GOTO - The Brightest Minds in Tech

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Alex Ewerlöf - Senior Staff Engineer at Volvo Cars & Author of "Reliability Engineering Mindset" Charity Majors - Co-Founder & CTO of honeycomb.io & Co-Author of "Observability Engineering" RESOURCES Alex https://bsky.app/profile/alexewerlof.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexewerlof https://www.alexewerlof.com Charity https://twitter.com/mipsytipsy https://linkedin.com/in/charity-majors https://charity.wtf https://www.honeycomb.io/blog/slos-are-the-api-for-your-engineering-team DESCRIPTION Alex Ewerlöf shares his journey from product engineering to reliability engineering and discusses the practical challenges of implementing Google's SRE practices in real-world companies. He emphasizes the significant gap between Google's idealized SRE approach — which he links to "a fantastic chef's recipe for Michelin-starred restaurants" — and the reality most companies face with limited resources and infrastructure. The discussion covers key topics including the evolution from traditional operations to where engineers own their code in production, the critical importance of choosing SLIs that align with business impact, and how SLOs help set expectations and help the service consumers prepare non-functional requirements. Alex coined the law of 10x per 9 highlighting that reliability isn't free and requires careful cost-benefit analysis. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Alex Ewerlöf • Reliability Engineering Mindset • https://blog.alexewerlof.com/p/rem C. Majors, L. Fong-Jones & G. Miranda • Observability Eng. • https://amzn.to/38scbma C. Majors & L. Campbell • Database Reliability Eng. • https://amzn.to/3ujybdS Alex Hidalgo • Implementing Service Level Objectives • https://amzn.to/4pbWJxw Brian Klaas • Fluke • https://amzn.to/41V1Cko Simler & Hanson • The Elephant in the Br Psst! The Folium Diary has something it wants to tell you - please come a little closer... YOU can change the world - you do it every day. Let's change it for the better, together. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted. https://gotopia.tech Simon Peyton Jones - Key Contributor of Haskell & Engineering Fellow at Epic Games Chelsea Troy - MLOps Tech Lead at Mozilla & Lecturer at University of Chicago RESOURCES Simon https://simon.peytonjones.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Peyton_Jones https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonpj Chelsea https://chelseatroy.com https://social.clawhammer.net/@HeyChelseaTroy https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseatroy Links https://www.barefootcomputing.org https://www.computingatschool.org.uk/resources/2015/january https://www.computingatschool.org.uk/forum-news-blogs/2023/november https://chelseatroy.com/2025/05/14 https://computingeducation.org.uk https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog DESCRIPTION Simon discusses how a simple math problem led him to discover the binary system 55 years ago. He explores how to maintain the essence of computational thinking in an era where AI can instantly solve coding problems, emphasizing concrete, motivated contexts over abstract algorithms. The discussion spans from elementary programming to his unique role as a computing fellow at Epic Games, where he works with CEO Tim Sweeney to design the Verse programming language, proving that even big companies can prioritize denotational semantics over quarterly profits. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Simon Peyton Jones • The Implementation of Functional Programming Languages • https://amzn.to/3HQE0Xn Chelsea Troy • Remote Work Sucks • https://heychelseatroy.gumroad.com/l/remoteworksucks Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted. https://gotopia.tech Andrew Harmel-Law - Technical Principal at Thoughtworks & Author of "Facilitating Software Architecture" Marit van Dijk - Developer Advocate at JetBrains, Java Champion & Open Source Contributor RESOURCES Andrew https://bsky.app/profile/andrewhl.