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Issue 298: One call, and your API is there

Why work harder when you could work smarter? That's probably what your API is thinking right now. And if you're of one mind with your API, you're probably thinking about the MCP protocol too. On the pod, we've got two guests who know all about APIs in the AI world. Marco Palladino, CTO of Kong, joins us to talk AI agents and API consumption, and how the agentic space is ripe for the picking for businesses. Plus, we have Merge's co-founder and CTO, Gil Feig, on the pod to explore how they're turning third-party APIs into a single call. XX

So your API has reached singularity. Now what? Well you better make sure your AI agents are in order. Ryan J. Salva, Senior Director of Product at Google Developer Experiences, shared the answers for getting documentation and AI workflows right when he joined us for Leaders of Code. And you know how they say your AI is only as good as your data? The newest release for Stack Overflow for Teams is making sure your knowledge is as tidy as it needs to be. XX

With all this talk of all-powerful APIs and autonomous AIs, let's not forget they're only as good as the human creativity that builds them. We've got some really creative humans from across the web for you, like one Minecraft player who built ChatGPT out of blocks, and the story of how the oh-so creative phishing scammers are using routers to annoy you with spam texts. Plus we have some unproven physics theories, rocket science, and the not so unique but deeply human experience of wanting to get a PhD. All those stories and more in the links below.

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As your AI gets smarter, so must your API

Ryan sits down with Marco Palladino, CTO of Kong, to talk about the rise of AI agents and their impact on API consumption, the MCP protocol as a new standard for agents, the importance of observability and security in AI systems, and the importance for businesses and entrepreneurs to leverage opportunities in the agentic AI space now.

One is not the loneliest number for API calls

Gil Feig, co-founder and CTO of Merge, joins the show to explore Merge’s approach for reducing third-party APIs to a single call, the complexities of and need for data normalization, and the role that AI and MCP plays in the future of API functionality.

The Intersection of Analytics, Strategy, and Career Growth

Gain in-demand data skills with Cornell’s STEM-designated MSBA program. This accelerated master’s teaches you to turn data into actionable business insights that drive results across industries.

Interesting questions

If ownership of an item is disputed, on whom does the burden of proof lie?

Apparently, "I called dibs" is a decently good argument when there's no paper-trail.

Conflicted over pursuing a PhD but taking a significant pay cut

Figuring out if you should get a PhD is so hard, you'd need a PhD to do it.

What terms originating in space exploration have been absorbed into non-technical English usage?

Mission control, I think we have some improper usage of space terms.

Is it okay to share an idea if I haven’t proven it?

Wish people on Twitter thought of this question before they posted.

Links from around the web

IP over lasers

Cats would love it if we used lasers instead of the WiFi from now on.

We bought the whole GPU, so we're damn well going to use the whole GPU

If only they could do this to the 80% of our brain power we're not using.

That annoying SMS phish you just got may have come from a box like this

This router is the reason UPS keeps texting you that your packages aren't delivered.

I built ChatGPT with Minecraft redstone!

If we can just figure out how to integrate Roblox into this, we can solve the AI chip problem.

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