In this episode, we chat with Nitzan Shapira, co-founder and former CEO of Epsagon, which was acquired by Cisco in 2021. We explore Nitzan's journey from working in cybersecurity to building an observability platform for cloud applications, particularly focused on serverless architectures. We learn about the early days of serverless adoption, the challenges in making observability tools developer-friendly, and why distributed tracing was a key differentiator for Epsagon. We discuss the evolution of observability tools, the future impact of AI on both observability and software development, and the changing landscape of serverless computing. Finally, we hear Nitzan's current perspective on enterprise AI adoption from his role at Cisco, where he helps evaluate and build new AI-focused business lines.

03:17 Transition from Security to Observability
09:52 Exploring Ideas and Choosing Serverless
16:43 Adoption of Distributed Tracing
20:54 The Future of Observability
25:26 Building a Product that Developers Love
31:03 Challenges in Observability and Data Costs
32:47 The Excitement and Evolution of Serverless
35:44 Serverless as a Horizontal Platform
37:15 The Future of Serverless and No-Code/Low-Code Tools
38:15 Technical Limits and the Future of Serverless
40:38 Navigating Near-Death Moments and Go-to-Market Challenges
48:36 Cisco's Gen .AI Ecosystem and New Business Lines
50:25 The State of the AI Ecosystem and Enterprise Adoption
53:54 Using AI to Enhance Engineering and Product Development
55:02 Using AI in Go-to-Market Strategies

From GPU computing pioneer to Kubernetes architect, Brian Grant takes us on a fascinating journey through his career at the forefront of systems engineering. In this episode, we explore his early work on GPU compilers in the pre-CUDA era, where he tackled unique challenges in high-performance computing when graphics cards weren't yet designed for general computation. Brian then shares insights from his time at Google, where he helped develop Borg and later became the original lead architect of Kubernetes. He explains key architectural decisions that shaped Kubernetes, from its extensible resource model to its approach to service discovery, and why they chose to create a rich set of abstractions rather than a minimal interface. The conversation concludes with Brian's thoughts on standardization challenges in cloud infrastructure and his vision for moving beyond infrastructure as code, offering valuable perspective on both the history and future of distributed systems.

Links:
Brian Grant LI

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background
03:11 Early Work in High-Performance Computing
06:21 Challenges of Building Compilers for GPUs
13:14 Influential Innovations in Compilers
31:46 The Future of Compilers
33:11 The Rise of Niche Programming Languages
34:01 The Evolution of Google's Borg and Kubernetes
39:06 Challenges of Managing Applications in a Dynamically Scheduled Environment
48:12 The Need for Standardization in Application Interfaces and Management Systems
01:00:55 Driving Network Effects and Creating Cohesive Ecosystems

Click here to view the episode transcript.

In this episode, we chat with JP, creator of FizzBee, about formal methods and their application in software engineering. We explore the differences between coding and engineering, discussing how formal methods can improve system design and reliability. JP shares insights from his time at Google and explains why tools like FizzBee are crucial for distributed systems. We delve into the challenges of adopting formal methods in industry, the potential of FizzBee to make these techniques more accessible, and how it compares to other tools like TLA+. Finally, we discuss the future of software development, including the role of LLMs in code generation and the ongoing importance of human engineers in system design.

Links
FizzBee
FizzBee Github Repo
FizzBee Blog

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Overview
02:42 JP's Experience at Google and the Growth of the Company
04:51 The Difference Between Engineers and Coders
06:41 The Importance of Rigor and Quality in Engineering
10:08 The Limitations of QA and the Need for Formal Methods
14:00 The Role of Best Practices in Software Engineering
14:56 Design Specification Languages for System Correctness
21:43 The Applicability of Formal Methods in Distributed Systems
31:20 Getting Started with FizzBee: A Practical Example
36:06 Common Assumptions and Misconceptions in Distributed Systems
43:23 The Role of FizzBee in the Design Phase
48:04 The Future of FizzBee: LLMs and Code Generation
58:20 Getting Started with FizzBee: Tutorials and Online Playground

Click here to view the episode transcript.