26/technical storytelling: speak so they listenfull    <![CDATA[/ML basics: learning by doing]]>Curious how AI can turn messy, unstructured data into something actually useful? This episode, we dive into a real-world project that explores just that. Senior developer Azriel Alvarado shares how building a song recommendation tool based on lyrics led to deeper insights into embeddings, vector search, and working with natural language data. Whether you're in search, content tagging, knowledge management, or building smarter user interfaces—this episode is packed with takeaways for applying AI in meaningful. ways.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/L0JqoYUH07dd191b-298e-42b3-91a5-77ed05b96161Wed, 28 May 2025 11:00:00 GMT<p>Curious how AI can turn messy, unstructured data into something actually useful? This episode, we dive into a real-world project that explores just that. Senior developer Azriel Alvarado shares how building a song recommendation tool based on lyrics led to deeper insights into embeddings, vector search, and working with natural language data. Whether you're in search, content tagging, knowledge management, or building smarter user interfaces—this episode is packed with takeaways for applying AI in meaningful. ways.</p>no00:47:39/ML basics: learning by doingfull    <![CDATA[/AI adoption: from FOMO to fundamentals]]>Has AI finally met its moment of truth?
    This week, James sits down with Jim Spignardo, Director of Cloud Strategy & AI Enablement at ProArch, to explore how enterprises are moving from curiosity to competence with AI. They talk data, security, productivity, and the shift from “let’s try AI” to “let’s solve real problems with it.”

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/9lyvECagf2d61ba1-3ae8-43e4-940e-f321dc3e38a4Wed, 29 Oct 2025 15:28:38 GMT<p>Has AI finally met its moment of truth?<br />This week, James sits down with Jim Spignardo, Director of Cloud Strategy &amp; AI Enablement at ProArch, to explore how enterprises are moving from curiosity to competence with AI. They talk data, security, productivity, and the shift from “let’s try AI” to “let’s solve real problems with it.”</p>no00:59:46/AI adoption: from FOMO to fundamentalsfull    <![CDATA[/software development: navigating complexities at MSFT]]>On this episode, we dig into the (maybe not so) unique challenges and opportunities of building cutting-edge technology at scale for Microsoft. Nat Pollock, Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft, joins Aaron and James this week, to chat about navigating the complexities of software development at a global tech giant.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/QG9U55G4ed78ee43-1096-4e0a-85a9-2c3890df88ddWed, 01 Jan 2025 13:00:00 GMT<p>On this episode, we dig into the (maybe not so) unique challenges and opportunities of building cutting-edge technology at scale for Microsoft. Nat Pollock, Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft, joins Aaron and James this week, to chat about navigating the complexities of software development at a global tech giant.</p>no00:58:18/software development: navigating complexities at MSFTfull    <![CDATA[/AI: don't miss the shift]]>In this episode James Carman and Aaron Chesny discuss AI and how it will change how coders will work and learn in the future. 