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewharmellaw https://andrewharmellaw.github.io Marit https://bsky.app/profile/maritvandijk.bsky.social https://linkedin.com/in/maritvandijk https://medium.com/@mlvandijk https://maritvandijk.com Links https://facilitatingsoftwarearchitecture.com https://ruthmalan.com https://www.linkedin.com/pulse DESCRIPTION Andrew Harmel-Law discusses their book "Facilitating Software Architecture" and how traditional architecture approaches often become bottlenecks that slow down high-performing development teams. Rather than architects making top-down decisions in isolation, they advocate for a facilitation approach centered on the "advice process". This collaborative method shifts the architect's role from decision-maker to conversation facilitator. The approach has proven successful even in traditional corporate environments, ultimately creating more maintainable code bases where development teams actually enjoy working and can respond effectively to changing requirements. RECOMMENDED BOOK Andrew Harmel-Law • Facilitating Software Architecture • https://amzn.eu/d/5kZKVfU Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast Interviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded at GOTO Copenhagen 2024. https://gotocph.com Russ Olsen - Author of "Getting Clojure" & "Eloquent Ruby" James Lewis - Software Architect & Director at Thoughtworks RESOURCES Russ https://bsky.app/profile/russolsen.bsky.social https://hachyderm.io/@russolsen https://github.com/russolsen https://www.linkedin.com/in/russolsen http://russolsen.com James https://bsky.app/profile/boicy.bovon.org https://linkedin.com/in/james-lewis-microservices https://github.com/boicy https://www.bovon.org Read the full abstract here: https://gotocph.com/2024/sessions/3522 RECOMMENDED BOOKS Russ Olsen • Getting Clojure • https://amzn.to/3J8zI8s Russ Olsen • Eloquent Ruby • https://amzn.to/37gOhcG Russ Olsen • Design Patterns in Ruby • https://amzn.to/3r2uBjW Barry O'Reilly • Unlearn • https://amzn.to/3O3DQeI Jez Humble, Joanne Molesky & Barry O'Reilly • Lean Enterprise • https://amzn.to/3Cpt6ET Sarah Wells • Enabling Microservice Success • https://amzn.to/4aa8xrv Martin Fowler • Refactoring • https://amzn.to/3EVcHXQ Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais • Team Topologies • http://amzn.to/3sVLyLQ Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast Interviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted. https://gotopia.tech Read the full transcription of this interview here: https://gotopia.tech/articles/390 Jessica Kerr - Engineering Manager of Developer Relation at Honeycomb.io & Symmathecist Diana Montalion - Systems Architect, Mentrix Founder & Author of "Learning Systems Thinking" RESOURCES Jessica https://bsky.app/profile/jessitron.bsky.social https://linkedin.com/in/jessicakerr https://www.twitch.tv/jessitronica https://jessitron.com Diana https://bsky.app/profile/dianamontalion.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianamontalion https://montalion.com https://learningsystemsthinking.com DESCRIPTION Systems architect Diana Montalion and engineering manager Jessica Kerr cut through the AI coding hype to explore what these tools actually do well - and where they have room for improvement. Moving beyond the "AI will replace developers" narrative, they reveal how AI assistants excel at the tedious work of typing, scaffolding, and error handling while remaining surprisingly bad at the nuanced thinking that experienced developers bring to complex systems. Their discussion illuminates a more mature relationship with AI tools: one where developers maintain agency over design decisions while leveraging AI's strengths in automation, synthesis, and rapid prototyping. The result is a pragmatic roadmap for using AI to amplify human expertise rather than replace it. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Diana Montalion • Learning Systems Thinking • https://amzn.to/3ZpycdJ Andrew Harmel-Law • Facilitating Software Architecture • https://amzn.eu/d/5kZKVfU Donella H. Meadows • Thinking in Systems • https://amzn.to/3XtqYCV Yu-kai Chou • Actionable Gamification • https:// Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast Interviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted. https://gotopia.tech Read the full transcription of this interview here: https://gotopia.tech/articles/388 Meri Williams - CTO at Pleo & Advisor at Skiller Whale & Kindred Capital Charles Humble - Freelance Techie, Podcaster, Editor, Author & Consultant RESOURCES Meri https://x.com/Geek_Manager https://github.com/geekmanager http://blog.geekmanager.co.uk Charles https://bsky.app/profile/charleshumble.bsky.social https://mastodon.social/@charleshumble https://conissaunce.com Links https://blog.container-solutions.com/managing-remote-teams-in-scaling-organisations DESCRIPTION Join us in a conversation with Meri Williams, an experienced CTO who has led technology teams from 30 to 300 people across organizations. In this candid discussion, Meri shares their journey from reluctant manager to seasoned leader, revealing hard-won insights about scaling teams, avoiding the "Google trap" of copying big tech practices inappropriately, and why investing in onboarding can make or break your organization. With refreshing honesty about management mistakes and the ongoing importance of diversity in building products that serve everyone, this conversation offers practical wisdom for anyone navigating the world of tech leadership. