The MonkCast

At Microsoft Build 2026, RedMonk's James Governor sits down with Kyle Daigle, COO at GitHub and CMO of Developer at Microsoft, to unpack the event. The conversation looks at Microsoft's first homegrown frontier models, the growing importance of "token economics", new NVIDIA Spark-powered hardware, the push toward containerization and isolation for agents both on-device and in the cloud, and Windows improvements aimed at a calmer developer experience. Daigle also previews the agent-first GitHub Copilot app with its shareable canvases, and addresses developer anxiety amid industry layoffs, insisting Microsoft's principle remains keeping developers in the loop.This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by Microsoft.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/kyle-daigle/Chapters00:00 Introduction to Developer Marketing at Microsoft02:08 Microsoft's Frontier Models and AI Innovations05:06 Local Model Execution and Security Concerns07:58 The Role of AI in Developer Productivity11:08 GitHub Copilot and the Future of Software Development14:20 Windows for Developers: Enhancements and Configurations17:05 Hardware Partnerships and Performance Expectations20:10 Supporting Developers in a Changing Landscape23:12 Addressing Reliability and Scalability Challenges

In this MonkCast Conversation, RedMonk analyst Kate Holterhoff talks with Evan You, the creator of Vue.js and Vite and founder of VoidZero, just days after VoidZero announced joining Cloudflare. Evan clarifies what the deal does and does not include, as well as the history of how it came about. He's also candid about the motives that inspired VoidZero to look for partnership with a cloud provider. They also discuss the state of open source and frontend tooling in 2026. Can independent open source infrastructure survive today without getting bought by a bigger platform? Why Evan is still unconvinced that Vue needs a foundation. What is AI doing to the economics, and the craft, of building in the open?Cloudflare is a RedMonk client, but this RedMonk conversation is unsponsored.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/evan-you/Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Evan You and VoidZero02:37 The Acquisition and Its Implications05:26 Vue and Vite: Independence and Future Directions08:15 Monetization Challenges and Business Models11:23 Collaboration with Cloudflare and Development Experience14:34 Community Concerns and Competition in the Market17:08 Funding and Support for Open Source Contributors29:34 Building a Community and Team Dynamics31:02 Lessons Learned from Open Source Monetization38:26 Navigating AI's Impact on Open Source44:24 The Foundation Debate for Open Source Projects49:31 The Bundler Wars: Performance and Artifact Size

In this conversation, RedMonk's Kate Holterhoff talks to Mike Basios, CTO and Co-founder of TurinTech AI, about the new set of problems AI is introducing for engineering organisations, and what happens when you treat your entire stack—application code, data pipelines, inference systems, agent workflows, GPU and CPU kernels—as measurable artifacts that can be systematically validated and continuously improved. Mike explains how AI is fundamentally changing both how engineering gets done and what engineering is being asked to deliver. The conversation explores a central tension: while AI tools have made individual developers dramatically more productive, that velocity is creating a growing backlog of unreviewed, unoptimized code, and an infrastructure that was never designed to support the dozens of concurrent agents a single developer might now depend on. Mike argues that the engineering role is shifting from problem-solving to outcome-verification, and that teams who don't define what "good" looks like before they build will struggle to compete as the quality of the solution, not the speed of its creation, becomes the key differentiator. TurinTech's answer to this challenge is a measurement-first platform that applies evolutionary, self-improving techniques to continuously benchmark and optimize code across any domain where performance can be quantified.This RedMonk conversation is sponsored by TurinTech AI.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/mike-basios-on-why-ai-era-engineering-needs-a-measurement-first-approachChapters:00:00 The Impact of AI on Software Engineering03:41 Shifting Roles: Engineers as AI Managers07:35 Infrastructure Challenges in AI Development11:10 Reliability and Performance of AI Systems19:09 Measuring Success in AI Optimization26:27 The Future of AI in Software Development

