Helsing with Jon Gjengset

Helsing with Jon Gjengset

From Rust in Production by Matthias Endler

April 23, 2026 · 1h 33m · Episode 43

About this episode

Jon Gjengset discusses building mission-critical systems in Rust and the foundational role of Rust at Helsing.

Jon Gjengset is one of the most recognizable names in the Rust community, the author of Rust for Rustaceans , a prolific live-streamer, and a long-time contributor to the Rust ecosystem. Today he works as a Principal Engineer at Helsing, a European defense company that has made Rust a foundational part of its engineering stack. Helsing builds safety-critical software for real-world defense applications, where correctness, performance, and reliability are non-negotiable. In this episode, Jon talks about what it means to build mission-critical systems in Rust, why Helsing bet on Rust from the start, and what lessons from his years of Rust education have shaped the way he writes and thinks about production code.

People in this episode

Host: Matthias Endler

Guest: Jon Gjengset

Topics covered

  • Rust programming
  • defense software
  • mission-critical systems
  • software reliability
  • engineering practices

Keywords

  • Rust
  • Helsing
  • software engineering
  • defense applications
  • production code
  • correctness
  • performance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Helsing

Books & works: Rust for Rustaceans

Places: Europe, Rust ecosystem

More episodes of Rust in Production

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Rust in Production podcast page.