API The Docs Podcast

Tashfeen Mahmud, senior technical writer at Samsung Research in Canada explains why curiosity is your best defense against technical aversion, and how to prepare for a future where technical writers are primarily AI trainers. 'Adapting to AI isn't like learning to cook from scratch. It’s like walking into a kitchen that already knows how to cook: it just needs a human to guide it through the process. Your new role is not to execute every step, but to orchestrate an AI that already possesses the technical capability.' '[...]that takes you to decide which AI solution should you even use? If you're a large company, it's likely you will want to build your own solution or you'll get into a very expensive, almost exclusive contract with some AI provider, let's say on ChatGPT Enterprise or something like that. But if you are a small team, then that means you will probably gravitate towards a hosted solution, like a lower tier chatGPT account or something like that, or Claude or something else. Or if you're kind of picky about security and control, you will probably try hosting your own smaller open source model and training that, basically getting it to be workable for your purposes.'

Senior technical writers Gareth Brinn and Lydia Pedersen talk about using GPTs and n8n to automate release notes: scripting, prompt engineering, and synthesizing data from Jira and GitHub. Next plans include using AI for first drafts of core docs while maintaining oversight. Their advice: start simple, iterate, and grow to achieve process improvements and strategic benefits.

API thought leader Kevin Swiber and Pronovix CEO Kristof Van Tomme join the podcast to explore the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and the emerging governance challenges it presents to API strategy. We discuss the need to balance driving business value and opportunity against mitigating the security risks associated with rapid MCP adoption, noting the pressure this technology puts on enterprises to safely enable its use. MCP and Large Language Models (LLMs) are changing paradigms from simple access control (previously focused on preventing access to the wrong information) to managing and bridging context between different systems, such as a workflow for example between  a corporate context and a remote context.

We discuss findings from GitBook's "State of the Docs" report (2025), for example that 90% view documentation as crucial for purchases, yet 40% of those interviewed don't track its performance. We talk of speeding up API integration, and GitBook's focus on refining adaptive and personalized documentation features, then address avoiding tunnel vision and keeping discoverability for users, underscoring the ongoing innovation in the field. Bio: Addison Schultz is a web developer & designer working and living in Tokyo, Japan. He leads the developer relations team at GitBook, a tool for technical teams to document their products and APIs. He's been working the last 7 years on collaborative tooling, worked with some of the world’s leading design and development companies, providing product teams with advice and industry advice on how teams can build better products, faster.References: https://www.stateofdocs.com/2025/https://gitbook.com/docs/https://apithedocs.org/ai-docs-online-2025

Welcome back to the A(P)I The Docs podcast! We’re opening this new chapter with an absolute treat of an episode in which Anila Zaidi, Staff Technical Writer at Squarespace, and Marco Spinello, Senior Technical Writer at Booking.com discuss the transformative role of generative AI in technical writing and beyond. We explore how AI has evolved from an experimental tool to an essential aid whilst also touching on the challenges and ethical considerations surrounding AI.