In this RedMonk conversation, Stu Miniman, Senior Director of Market Insights, Hybrid Platforms at Red Hat, shares his extensive tech industry experience and insights with Kate Holterhoff. Stu discusses behind-the-scenes stories from his time as an industry analyst at theCUBE. As a seasoned expert in networking, virtualization, and cloud computing, he also chats about how networking challenges are being addressed in the Kubernetes ecosystem, the impact of AI, and the future of the industry analyst role.Red Hat is a RedMonk client, but this video is unsponsored and independent.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/clouderatti-to-thecube-stu-miniman/Chapters00:00 Introduction and Background06:18 The Evolution of EMC and Its Impact14:17 Networking in the Kubernetes Ecosystem22:07 The Role of an Analyst28:57 AI: Opportunities and Challenges35:03 The Cube: A Journey Through Live Production40:57 Preparation and Connection with Guests46:27 Building Relationships and Networking53:51 Analysts vs Influencers: A Blurred Line01:05:18 Wrapping Up and Future Engagements

In this RedMonk conversation, Chris Corriere, Founder of Ecology Computing and an organizer of Devopsdays Atlanta, shares his unique perspective on socio-technical systems, complexity in computing, and the future of DevOps practices with Kate Holterhoff. They discuss how ecological thinking influences technology and how mapping tools like Cynefin and Wardley Maps can help navigate complex environments.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/chris-corriere-complexity/Chapters00:00 Introduction and Guest Background00:27 Chris Corriere's Ecological Perspective on Technology02:11 Socio-technical Mathematics and Complexity02:40 Mathematics in Computing and AI04:32 AI, Agency, and Autonomy in Systems05:42 Math Skills for Developers and Data Scientists06:57 Platform Engineering and Source Control09:09 Open Source Projects and Enterprise Work11:04 The Role of Git and Version Control12:23 Greenfield Projects and Tech Debt13:35 Understanding Cynefin and Wardley Mapping18:54 What is Cynefin? Its Origins and Meaning19:54 Chaos, Disorder, and Platform Salvage21:38 Mapping the Tech Environment with Wardley25:41 Mapping Space Technologies and Quantum Computing27:02 DevOps Days Atlanta and Future Themes29:30 The Future of AI, Education, and Community31:13 Closing Remarks and Contact Info

In this episode of RedMonk Conversations, Rachel Stephens (Research Director at RedMonk) sits down with Özer Dondurmacıoğlu, VP of Product Marketing at GitLab, to discuss GitLab’s vision for intelligent orchestration across the software development lifecycle.AI coding may be accelerating how quickly developers generate code, but what happens to code review, security scanning, compliance, testing, governance, and release coordination when code volume increases? Learn more about GitLab's vision for leveling up the SDLC.This is a RedMonk video, sponsored by GitLab.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/gitlab-platform/

In this conversation, Stephen O'Grady and Rob Hirschfeld discuss the complexities of bare metal automation, the role of platform teams, and the importance of observability and governance in managing infrastructure. They explore the challenges of integrating open source solutions with bare metal and emphasize the need for specialized support in this area. The discussion highlights the evolving landscape of infrastructure management and the necessity for collaboration and expertise.This video is sponsored by RackN.Show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/navigating-bare-metal-automation-with-rob-hirschfeld/

Modern software systems are frequently described as “complicated,” but that framing obscures the nature of the challenge. Complicated systems can be decomposed, reasoned about, and managed through clearer processes and better tooling. Complex systems cannot. They are shaped by a web of technical interdependencies, incentives, institutional history, and human behavior, and they often fail in ways that are difficult or impossible to predict.In this RedMonk Conversation, Rachel Stephens and guests David Pollak, Chris Petrilli, and Æva Black explore how complexity emerges across large organizations, open source ecosystems, and security-critical infrastructure. Drawing on experiences from enterprise environments and open source communities, the discussion examines why transparency, incentive structures, and institutional knowledge matter more than formal process, and why many attempts to control complexity instead amplify it.show notes: https://redmonk.com/videos/complexity/