Asynchronous & Unreliable - Conversations on The Edge of Software

A wild ride through Justin Cormack's attempts to build really hard stuff using AI. Did he recreate Amazon s3 in his back bedroom in a couple of weeks? A fun dive into the fascinating world of AI-assisted software development, Unikernels, and the future of programming languages, with Justin Cormack. Justin was the CTO of Docker for a decade, is one of the founders of Unikernels and is a leading fig...

In another friendly conversation, Anne and Holly Cummins of IBM discuss IBM's cloud native platform Quarkus and why it is so, so important right now. You've got to be able to turn it off and on again for operatioal efficiency, to take any advantage of the cloud and - vitally - for security because in the new world, patches have to be applied rapidly. Anne and Holly, Java champion, explore the evol...

In this episode, Anne and industry expert Adrian Mouat of security firm Chainguard and author of O'Reilly's Using Docker discuss the "crazy" rapid evolution of AI, its implications for cybersecurity, the future of software development, and the urgent need for adaptive security practices. They also discuss the brand new Athena coalition for accelerating patches against vulnerabilities in the face o...

How Do We Make AI-Generated Code Good? Anne and Yanqing Cheng, founder of AI startup Tollens.ai , explore the future of software quality, AI management, and organizational trust. Discover how holistic engineering management, trust, and organizational dynamics influence AI and software quality. Key Topics The evolving definition of quality in AI-generated software Tollens.ai 's approach as an engin...

Shownotes Title: Navigating AI's Impact on Software Development and Trust O'Reilly author Anne Currie and Mission Critical software expert Jon Berger discuss the question of the moment: how can we entrust AI with the software that underpins everything? Join Anne and Jon as they explore real experiments, strategic implications, and practical steps for leaders in a rapidly evolving tech landscape. M...

Building Green Software: Insights from the Authors or How To Write an O'Reilly Book This episode features Anne Currie and Sara Bergman discussing the journey of writing Building Green Software , the lessons learned, and the ongoing impact of eco-conscious software development in industry and academia. They share behind-the-scenes insights, the importance of collaboration, and practical advice for...

Shownotes What Is Platform Engineering and how will it work in an AI world? An In-Depth Conversation with Paula Kennedy In this episode, Anne Currie chats with old friend and colleague Paula Kennedy, COO of platform engineering startup Syntasso about the fundamentals of platform engineering, its evolution, and its impact on organizations of all sizes. They explore how platform engineering helps ma...

Jamie Dobson and Anne Currie Join us in this enlightening episode as Anne Currie chats with Jamie Dobson, co-founder of Container Solutions and author of Rebels, Visionaries, and Machines. They dive into the history of technology, the evolution of the tech industry, and the challenges and opportunities in communicating complex ideas in tech today. This conversation offers valuable insights for tec...

Most companies are underestimating how quickly AI will transform software development. When AI can seemingly write mission-critical code, what does that mean for the future of engineering, quality, and human expertise? Anne Currie and Jon Berger discuss Martin Davidson’s groundbreaking insights in episode 7 on creating mission critical software using AI Will AI-driven software eliminate the need f...

Join host Anne Currie in this episode of "Asynchronous and Unreliable," where she talks with veteran technologist Martin Davidson about his journey from telecommunications to AI-driven software development. Discover how AI looks set to reshape the software industry, including by building high-quality, production-ready code and redefining testing, design, and organizational structures. - Martin Dav...

Shownotes Discover how the rapid shift from fossil fuels to renewables, especially solar and wind, is shaping the tech industry and global economy. Hosted by Anne Currie and Sara Bergman, this episode explores the exponential growth of renewable energy, the role of software in optimizing energy use, and the geopolitical and environmental implications of this transition. Main insights: The exponent...

Anne & networking expert Jon Berger discuss the difficulties of understanding exponentials and how that leads to challenges  when it comes to setting targets for both resilience and efficiency. If you wonder why people have no real clue about the nines resilience scale, this is why.

Guest: Charles Humble In the fourth episode of Asynchronous and Unreliable, amongst many other subjects, Anne & writer, author, and editor Charles Humble discuss the past and future of tech communication. Discover how communication methods in tech have evolved over decades, from early magazines and conferences to the challenges and opportunities presented by AI and large language models. This...

In the third episode of Asynchronous and Unreliable, Anne Currie and Niki Manoledaki of Grafana Labs discuss the highest end of operational efficiency, GreenOps, and Finops using purely open source solutions including Kubernetes, Kepler and the Vertical Pod Autoscaler. What can you do with them and what is the vital technology you need in place before you attempt it? Real life stories! Shownotes a...

The High Stakes of Code Efficiency in Networking and Beyond In this episode of Asynchronous and Unreliable, host Anne Currie is joined by long-time tech veteran Jon Berger to explore the critical importance of code efficiency, especially in the networking software that underpins the internet’s performance and resilience. They delve into practical comparisons between operational and code efficiency...

The Future of Software Efficiency, Distributed Systems, and Connections in Tech. In this first episode of the new Asynchronous and Unreliable podcast , Author Anne Currie is joined by Sara Bergman, Microsoft software engineer and co-author of O'Reilly's Building Green Software . They explore the nuances of code versus operational efficiency, the evolving landscape of hardware and software, and the...

Asynchronous & Unreliable is a new podcast on the key concepts behind modern software engineering and AI and features cheerful and friendly conversations with some of the most interesting folks in computing. It's hosted by Anne Currie, co-author of O'Reilly's Building Green Software, The Cloud Native Attitude, and the science fiction Panopticon series. Expect regular guests and lighthearted di...