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/xLu8ibZZ22ca0401-b89d-46f4-a2d8-d00331e0d78eMon, 02 Sep 2024 16:35:12 GMT<p>In this episode James Carman and Aaron Chesny discuss AI and how it will change how coders will work and learn in the future. </p>no00:40:53/AI: don't miss the shiftfull    <![CDATA[/quality assurance: test, don't check]]>Is QA slowing you down? We unpack why traditional, siloed QA creates friction—and how a player-coach approach to test automation can embed quality across your team. Learn how shifting the mindset from “quality as a function” to “quality as a culture” leads to faster feedback, stronger collaboration, and better software.
    Perfect for CTOs, tech leads, and teams ready to level up their delivery.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/S84H1SRrcccb8815-5806-44cb-afc6-9df1bce2473bWed, 09 Apr 2025 11:13:00 GMT<p>Is QA slowing you down? We unpack why traditional, siloed QA creates friction—and how a <em>player-coach</em> approach to test automation can embed quality across your team. Learn how shifting the mindset from “quality as a function” to “quality as a culture” leads to faster feedback, stronger collaboration, and better software.<br />Perfect for CTOs, tech leads, and teams ready to level up their delivery.</p>no01:01:20/quality assurance: test, don't checkfull    <![CDATA[Episode 0: Introduction]]>In this episode we introduce the hosts and the podcast itself.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/d4dxkRL-f7f84e49-b4f3-4417-955e-d29eaf0adba3Thu, 02 May 2024 19:41:35 GMT<p>In this episode we introduce the hosts and the podcast itself.</p>no00:16:05Episode 0: Introductionfull    <![CDATA[/generative AI: beginner's guide]]>Can you build a working AI chatbot without any prior AI knowledge? Rachel did—and here’s how. In this episode, senior software developer, Rachel Clifton joins James to share how she tackled her very first AI project—building a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) chatbot from scratch. Rachel breaks down the beginner-friendly tools that made it possible, including Spring AI, Apache Tika, and PGVector, and opens up about the challenges of chunking, hallucinations, and missing metadata. If you’ve been curious about AI but don’t know where to start, this episode is a practical, encouraging place to begin.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/zDyk57Vv9a8a1157-35b6-4d85-bec1-bf05a7e894a4Wed, 14 May 2025 18:19:25 GMT<p>Can you build a working AI chatbot without any prior AI knowledge? Rachel did—and here’s how. In this episode, senior software developer, Rachel Clifton joins James to share how she tackled her very first AI project—building a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) chatbot from scratch. Rachel breaks down the beginner-friendly tools that made it possible, including Spring AI, Apache Tika, and PGVector, and opens up about the challenges of chunking, hallucinations, and missing metadata. If you’ve been curious about AI but don’t know where to start, this episode is a practical, encouraging place to begin.</p>no00:40:36/generative AI: beginner's guidefull    <![CDATA[/platform engineering: rethinking complexity in tech]]>Everyone’s talking about AI, but are you overlooking the real driver of developer productivity? On this episode of The Forward Slash, Dillon Courts, Callibrity’s Director of Platform Engineering, shares what he’s learned about building high-performing platforms, the real limits of the “everyone does everything” DevOps model, and why self-service tools are changing the game for software teams. He also explains why leaders who focus on eliminating inefficiency are pulling ahead of those who just follow tech trends.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/cxhNeTV148822801-d6c2-4c5d-b189-37ee72f71ad0Wed, 06 Aug 2025 11:00:00 GMT<p>Everyone’s talking about AI, but are you overlooking the real driver of developer productivity? On this episode of The Forward Slash, Dillon Courts, Callibrity’s Director of Platform Engineering, shares what he’s learned about building high-performing platforms, the real limits of the “everyone does everything” DevOps model, and why self-service tools are changing the game for software teams. He also explains why leaders who focus on eliminating inefficiency are pulling ahead of those who just follow tech trends.</p>no01:14:04/platform engineering: rethinking complexity in techfull    <![CDATA[/tech meets money: a new way to budget]]>Most people think of budgeting as restrictive, tedious, or something they’ll “get around to.” But what if it didn’t have to be that way? In this episode, we explore how technology, AI, and a little human coaching are reshaping not only how we manage money—but how modern platforms are blending automation with personal connection to drive real, lasting change. From building better financial habits to scaling a startup, it all comes down to aligning your tools—and your spending—with what matters most.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/D_uTWRLP3f4a47aa-8f40-4c5e-8c10-f058533b690fWed, 25 Jun 2025 11:01:00 GMT<p>Most people think of budgeting as restrictive, tedious, or something they’ll “get around to.” But what if it didn’t have to be that way? In this episode, we explore how technology, AI, and a little human coaching are reshaping not only how we manage money—but how modern platforms are blending automation with personal connection to drive real, lasting change. From building better financial habits to scaling a startup, it all comes down to aligning your tools—and your spending—with what matters most.</p>no00:54:44/tech meets money: a new way to budgetfull    <![CDATA[/outcome engineering: the end of feature factories]]>What if your transformation plan is the thing holding you back?

    This week, James welcomes Carol Houle, CEO of Inspire Digital Consulting, to dive into the mindset shift from rigid planning to adaptive execution. They explore how to connect OKRs to customer value, replace feature wish lists with measurable outcomes, and finally move from building more to building what matters.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/QK1oMFOwa6eb4fbe-856b-4fd0-bc03-b63327daa27dWed, 05 Nov 2025 13:40:48 GMT<p>What if your transformation plan is the thing holding you back?</p><p>This week, James welcomes Carol Houle, CEO of Inspire Digital Consulting, to dive into the mindset shift from rigid planning to adaptive execution. They explore how to connect OKRs to customer value, replace feature wish lists with measurable outcomes, and finally move from building more to building what matters.</p>no01:07:00/outcome engineering: the end of feature factoriesfull    <![CDATA[/modernization: out with the old]]>We discuss legacy systems development with Dillon Courts

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/IH7iVksFcd41cf9f-8462-4802-9c59-2fba983325deMon, 10 Jun 2024 14:21:18 GMT<p>We discuss legacy systems development with Dillon Courts</p>no00:47:26/modernization: out with the oldfull    <![CDATA[/developer advocate: more than a cheerleader]]>In this episode of The Forward Slash, James sits down with Guy Royse, Developer Advocate at Redis, Guy shares insights into what it means to be a developer advocate—helping engineers solve problems, teaching new technologies, and building communities. He and James dive into the world of conferences, discussing the value of in-person events, networking, and staying ahead of industry trends.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/FA_iXrPt13e3b294-68c1-41c2-b010-43893618563aWed, 26 Mar 2025 13:59:23 GMT<p>In this episode of The <em>Forward Slash</em>, James sits down with <strong>Guy Royse</strong>, <strong>Developer Advocate at Redis</strong>, Guy shares insights into what it means to be a developer advocate—helping engineers solve problems, teaching new technologies, and building communities. He and James dive into the world of conferences, discussing the value of in-person events, networking, and staying ahead of industry trends.</p>no01:29:32/developer advocate: more than a cheerleaderfull    <![CDATA[/foundations: the art of uncovering why]]>In this episode, we sit down with Steve Berardelli, leader of Callibrity's Foundations practice, to explore the art of uncovering the why behind every client need. With over 20 years of experience developing enterprise-level software and building strong cross-functional relationships, Steve shares his expertise on how understanding the core problem sets teams up for success—and why creating a thoughtful plan doesn’t mean you abandon the need to be agile