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Meri Williams • The Principles of Project Management • https://amzn.to/4lj5B1G Tom DeMarco & Tim Lister • Peopleware • https://amzn.to/3KJmFOq Marcus Buckingham & Gallup Organization • First, Break All the Rules • https://amzn.to/40xpppI Daniel H. Pink • Drive: The Surpri Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast Interviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Canada Now Bold ideas with the people shaping Canada’s next chapter. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Read the full transcription of the interview here: https://gotopia.tech/episodes/393 Victor Grazi - Oracle Java Champion & Co-Author of "Real-World Java" Jeanne Boyarsky - Oracle Java Champion, Co-Author of "Real-World Java" & "OCP 21 Java Cert Book" Barry Burd - Professor at Drew University, Owner at Burd Brain Consulting & Author of "Java for Dummies" RESOURCES Victor https://x.com/vgrazi https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorgrazi Jeanne https://bsky.app/profile/jeanneboyarsky.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanne-boyarsky Barry https://x.com/allmycode https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-burd Links https://projectlombok.org https://www.selikoff.net/2014/12/07/why-i-like-regular-expressions-who-says-they-arent-readable DESCRIPTION Barry interviews Victor and Jeanne about their book "Real-World Java: Helping You Navigate the Java Ecosystem". Victor emphasizes that knowing how to use your development tools, particularly IDE refactoring features, is a better indicator of developer experience than algorithm tests. Rather than just teaching "hello world" examples, the authors focus on the essential ecosystem components needed to succeed in enterprise Java environments, making it accessible for anyone who knows the Java language but needs to understand the broader technological landscape they'll encounter in professional development roles. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Victor Grazi & Jeanne Boyarsky • Real-World Java • https://amzn.to/4oCEeBR Jeanne Boyarsky & Scott Selikoff • OCP 21 Java Cert Book • https://amzn.to/4lF8OIC Barry Burd • Java For Dummies • https://amzn.to/4mrXC3e Barry Burd • Quantum Computing Algorithms • https://amzn.to/3Josymi Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast Interviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. Read the full transcription of the interview here: https://gotopia.tech/episodes/387 Prof. Andreas Zeller - Faculty at CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security & Author of "The Debugging Book" Clare Sudbery - Independent Technical Coach RESOURCES Andreas https://bsky.app/profile/andreaszeller.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreaszeller https://andreas-zeller.info Clare https://bsky.app/profile/claresudbery.bsky.social https://www.madetech.com/podcast https://insimpleterms.blog Links https://www.debuggingbook.org https://github.com/uds-se/debuggingbook https://www.st.cs.uni-saarland.de/dd DESCRIPTION Programming education has a critical blind spot: while we extensively teach code creation, we barely scratch the surface of testing and give almost no attention to debugging—despite debugging consuming half of all software development time. In this conversation with Clare Sudbery, Prof. Andreas Zeller argues that systematic debugging skills and modern automated debugging tools are the "ugly stepchild" of programming that nobody wants to discuss, yet debugging represents the biggest business risk and time sink in software development. As AI-driven coding becomes more prevalent, this gap will only widen, making investment in proper debugging education and tools not just beneficial but essential for the future of software development. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Andreas Zeller • The Debugging Book • https://www.debuggingbook.org Sy Brand • Building a Debugger • https://amzn.to/4cWWr84 Nora Sandler • Writing a C Compiler • https://amzn.to/3Z6SMhU Bjarne Stroustrup • Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ • https://amzn.to/3I5Q335 Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast Interviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Read the full transcription of the interview here: https://gotopia.tech/episodes/389 Alessandro Colla - Partner & Head of Development at Evoluzione & Co-Author of "Domain-Driven Refactoring" Alberto Acerbis - Software Architect at Intré & Co-Author of "Domain-Driven Refactoring" Xin Yao - Independent Consultant Contextualizing DDD & Sociotechnical Architecture RESOURCES Alessandro https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandrocolla https://www.alessandrocolla.com Alberto https://www.linkedin.com/in/aacerbis https://albertoacerbis.com Xin https://bsky.app/profile/settling-mud.