Limit the Blast Radius
From Voice of the DBA by Steve Jones
May 19, 2026 · 4 min · Season 12 · Episode 50
About this episode
The episode discusses the importance of having knowledgeable DBAs and the risks associated with AI agents in database management.
You still need DBAs (that know how to back up systems and test restores). If you think you don't, or if you manager does, then perhaps they ought to read this piece on how an AI agent deleted a production database . This wasn't the case of an agent just running around with sysadmin access to all resources, or a lack of tests that allowed bad code to flow through a CI/CD process. This was a system design that had a hole in it. An API call to change infrastructure that could change both staging and production. Not something an AI set up, but humans did. A hole from both PocketOS and the API vendor that allowed the AI agent to make the same type of mistake we've seen humans make. A mistake of not double checking, not verifying, not following the rules of getting a second set of eyes, even a second set of virtual eyes, on the code that could drop resources. Read the rest of Limit the Blast Radius
People in this episode
Host: Steve Jones
Topics covered
- database management
- AI in technology
- system design
- backup systems
- production database
- CI/CD process
Keywords
- DBA
- AI agent
- production database
- system design
- backup
- API call
- CI/CD
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: PocketOS, API vendor
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- The New Software Team · May 21, 2026 · 3 min
- What Can AI Really Do? · May 17, 2026 · 2 min
- There's Too Much to Learn · May 7, 2026 · 4 min
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