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/uQrMugNl561843db-8408-4e5d-96a5-76cef163c732Wed, 11 Dec 2024 13:00:00 GMT<p>In this episode, we sit down with Steve Berardelli, leader of Callibrity's Foundations practice, to explore the art of uncovering the <em>why</em> behind every client need. With over 20 years of experience developing enterprise-level software and building strong cross-functional relationships, Steve shares his expertise on how understanding the core problem sets teams up for success—and why creating a thoughtful plan doesn’t mean you abandon the need to be agile</p>no01:31:33/foundations: the art of uncovering whyfull    <![CDATA[/product development: from chaos to clarity]]>Callibrity's own Product Practice lead Ryan Wilson joins Aaron and James to discuss product thinking in a consulting firm

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/0G8o7I_7efd6ac6b-31a5-492a-8a97-425148b75ed9Tue, 25 Jun 2024 20:11:00 GMT<p>Callibrity's own Product Practice lead Ryan Wilson joins Aaron and James to discuss product thinking in a consulting firm</p>no00:45:30/product development: from chaos to clarityfull    <![CDATA[/growth: comfort zones are traps]]>James and Aaron are joined by Callibrity developer Daniel Silva to talk what he does to continually grow as a person, and as a software developer. 

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/sxG8WUgX5eaa2c0a-cc2b-4e78-a652-694e87d80faeThu, 18 Jul 2024 16:48:56 GMT<p>James and Aaron are joined by Callibrity developer Daniel Silva to talk what he does to continually grow as a person, and as a software developer. </p>no00:51:22/growth: comfort zones are trapsfull    <![CDATA[/resilient systems: fail-proof by design]]>Can your software handle failure—or write its own test code? In this episode, we dive into temporal workflows, agentic AI, and no-code automation tools like N8N to explore how developers can build resilient, scalable applications faster. Learn how to navigate unreliable APIs, implement AI-powered code generation, and prototype with no-code platforms to supercharge your software development process.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/yBR1SIPF0fe819e2-b9f0-4f1f-9b5c-6edc3b620791Wed, 23 Apr 2025 11:00:00 GMT<p>Can your software handle failure—or write its own test code? In this episode, we dive into temporal workflows, agentic AI, and no-code automation tools like N8N to explore how developers can build resilient, scalable applications faster. Learn how to navigate unreliable APIs, implement AI-powered code generation, and prototype with no-code platforms to supercharge your software development process.</p>no00:47:37/resilient systems: fail-proof by designfull    <![CDATA[/API sprawl: herding the chaos]]>Wrangling APIs? Dreaming about AI agents that actually get your specs? This episode delivers. We chat with Dave Shanley (aka quobix)—a musician-turned-engineer with a sci-fi streak—about cutting through the noise of OpenAPI standards, building tools developers actually want to use, and how to stay grounded while navigating the fast-moving world of agentic AI.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/VYphMS2865e64935-e62e-4c1c-9efb-e66f3c6a94ecWed, 04 Jun 2025 11:00:00 GMT<p>Wrangling APIs? Dreaming about AI agents that actually <em>get</em> your specs? This episode delivers. We chat with Dave Shanley (aka quobix)—a musician-turned-engineer with a sci-fi streak—about cutting through the noise of OpenAPI standards, building tools developers actually <em>want</em> to use, and how to stay grounded while navigating the fast-moving world of agentic AI.</p>no00:54:44/API sprawl: herding the chaosfull    <![CDATA[Episode 2: Founding a Technology Consulting Company with Mark Wehby]]>In this episode, we sit down with Mark Wehby, CEO of Callibrity. Mark shares some insights with us about his 25+ year career and what it's like to be a technology consulting company founder.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/MRCS34Jee99f6143-803e-4029-aeb0-d34c19716cd1Fri, 17 May 2024 17:00:21 GMT<p><strong>In this episode, we sit down with Mark Wehby, CEO of Callibrity. Mark shares some insights with us about his 25+ year career and what it's like to be a technology consulting company founder.</strong></p>no00:44:18Episode 2: Founding a Technology Consulting Company with Mark Wehbyfull    <![CDATA[/design: build with empathy]]>Ocean Eiler joins the team to talk about core philosophy: Everything is design. In this wide ranging discussion, Ocean, James, and Aaron talk about the importance of the DIY spirt in design and development, having empathy for your users, and so much more. Our guest turns the tables on the hosts as he brings some lightening round questions of his own.
    Ocean is currently the Associate Director of Design and Sound for PBS Kids