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/in/xinxin Links https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Domain-driven-Refactoring https://github.com/BrewUp DESCRIPTION Legacy code isn't just old - it's a treasure chest of lost business knowledge waiting to be rediscovered. Alessandro Colla and Alberto Acerbis share their battle-tested approach to domain-driven refactoring, explaining why you should start with understanding the business problem before touching a single line of code. Like Michelangelo seeing the statue of David hidden in marble, they show how the right solution already exists within your legacy codebase—you just need the right tools and techniques to set it free. From event storming workshops over beer to modular monoliths as stepping stones, these "double-A battery" developers prove that thoughtful, incremental refactoring beats flashy microservices migrations every time. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Colla & Acerbis • Domain-Driven Refactoring • https://amzn.to/3I3I7zf Evans • Domain-Driven Design • https://amzn.to/3tnGhwm Vernon • Implementing Domain-Driven Design • https://amzn.to/44r39PB Nilsson • Applying Domain-Driven Design and Patterns • https://amzn.to/3GoxYw Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast Interviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded at GOTO Copenhagen 2024. https://gotocph.com Daniel Terhorst-North - Originator of Behavior Driven Development (BDD) & Principal at Dan North & Associates Kevlin Henney - Consultant, Programmer, Keynote Speaker, Technologist, Trainer & Writer RESOURCES Daniel https://bsky.app/profile/tastapod.com https://twitter.com/tastapod https://www.linkedin.com/in/tastapod https://github.com/tastapod https://mastodon.social/@tastapod http://dannorth.net/blog Kevlin https://bsky.app/profile/kevlin.bsky.social https://about.me/kevlin https://twitter.com/KevlinHenney https://linkedin.com/in/kevlin https://instagram.com/kevlin.henney https://kevlinhenney.medium.com Links https://jaoo.dk/jaoo2004/index2.jsp https://jaoo.dk/archives RECOMMENDED BOOKS Jez Humble & David Farley • Continuous Delivery • https://amzn.to/452ZRky Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble & Gene Kim • Accelerate • https://amzn.to/442Rep0 Kevlin Henney & Trisha Gee • 97 Things Every Java Programmer Should Know • https://amzn.to/3kiTwJJ Kevlin Henney • 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know • https://amzn.to/2Yahf9U Henney & Monson-Haefel • 97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know • https://amzn.to/3pZuHsQ Gojko Adzic • Specification by Example • https://amzn.to/44uqT6z Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast Interviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted. https://gotopia.tech Read the full transcription of this interview here: https://gotopia.tech/articles/386 Flavia Circiumaru - Software Engineer at FundApps Hannes Lowette - Principal Consultant at Axxes, Monolith Advocate, Speaker & Whiskey Lover RESOURCES Flavia https://x.com/FlavsFA https://github.com/flaviacirciumaru https://www.linkedin.com/in/flavia-circiumaru Hannes https://bsky.app/profile/hanneslowette.net https://twitter.com/hannes_lowette https://github.com/Belenar https://linkedin.com/in/hanneslowette DESCRIPTION When FundApps exploded from 20 to 50+ engineers in just one year, their old "everyone does support" model crumbled spectacularly. Software engineer Flavia Circiumaru and host Hannes Lowette dive deep into how this London-based regulatory compliance company transformed from a support-free-for-all to a streamlined powerhouse. Flavia Circiumaru reveals the behind-the-scenes story of building a three-desk support system that turned their support team into the ultimate connector, bridging customers, developers, and business teams like never before. From battling context-switching nightmares to creating communication magic, Flavia and Hannes explore actionable insights on scaling support without losing your sanity. The twist? Their ultimate goal is to make support so seamless that dedicated teams won't even be needed. Talk about engineering your way out of a job! RECOMMENDED BOOKS Jacqui Read • Communication Patterns • https://amzn.to/3E37lvv Saleem Siddiqui • Learning Test-Driven Development • https://amzn.to/35OMb3n Ben Goldacre • Bad Science • https://amzn.to/4lqNLKN Ben Goldacre • Bad