The MonkCast

Dr. Cat Hicks, a psychologist studying software teams, joins RedMonk's Kelly Fitzpatrick to discuss the role of psychology in technological innovation. Dr. Hicks emphasizes the importance of understanding the human aspects of software development and shares insights from her recent research projects, including a study on code review anxiety and the impact of what she calls “AI Skill Threat” on developers. Dr. Hicks also addresses the challenges faced by scientists today, the significance of cumulative cultures in software, and her upcoming book on the psychology of software teams. Show notes: https://redmonk.com/blog/2025/03/03/psychology-technical-innovation-and-why-we-need-science-with-dr-cat-hicks/

03-03

24:25

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

02-27

23:27

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

02-24

01:07:47

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

02-20

20:18

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

02-13

22:52

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

02-12

16:00

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

02-10

01:14:21

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

02-03

26:18

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

01-27

18:15

Emilio Salvador, VP of DevRel & Strategy at GitLab, joins RedMonk's Rachel Stephens to discuss current trends around agentic AI: how do agents differ from code assistants; how can AI come into play in the larger software development lifecycle (beyond writing code); where is the “human in the loop” in all of this. Emilo and Rachel also recap some important announcements from GitLab in 2024--including the GitLab Duo Enterprise and AWS Q announced at re:Invent 2024--and discuss what we might expect to see from GitLab in 2024. This RedMonk Conversation was originally published in video form on January 21, 2025.

01-21

24:00

In this RedMonk conversation, JJ Tang, CEO of Rootly, chats with senior analyst Kelly Fitzpatrick about the evolving landscape of incident management, the significance of consistency over speed, and the impact of AI on business operations. Tang shares his career journey, from landing a job at IBM (involving cold emailing the CEO) to building incident management tools at Instacart, to starting Rootly with cofounder Quentin Rousseau. He focuses on the importance of technical skills, networking, and understanding customer needs. Tang also reflects on the challenges of running a startup during economic shifts and offers valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

01-15

33:20

In this RedMonk conversation, Ryan Dahl, creator of Node.js and Co-Founder and CEO of Deno, chats with Kate Holterhoff about the recent petition filed by Deno to cancel Oracle's JavaScript trademark. They discuss the historical context of the trademark, Deno's case against Oracle, the legal implications of the cancellation process, and the potential future of JavaScript as a generic term for the entire JavaScript community. Oracle is a RedMonk client, Deno is not a RedMonk client, and this MonkCast interview is an unpaid and independent piece of content. https://deno.com/blog/deno-v-oracle

12-16

32:07

In this RedMonk conversation, Ivan Burazin, Co-Founder and CEO of Daytona, chats with Kate Holterhoff, senior analyst at RedMonk, about the challenges developers face in managing their environments and how Daytona aims to solve these issues. They discuss the importance of developer experience, security in development environments, and the role of AI in transforming the developer landscape. Ivan shares insights into Daytona's roadmap, including their open-source and enterprise offerings, and emphasizes the need for a seamless developer experience. This was a RedMonk video, sponsored by Daytona.

In this RedMonk conversation, Andrew Tunall, President and Chief Product Officer at Embrace, chats with Kate Holterhoff, senior analyst at RedMonk, about the importance of mobile service level objectives (SLOs) in enhancing user experience and performance in mobile applications. They explore the challenges of measuring mobile data, the need for user-centered approaches, and the future of SLOs, particularly with the integration of AI and predictive analytics. The discussion emphasizes the shift from traditional observability metrics to a more user-focused perspective, highlighting the critical role of data in understanding and improving user interactions with mobile applications. This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by Embrace.

In this RedMonk conversation, Erin Schnabel, distinguished engineer at Red Hat and council chairperson at the Commonhaus Foundation, discusses with Kate Holterhoff, senior analyst at RedMonk, challenges faced by open source projects, the need for new foundations, and how Commonhaus aims to support developers. Erin emphasizes the importance of supporting open source maintainers, while also addressing the legal and funding challenges involved in running a foundation. Red Hat is a RedMonk client, but this conversation is independent and unsponsored.