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/houkll-M6f2a0bfb-dab0-42f6-9be2-200e6be02a76Mon, 18 Nov 2024 21:00:00 GMT<p>Ocean Eiler joins the team to talk about core philosophy: Everything is design. In this wide ranging discussion, Ocean, James, and Aaron talk about the importance of the DIY spirt in design and development, having empathy for your users, and so much more. Our guest turns the tables on the hosts as he brings some lightening round questions of his own. <br />Ocean is currently the Associate Director of Design and Sound for PBS Kids</p>no01:19:21/design: build with empathyfull    <![CDATA[/product strategy: adapting to AI]]>Is AI making product design smarter—or just noisier? This week, James talks with Erica Price, product experience leader, about how AI is reshaping UX, product design, and job dynamics. From ADHD hyper-focus as a superpower to the limits of chat interfaces, Erica shares practical insights on using AI as a tool—not a replacement—in the future of design.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/gy3J3cb2a81ad8a7-c559-4b1a-ba5f-c7d98946fc42Thu, 02 Oct 2025 16:31:37 GMT<p><strong>Is AI making product design smarter—or just noisier?</strong> This week, James talks with Erica Price, product experience leader, about how AI is reshaping UX, product design, and job dynamics. From ADHD hyper-focus as a superpower to the limits of chat interfaces, Erica shares practical insights on using AI as a tool—not a replacement—in the future of design.</p>no00:52:30/product strategy: adapting to AIfull    <![CDATA[/crypto IRL: what happens next?]]>What happens when crypto collides with real-world regulation? In this episode, we unpack how stablecoins work, why they matter, and how they’re poised to disrupt everything from cross-border payments to brand loyalty programs. We also explore what developers and businesses should be thinking about as the lines between traditional finance and DeFi continue to blur.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/EKNtds-K546412be-68a6-461a-bdf2-38377ee489c3Thu, 21 Aug 2025 13:29:12 GMT<p>What happens when crypto collides with real-world regulation? In this episode, we unpack how stablecoins work, why they matter, and how they’re poised to disrupt everything from cross-border payments to brand loyalty programs. We also explore what developers and businesses should be thinking about as the lines between traditional finance and DeFi continue to blur.</p>no01:15:57/crypto IRL: what happens next?full    <![CDATA[/AI development: no engineers required]]>What happens when anyone can build software...but no one checks the code? Bruno Borges, Principal PM Manager at Microsoft, joins The Forward Slash to unpack how AI is reshaping software development—from prototyping to architecture—and the hidden risks of skipping the fundamentals.

    We also dive into Microsoft’s surprising evolution into a Java powerhouse, the rise of prompt-driven development, and why real engineering expertise still matters more than ever.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/05jW2xep2495c889-73a9-4d9f-8dee-dd6950a41bb2Wed, 27 Aug 2025 16:43:37 GMT<p>What happens when anyone can build software...but no one checks the code? Bruno Borges, Principal PM Manager at Microsoft, joins <em>The Forward Slash</em> to unpack how AI is reshaping software development—from prototyping to architecture—and the hidden risks of skipping the fundamentals.</p><p>We also dive into Microsoft’s surprising evolution into a Java powerhouse, the rise of prompt-driven development, and why real engineering expertise still matters more than ever.</p>no01:30:28/AI development: no engineers requiredfull    <![CDATA[/dev productivity: beyond vibe coding hype]]>Is AI making developers more productive... or just making us feel that way? Adam Barrett joins James this week to cut through the vibe coding hype. They dig into why requirements and context still matter, how React became the LLM default, and what zero-dependency coding could mean for security. From junior talent to quantum risks, this episode challenges how we think about building software in the AI era.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/hjQS4wSQ2481950f-25ae-4592-baf3-32b65f6ff151Wed, 17 Sep 2025 13:22:02 GMT<p>Is AI making developers more productive... or just making us feel that way? Adam Barrett joins James this week to cut through the vibe coding hype. They dig into why requirements and context still matter, how React became the LLM default, and what zero-dependency coding could mean for security. From junior talent to quantum risks, this episode challenges how we think about building software in the AI era.</p>no01:13:40/dev productivity: beyond vibe coding hypefull    <![CDATA[Episode 1: Tales From the Trenches with Josh Marotti]]>We sit down with Josh Marotti to hear some tales from the trenches from his 25+ year career.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/fN5EmstA7d48567c-f5d0-4b28-9a47-bc85391f5637Tue, 23 Apr 2024 17:52:03 GMT<p>We sit down with Josh Marotti to hear some tales from the trenches from his 25+ year career.</p>no00:30:57Episode 1: Tales From the Trenches with Josh Marottifull    <![CDATA[/GenAI: the good, the bad, the ugly]]>Callibrity's AI Practice Lead joins the podcast to talk about the past, present, and future of generative AI. Recorded live September 2024 at Callibrity's Annual Team Summit.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/3FR0sly60f519cff-dd00-41bd-825f-da515cfb41ebMon, 11 Nov 2024 21:16:00 GMT<p>Callibrity's AI Practice Lead joins the podcast to talk about the past, present, and future of generative AI. Recorded live September 2024 at Callibrity's Annual Team Summit.</p>no00:53:41/GenAI: the good, the bad, the uglyfull    <![CDATA[/AI at scale: the hidden costs of the cloud]]>What does it really take to run AI at scale? In this episode, cloud architect James McShane joins James to explore how Kubernetes became the backbone of modern tech, why the cloud isn’t always the cheapest answer, and what most people miss about keeping AI systems healthy after launch. From GPU scarcity to “vibe coding” gone wrong, this conversation pulls back the curtain on the choices shaping the future of software.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/fByc_m9Fc337d021-b02b-498c-a314-6a071fe96568Wed, 24 Sep 2025 14:25:27 GMT<p>What does it really take to run AI at scale? In this episode, cloud architect James McShane joins James to explore how Kubernetes became the backbone of modern tech, why the cloud isn’t always the cheapest answer, and what most people miss about keeping AI systems healthy after launch. From GPU scarcity to “vibe coding” gone wrong, this conversation pulls back the curtain on the choices shaping the future of software.</p>no01:06:27/AI at scale: the hidden costs of the cloudfull    <![CDATA[/DevSecOps: security at scale]]>James and Aaron are joined this episode by David Imhoff. David is the Director of DevSecOps and Product Security at Kroger. They dive deep into application security, and how to champion security within your organization. 