Pharma • https://amzn.to/3G15Mz7 Jeet Pattanaik • Ethics in AI • https://amzn.to/4jXyQXw Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast Interviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded at GOTO Copenhagen 2024. https://gotocph.com Evan Czaplicki - Creator and developer of Elm Kris Jenkins - Developer Advocate, Software Developer, Podcast Host, Conference Speaker & Geek RESOURCES Evan https://twitter.com/evancz https://github.com/evancz Kris https://twitter.com/krisajenkins https://www.linkedin.com/in/krisjenkins https://github.com/krisajenkins http://blog.jenkster.com Read the full abstract here: https://gotocph.com/2024/sessions/3528 RECOMMENDED BOOKS Richard Feldman • Elm in Action • https://amzn.to/387kujI Jeremy Fairbank • Programming Elm • https://amzn.to/2WhZCE8 Wolfgang Loder • Web Applications with Elm • https://amzn.to/3jblQ3q Cristian Salcescu • Functional Programming in JavaScript • https://amzn.to/3y75jBS Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology Podcast Interviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted. http://gotopia.tech Read the full transcription of this interview here: https://gotopia.tech/articles/384 Liz Fong-Jones - Field CTO at Honeycomb.io Lesley Cordero - Staff Software Engineer, Tech Lead at The New York Times RESOURCES Liz https://bsky.app/profile/lizthegrey.com https://github.com/lizthegrey https://linkedin.com/in/efong https://www.lizthegrey.com Lesley https://www.lesleycordero.com https://twitter.com/clesleycode https://github.com/clesleycode https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesleycordero Videos https://www.alex-hidalgo.com https://www.honeycomb.io/blog/most-important-developer-productivity-metric-build-times DESCRIPTION Liz and Lesley explore the evolution of platform engineering from its DevOps and SRE roots. They discuss the challenges of building effective developer platforms, the importance of psychological safety and evidence-based prioritization, the complexities of open source sustainability, and the delicate balance between centralized platform teams and developer autonomy. The conversation covers practical insights on documentation automation, onboarding strategies, the manager-engineer career pendulum, and why treating platform work as a service rather than a mandate is crucial for organizational success. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Adkins, Beyer, Blankinship, Lewandowski, Oprea & Stubblefield • Building Secure and Reliable Systems • https://amzn.to/4n0bjae Charity Majors, Liz Fong-Jones & George Miranda • Observability Engineering • https://amzn.to/38scbma Beyer, Murphy, Rensin, Kawahara & Thorne • The Site Reliability Workbook • https://amzn.to/3IwsiOl Kelly Shortridge & Aaron Rinehart • Security Chaos Engineering • https://www.verica.io/sce-book Nora Jones & Casey Rosenthal • Chaos Engineering • https://amzn.to/3hUmuAH Russ Miles • Learning Chaos Engineering • https://amzn.to/3hCiUe8 Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Read the full transcription of the interview here: https://gotopia.tech/episodes/385 Kief Morris - Author of "Infrastructure as Code" & Distinguished Engineer at Thoughtworks Abby Bangser - Principal Engineer at Syntasso & Team Topologies Advocate RESOURCES Kief https://bsky.app/profile/kief.com https://twitter.com/kief https://github.com/kief https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiefmorris https://kief.com Abby https://bsky.app/profile/abangser.bsky.social https://twitter.com/a_bangser https://github.com/abangser https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbybangser https://www.syntasso.io/members-area/abby/profile Links https://infrastructure-as-code.com DESCRIPTION Abby Bangser (Principal Engineer at Syntasso) speaks with Kief Morris (Distinguished Engineer at Thoughtworks consultant and Author of "Infrastructure as Code") about the evolution of infrastructure as code over the past decade. They discuss how the field has grown from simple server configuration management to complex cloud architectures, the challenges of current tooling, and emerging solutions like System Initiative. The conversation explores the importance of abstraction layers, the application of software development principles to infrastructure, and how AI might transform the field. They emphasize that infrastructure decisions must align with business needs rather than being treated as generic plumbing, highlighting the ongoing need for platform engineering and developer experience considerations. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Kief Morris • Infrastructure as Code • https://amzn.to/4e6EBQc Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais • Team Topologies • http://amzn.to/3sVLyLQ Dave Thomas • simplicity • https://amzn.to/43FghBJ Dave Thomas & Andy Hunt • The Pragmatic Programmer • https://amzn.to/43QuMBj Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted. https://gotopia.tech Read the full transcription of this interview here: https://gotopia.tech/articles/382 Alice Bartlett - Tech Director for Customer Products at Financial Times Charles Humble - Freelance Techie, Podcaster, Editor, Author & Consultant RESOURCES Alice https://x.com/alicebartlett https://github.com/alicebartlett https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicebartlett https://medium.com/@alice.bartlett https://alicebartlett.co.uk Charles https://bsky.app/profile/charleshumble.bsky.social https://linkedin.com/in/charleshumble https://mastodon.social/@charleshumble https://conissaunce.com Links https://blog.container-solutions.com/wtf-happens-to-psychological-safety DESCRIPTION Alice Bartlett, Tech Director at the Financial Times, discusses her journey from principal engineer to leading a 70-person team responsible for https://www.ft.com and mobile apps. She shares insights on managing editorial stakeholders, balancing technical debt with business priorities, leading difficult conversations, and navigating the challenges of AI in software development. The conversation with Charles Humble covers her approach to architectural challenges, communication strategies, and the evolving role of technology leadership in modern media organizations. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Simon Wardley • Wardley Maps • https://amzn.to/45U8Upr Simon Wardley • Wardley Mapping, The Knowledge • https://amzn.to/3XQEeDu Sun Tzu • The Art of War • https://amzn.to/2BqDeha Mark Craddock • Wardley Mapping Doctrine • https://amzn.to/4b3jRYb Susanne Kaiser • Adaptive Systems With Domain-Driven Design, Wardley Mapping & Team Topologies • https://amzn.to/3XTmNCc David Anderson, Marck McCann & Michael O'Reilly • The Value Flywheel Effect • https://amzn.to/3VcHxC7 Erik Schön • The Art Of Strategy • https://amzn.to/2UPzXPa Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Read the full transcription of the interview here: https://gotopia.tech/episodes/383 Pragmatic Dave Thomas - Pragmatic Programmer Turned Publisher Sarah Taraporewalla - CTO APAC at Thoughtworks RESOURCES Dave https://pragdave.me https://twitter.com/pragdave https://github.com/pragdave https://linkedin.com/in/dave-thomas-53aa1057 Sarah https://sarahtaraporewalla.com https://twitter.com/sarahtarap https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahtaraporewalla https://github.com/staraporf Links https://pragprog.com https://agilemanifesto.org DESCRIPTION Sarah Taraporewalla (CTO APAC at Thoughtworks) sits down with programming legend Dave Thomas—co-founder of The Pragmatic Programmer and co-creator of principles like DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself)—to discuss his latest book "Simplicity." Dave reveals why he believes "Agile is Dead" and shares his disillusionment with how agile practices have become rigid, corporate processes rather than the flexible, value-driven approach originally envisioned in the Agile Manifesto he helped create. The conversation centers around his new Orient-Step-Learn framework, designed to help individual developers master true simplicity through deliberate practice and feedback loops, emphasizing that real simplicity requires mastery and cannot be achieved overnight. Dave advocates for developers to take personal agency, reduce unnecessary dependencies, and focus on what they can control rather than waiting for organizational change, arguing that simplicity is ultimately about cutting away complexity to reveal elegant, minimal solutions. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Dave Thomas • simplicity • https://amzn.to/43FghBJ Dave Thomas & Andy Hunt • The Pragmatic Programmer • https://amzn.to/43QuMBj Dave Snowden & Friends • Cynefin • https://amzn.to/3FSnF3p Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Piotr Sarna - Co-Author of "Writing for Developers" & Founding Engineer at poolside Glauber Costa - Founder & CEO at Turso RESOURCES Piotr https://bsky.app/profile/sarna.dev https://github.com/psarna https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarna-dev https://bio.sarna.dev Glauber https://bsky.app/profile/glaubercosta.bsky.social https://github.com/glommer https://www.linkedin.com/in/glommer https://glaubercosta-11125.medium.com Links Get 45% discount with code: *GOTOdunlop*: http://mng.bz/Y7oK https://writethat.blog https://writethat.blog/?year=2025&month=3 https://turso.tech/blog/zig-helped-us-move-data-to-the-edge-here-are-our-impressions-67d3a9c45af4 https://www.scylladb.com/2021/09/28/hunting-a-numa-performance-bug https://devblogs.microsoft.com/typescript/typescript-native-port https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42378843 DESCRIPTION Glauber Costa interviews engineer Piotr Sarna about his evolution from a reluctant writer to a successful technical book author. They discuss writing as an engineering discipline, common engineering blog post patterns, and why even introverted non-native English speakers should be blogging. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Piotr Sarna & Cynthia Dunlop • Writing for Developers • https://amzn.to/3Z3rzgf Cardeneti Mendes, Sarna, Emelyanov & Dunlop • Database Performance at Scale • https://amzn.to/3ZNBqqJ Nicole Foster • How To Write In Plain English • https://amzn.to/3XaTWHf Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded at GOTO Copenhagen 2024. https://gotocph.com Michael Nygard - General Manager of Data at Nubank Dave Farley - Continuous Delivery & DevOps Pioneer, Award-winning Author, Founder & Director of Continuous Delivery Ltd. RESOURCES Michael https://www.linkedin.com/in/mtnygard https://twitter.com/mtnygard http://www.michaelnygard.com Dave https://bsky.app/profile/davefarley77.bsky.social https://www.continuous-delivery.co.uk https://linkedin.com/in/dave-farley-a67927 https://twitter.com/davefarley77 http://www.davefarley.net Read the full abstract here RECOMMENDED BOOKS David Deutsch • The Beginning of Infinity Michael Nygard • Release It! 2nd Edition Michael Nygard • Release It! 1st Edition Zhamak Dehghani • Data Mesh Dave Farley • Modern Software Engineering Dave Farley • Continuous Delivery Pipelines Dave Farley & Jez Humble • Continuous Delivery Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted. https://gotopia.tech Read the full transcription of this interview here Matt McLarty - CTO at Boomi & Co-Author of "Unbundling the Enterprise" Erik Wilde - Principal Consultant at INNOQ RESOURCES Matt https://bsky.app/profile/mattmclartybc.bsky.social https://x.com/MattMcLartyBC https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmclartybc Erik https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikwilde https://github.com/dret Links https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6417 https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/application-development/richard-seroter-on-shifting-down-vs-shifting-left https://platformengineering.org/blog DESCRIPTION Matt McLarty and Erik Wilde explore the nuanced world of platform engineering, challenging conventional approaches and highlighting the critical importance of aligning technological capabilities with business outcomes. They discuss the evolution from DevOps, the role of APIs, and the need to create flexible, reusable technological building blocks that drive true organizational innovation. RECOMMENDED BOOKS Stephen Fishman & Matt McLarty • Unbundling the Enterprise Carliss Y. Baldwin • Design Rules, Vol. 2 Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais • Team Topologies Forsgren, Humble & Kim • Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps Kim, Humble, Debois, Willis & Forsgren • The DevOps Handbook Gene Kim, Kevin Behr & George Spafford • The Phoenix Project Crossing Borders Crossing Borders is a podcast by Neema, a cross border payments platform that... Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

This interview was recorded at GOTO Copenhagen 2024. https://gotocph.com Martin Fowler - Pioneer of Various Topics around Object-Oriented Technology & Agile Methods James Lewis - Software Architect & Director at Thoughtworks @thoughtworks RESOURCES Martin https://x.com/martinfowler https://www.martinfowler.com https://toot.thoughtworks.com/@mfowler https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-fowler-com James https://bsky.app/profile/boicy.bovon.org https://twitter.com/boicy https://linkedin.com/in/james-lewis-microservices https://github.com/boicy https://www.bovon.org Links https://agilemanifesto.org https://martinfowler.com/articles/designDead.html https://martinfowler.com/articles/on-pair-programming.html Read the full abstract here RECOMMENDED BOOKS Martin Fowler • Refactoring Scott W. Ambler & Pramod Sadalage • Refactoring Databases Martin Fowler & Pramod Sadalage • NoSQL Distilled Martin Fowler • Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture Martin Fowler • Domain-Specific Languages Martin Fowler • UML Distilled Crossing Borders Crossing Borders is a podcast by Neema, a cross border payments platform that... Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Bluesky Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Facebook CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!