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/6GnFABJ1da96cf32-0000-4de9-bb9b-eed207e79212Mon, 04 Nov 2024 20:33:15 GMT<p>James and Aaron are joined this episode by David Imhoff. David is the Director of DevSecOps and Product Security at Kroger. They dive deep into application security, and how to champion security within your organization. </p>no01:16:21/DevSecOps: security at scalefull    <![CDATA[/Agile: dead or transformed?]]>In this episode of The Forward Slash Podcast, James and Aaron sit down with special guest Tracy Beeson, Director of Transformation at Health Alliance Plan. They explore shifting Agile methodologies, new frameworks, and evolving industry demands, and ask the big question: Is Agile dead, or has it simply transformed?

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/h-dI651lae672b1b-4fac-4ca9-9223-f88cad5382bdWed, 12 Feb 2025 13:16:00 GMT<p>In this episode of <em>The Forward Slash Podcast</em>, James and Aaron sit down with special guest Tracy Beeson, Director of Transformation at Health Alliance Plan. They explore shifting Agile methodologies, new frameworks, and evolving industry demands, and ask the big question: Is Agile dead, or has it simply transformed?</p>no01:27:24/Agile: dead or transformed?full    <![CDATA[/digital transformation: inside the CIO playbook at Fifth Third]]>What does it take to modernize a 165-year-old bank?
    This week, James talks with Jude Schramm, EVP & CIO at Fifth Third Bank, about leading digital transformation in a highly regulated industry. From scaling agile across 200+ teams to rethinking core systems and adopting AI, Jude shares how he’s helping one of America’s largest banks move faster while keeping customer trust at the center.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/-dFSePWI1dbd14b0-88a8-4ef6-b964-49a5da7e6586Thu, 04 Sep 2025 12:31:28 GMT<p><strong>What does it take to modernize a 165-year-old bank?</strong><br />This week, James talks with <strong>Jude Schramm, EVP &amp; CIO at Fifth Third Bank</strong>, about leading digital transformation in a highly regulated industry. From scaling agile across 200+ teams to rethinking core systems and adopting AI, Jude shares how he’s helping one of America’s largest banks move faster while keeping customer trust at the center.</p>no01:10:49/digital transformation: inside the CIO playbook at Fifth Thirdfull    <![CDATA[/dev ops: shipping without drama]]>John Kimball joins the podcast to talk with the team about Dev Ops, Agile, and mistakes companies make when adopting Agile. 

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/rHRZ2XD059cfaf16-7512-400a-be0a-cfb8f3f17916Mon, 30 Sep 2024 15:01:00 GMT<p>John Kimball joins the podcast to talk with the team about Dev Ops, Agile, and mistakes companies make when adopting Agile. </p>no00:51:48/dev ops: shipping without dramafull    <![CDATA[/productivity: tips and methods for getting things done]]>Erik Przekop joins James and Aaron today to talk about different personal productivity methods, team dynamics, and what it means to be a consultant versus just filling a role. They dive deep into practical productivity tips, and team safety. 

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/IbN32t6wa45c6db9-508a-469e-8096-890c3e750548Mon, 21 Oct 2024 12:00:00 GMT<p>Erik Przekop joins James and Aaron today to talk about different personal productivity methods, team dynamics, and what it means to be a consultant versus just filling a role. They dive deep into practical productivity tips, and team safety. </p>no01:11:12/productivity: tips and methods for getting things donefull    <![CDATA[/empathy: the importance of feeling heard]]>Yum! Brands UX Manager Erica Price joins Aaron and James today. They talk about using empathy with users, brand managers, and subject matter experts to make sure everyone feels heard. They also discuss user-forward design, UX testing, and and how AI can support all of this work.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/oK567YQz4c958ac5-f574-4648-b325-83505a54e322Wed, 04 Dec 2024 21:30:00 GMT<p>Yum! Brands UX Manager Erica Price joins Aaron and James today. They talk about using empathy with users, brand managers, and subject matter experts to make sure everyone feels heard. They also discuss user-forward design, UX testing, and and how AI can support all of this work.</p>no01:43:08/empathy: the importance of feeling heardfull    <![CDATA[/design culture: too many cooks]]>How do you build user-centered digital products in a world obsessed with trends and AI hype?
    In this episode, UX researcher and digital psychologist Dr. Nick Fine joins James to share expert insights on human-centered design, behavioral science, and the real meaning of user experience. Learn how to apply UX research methods that drive product success, avoid common pitfalls in agile teams, and use AI tools without sacrificing product integrity.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/LqZYP6nD9d8482ee-1779-4a09-b2f2-ce383821b642Wed, 11 Jun 2025 11:00:00 GMT<p>How do you build user-centered digital products in a world obsessed with trends and AI hype?<br />In this episode, UX researcher and digital psychologist Dr. Nick Fine joins James to share expert insights on human-centered design, behavioral science, and the real meaning of user experience. Learn how to apply UX research methods that drive product success, avoid common pitfalls in agile teams, and use AI tools without sacrificing product integrity.</p>no01:15:44/design culture: too many cooksfull    <![CDATA[/platform engineering: game-changing discipline]]>In the latest The Forward Slash podcast episode, we’re diving deep into this game-changing discipline with Joel Vasallo, Senior Director of Platform Engineering at TAG - The Aspen Group. From redefining workflows to tackling unique challenges in healthcare and beyond, this conversation is a must-listen for anyone passionate about building better systems and better developer experiences.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/MnFruFA2bb4c5fd3-0e8a-407b-91a8-01fa979fbdf7Wed, 15 Jan 2025 12:00:00 GMT<p>In the latest <em>The Forward Slash</em> podcast episode, we’re diving deep into this game-changing discipline with <strong>Joel Vasallo</strong>, Senior Director of Platform Engineering at TAG - The Aspen Group. From redefining workflows to tackling unique challenges in healthcare and beyond, this conversation is a must-listen for anyone passionate about building better systems <em>and</em> better developer experiences.</p>no01:18:17/platform engineering: game-changing disciplinefull    <![CDATA[/AI strategy: back to business basics]]>In this episode of The Forward Slash, James talks with Michael Pompey, AI Evangelist at Arrow Electronics, about the messy middle between innovation and impact. They discuss lessons from mission-driven organizations, the danger of chasing hype, and why the next evolution of transformation will be adaptive, not architectural. From AI to governance to leadership trust, this conversation is a candid look at what actually drives change in organizations.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/HExEc0N626638fc6-5005-4ccb-9df6-9f830737d3c6Wed, 12 Nov 2025 15:28:14 GMT<p>In this episode of <em>The Forward Slash</em>, James talks with Michael Pompey, AI Evangelist at Arrow Electronics, about the messy middle between innovation and impact. They discuss lessons from mission-driven organizations, the danger of chasing hype, and why the next evolution of transformation will be adaptive, not architectural. From AI to governance to leadership trust, this conversation is a candid look at what actually drives change in organizations.</p>no01:09:42/AI strategy: back to business basicsfull    <![CDATA[/soft skills: the secret to efficiency]]>Are soft skills the secret weapon of high-performing technologists? In this episode, we sit down with Aaron Tyler, Senior Staff Consultant at Callibrity and a Full-Stack & iOS Polyglot Programmer, to explore how mastering soft skills can sharpen technical execution, improve collaboration, and elevate engineering teams to new levels of efficiency.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/Le-wCD1t1c0cb526-592b-4142-9cfb-60a4ac900195Wed, 26 Feb 2025 16:46:36 GMT<p>Are soft skills the secret weapon of high-performing technologists? In this episode, we sit down with <strong>Aaron Tyler</strong>, Senior Staff Consultant at Callibrity and a Full-Stack &amp; iOS Polyglot Programmer, to explore how mastering soft skills can sharpen technical execution, improve collaboration, and elevate engineering teams to new levels of efficiency.</p>no01:16:34/soft skills: the secret to efficiencyfull    <![CDATA[/coding culture: from nerd to necessary]]>How did coding go from something niche and isolating to one of the most valuable skills in the modern workforce?
    In this episode of Forward Slash, we look at how the role of the developer has evolved—from outsider status to essential strategist. Drawing on decades of experience, Mark Stahl shares how the culture around coding has changed, and why understanding systems, context, and collaboration now matters more than syntax. We also explore the often-overlooked power of clear requirements—how they bridge the gap between business needs and code, and why they’ll matter even more in an AI-driven future.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/ZGr_QEIE9fd9aaff-2f49-412f-8f9a-8b330be64745Wed, 18 Jun 2025 11:00:00 GMT<p>How did coding go from something niche and isolating to one of the most valuable skills in the modern workforce?<br />In this episode of <em>Forward Slash</em>, we look at how the role of the developer has evolved—from outsider status to essential strategist. Drawing on decades of experience, Mark Stahl shares how the culture around coding has changed, and why understanding systems, context, and collaboration now matters more than syntax. We also explore the often-overlooked power of clear requirements—how they bridge the gap between business needs and code, and why they’ll matter even more in an AI-driven future.</p>no01:19:47/coding culture: from nerd to necessaryfull    <![CDATA[/AI: the "jagged frontier"]]>James and Aaron welcome Matt Coatney, a seasoned technology executive and AI expert, to explore the evolving role of artificial intelligence in business. They discuss the critical data foundations companies need to prepare for AI/ML, the “jagged frontier” of generative AI and its strengths and weaknesses, and real-world examples of how AI/ML adds value for businesses.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/q4JRPC46d92184f5-8891-4254-adb5-54039d857c20Wed, 27 Nov 2024 13:00:00 GMT<p>James and Aaron welcome Matt Coatney, a seasoned technology executive and AI expert, to explore the evolving role of artificial intelligence in business. They discuss the critical data foundations companies need to prepare for AI/ML, the “jagged frontier” of generative AI and its strengths and weaknesses, and real-world examples of how AI/ML adds value for businesses.</p>no01:25:45/AI: the "jagged frontier"full    <![CDATA[/superpowers: discover your talents]]>This episode James and Arron are joined by Assistant CIO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati to talk about how to discover your own talents, and how to see them in others. 

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/4zCw7hl8739f0aca-ba9c-4ea6-9f35-55ddd58b1619Mon, 19 Aug 2024 14:41:28 GMT<p>This episode James and Arron are joined by Assistant CIO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati to talk about how to discover your own talents, and how to see them in others. </p>no00:32:27/superpowers: discover your talentsfull    <![CDATA[/AI talent: why juniors still matter]]>Can AI really replace junior software engineers? Jason Pedone, CTO at Aspida and former SVP at Truist, joins James Carman to tackle one of the most debated questions in tech today. They explore why cutting early-career talent puts your entire pipeline at risk, how AI can boost productivity without killing creativity, and what happens when companies chase short-term savings over long-term engineering strength.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/NdS1wk0317537008-8012-4cc5-ad2c-198675e32026Wed, 10 Sep 2025 11:23:14 GMT<p>Can AI really replace junior software engineers? Jason Pedone, CTO at Aspida and former SVP at Truist, joins James Carman to tackle one of the most debated questions in tech today. They explore why cutting early-career talent puts your entire pipeline at risk, how AI can boost productivity without killing creativity, and what happens when companies chase short-term savings over long-term engineering strength.</p>no01:13:46/AI talent: why juniors still matterfull    <![CDATA[/reinforcement learning: feedback is fuel]]>What do toddlers learning to walk and robots learning to cook soup have in common? In this episode, data scientist Steven Nord joins James to explore the fundamentals of reinforcement learning (RL)—a key concept in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)—and its real-world applications in predictive maintenance, automation, robotics, and AI-powered systems. They explain the differences between supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning, and how models like ChatGPT use Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) to improve performance and accuracy.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/tEYay6K-ae41e3ec-29e5-4fc9-9adc-c2cf1f96a3faWed, 07 May 2025 11:00:00 GMT<p>What do toddlers learning to walk and robots learning to cook soup have in common? In this episode, data scientist Steven Nord joins James to explore the fundamentals of <strong>reinforcement learning (RL)</strong>—a key concept in <strong>machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)</strong>—and its real-world applications in <strong>predictive maintenance, automation, robotics, and AI-powered systems</strong>. They explain the differences between <strong>supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning</strong>, and how models like <strong>ChatGPT use Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF)</strong> to improve performance and accuracy.</p>no00:36:37/reinforcement learning: feedback is fuelfull    <![CDATA[/test automation: build stronger pipelines]]>Today James and Aaron are joined by test automation expert Jonathan Thompson who talks about how companies can make deployment pipelines stronger with test automation. 

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/YlQBecc49b14d8f2-dc4c-4c56-84c9-b4b3dd2c6a79Mon, 05 Aug 2024 14:00:51 GMT<p>Today James and Aaron are joined by test automation expert Jonathan Thompson who talks about how companies can make deployment pipelines stronger with test automation. </p>no00:51:44/test automation: build stronger pipelinesfull    <![CDATA[/engineering ops: orchestrating AI at scale]]>Is platform engineering the missing link in real AI adoption?

    This week, we welcome Matan Grady, lead AI PM at Port, to unpack why platform engineering is the control plane for AI adoption. We cover the move from chat UIs to agentic workflows, what it takes to trust AI in production (secrets, permissions, guardrails, human-in-the-loop), and how MCP servers connect agents to calendars, docs, and code. Matan explains why AI evals should measure outcomes—not outputs—and shares a real win: turning a manual changelog into an AI agent PMs simply review. Its a pragmatic look at developer portals, coding agents, and the evolving role of engineers as orchestrators who architect, observe, and ship faster.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/B0_W_c6lc8e64bf6-bf4f-48ee-808a-1487ab309dccThu, 09 Oct 2025 13:20:00 GMT<p>Is platform engineering the missing link in real AI adoption?</p><p>This week, we welcome Matan Grady, lead AI PM at Port, to unpack why platform engineering is the control plane for AI adoption. We cover the move from chat UIs to agentic workflows, what it takes to trust AI in production (secrets, permissions, guardrails, human-in-the-loop), and how MCP servers connect agents to calendars, docs, and code. Matan explains why AI evals should measure outcomes—not outputs—and shares a real win: turning a manual changelog into an AI agent PMs simply review. Its a pragmatic look at developer portals, coding agents, and the evolving role of engineers as orchestrators who architect, observe, and ship faster.</p>no01:04:28/engineering ops: orchestrating AI at scalefull    <![CDATA[/software security: from protected to productive]]>This week, James and Aaron explore modern security challenges and opportunities with Tyler Welton, a 15+ year InfoSec expert. They discuss open-source vulnerabilities, confusion attacks in third-party tools, and how security products can help developers stay productive while staying protected.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/d3kv28V986a0d116-9ddd-4111-89b9-3dd8ff372f14Wed, 29 Jan 2025 13:00:00 GMT<p>This week, James and Aaron explore modern security challenges and opportunities with Tyler Welton, a 15+ year InfoSec expert. They discuss open-source vulnerabilities, confusion attacks in third-party tools, and how security products can help developers stay productive while staying protected.</p>no01:10:41/software security: from protected to productivefull    <![CDATA[/front end dev: scale your thinking]]>James and Aaron are joined by Adam Barrett to discuss software rewrites and web front end development. After almost 2 decades of web development, and over a decade of consulting at companies from large enterprises to tiny startups, Adam has learned a thing or two about the business of the web.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/IlFcbilVd82c11d1-1bcd-4033-9b12-fd762c7459b5Mon, 14 Oct 2024 18:30:55 GMT<p>James and Aaron are joined by Adam Barrett to discuss software rewrites and web front end development. After almost 2 decades of web development, and over a decade of consulting at companies from large enterprises to tiny startups, Adam has learned a thing or two about the business of the web.</p>no01:25:26/front end dev: scale your thinkingfull    <![CDATA[/digital health: rewriting the rules of care]]>What if AI could hear what doctors can’t?

    This week James welcomes, Dr. Morris Nguyen, founder and CEO of Predicate, to explore how AI is transforming healthcare by combining patient voice and vital signs to detect critical illness early. Morris shares his journey from critical care physician to tech founder, what it takes to bridge medicine and machine learning, and why empathy may be AI’s most powerful feature. Together, they unpack what it means to build predictive, equitable healthcare technology, and the surprising challenges of scaling real-world innovation.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/mUBIHT9Jcc5a3b5a-c7ba-4fd0-9068-39b93c1bba0dThu, 23 Oct 2025 03:05:07 GMT<p><strong>What if AI could hear what doctors can’t?</strong></p><p>This week James welcomes, <strong>Dr. Morris Nguyen</strong>, founder and CEO of <strong>Predicate</strong>, to explore how <strong>AI is transforming healthcare</strong> by combining patient voice and vital signs to detect critical illness early. Morris shares his journey from <strong>critical care physician to tech founder</strong>, what it takes to bridge <strong>medicine and machine learning</strong>, and why empathy may be AI’s most powerful feature. Together, they unpack what it means to build <strong>predictive, equitable healthcare technology, </strong>and the surprising challenges of scaling real-world innovation.</p>no01:02:17/digital health: rewriting the rules of carefull    <![CDATA[/entrepreneurial spirit: balancing creativity with compliance]]>In this episode, we sit down with Rich Schramm, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of vizabli, to explore the essence of entrepreneurship. Rich dives into the complexities of working in highly-regulated industries like medical technology, highlighting how to balance creativity with compliance. Discover the drive it takes to embrace your inner entrepreneur!

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/T0U6sQND81855faf-7f07-4929-82e7-c550c49a92e9Wed, 18 Dec 2024 13:00:00 GMT<p>In this episode, we sit down with Rich Schramm, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of vizabli, to explore the essence of entrepreneurship. Rich dives into the complexities of working in highly-regulated industries like medical technology, highlighting how to balance creativity with compliance. Discover the drive it takes to embrace your inner entrepreneur!</p>no01:30:45/entrepreneurial spirit: balancing creativity with compliancefull    <![CDATA[/leaning into 2025: with lessons from 2024]]>This week on The Forward Slash, James and Aaron dive into more than just a reflection of 2024. They uncover the stories, challenges, and breakthroughs that defined the IT world—and share what it’s really been like creating and hosting this podcast along the way.
    But they don’t stop there! Get ready for bold predictions and key trends to watch as we step into 2025. Whether you're in tech or just curious about the future, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

    ]]>    https://zencastr.com/z/0_-YEsu-e14c6c86-a3ea-4bf9-bfa7-8c0777635901Wed, 25 Dec 2024 13:00:00 GMT<p>This week on <em>The Forward Slash</em>, James and Aaron dive into more than just a reflection of 2024. They uncover the stories, challenges, and breakthroughs that defined the IT world—and share what it’s really been like creating and hosting this podcast along the way.<br />But they don’t stop there! Get ready for bold predictions and key trends to watch as we step into 2025. Whether you're in tech or just curious about the future, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.</p>no00:59:01/leaning into 2025: with lessons from 2024full