Issue 301: The agents are here.

If you're keeping your ear to the beat of AI's robotic heart like we are, you're probably noticing that agents are everywhere now. This week's newsletter is not different—we've got plenty of stories for you on the newest AI hype. John Dickerson, CEO of Mozilla.ai, joins us on the pod to talk about the role of open source in the future of AI agents, including the challenges OS communities are facing in the age of AI. If you're looking to throw away your runbook, we've got another conversation with Spiros Xanthos, CEO and founder of Resolve AI, all about how AI agents are reducing the work of incident management and troubleshooting for developers. Plus, on the blog, find out what it takes to build out agentic virtual assistants on top of decades of ebike manuals."

If you're saying, "Enough about agents, what else is going on?", don't worry, we have plenty of other stories for you. On Leaders of Code, our very own Natalie Rotnov dives into the 2025 Developer Survey and what the results mean for tech leaders. From the web, we've just learned that LLMs—much like your teenager—can get brain rot. But don't worry, if your AI starts spamming memes you don't understand, you can just go back to working on a 1980s ZX Spectrum. We have that story from the internet, plus a story about building software for a different kind of rot, ready for you in this issue.

And just to prove that agents aren't the only things that people are talking about, we have plenty of questions and answers for you. Wondering what is and isn't an indie game? Mostly, it's the vibes. How do you extend your WiFi through an old house? We hate to tell you this, but you probably need to use an Ethernet cable. How do you keep your kids from biking straight into oncoming traffic? Like any parent, you just have to try your best. We have those answers and more in the links below.

From the blog

Your runbooks are obsolete in the age of agents

Ryan is joined by Spiros Xanthos, CEO and founder of Resolve AI, to talk about the future of AI agents in incident management and troubleshooting, the challenges of maintaining complex software systems with traditional runbooks, and the changing role of developers in an AI-driven world.

What leaders need to know from the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey

This episode draws on insights from the 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey to equip leaders with ways to navigate the current AI landscape and capture value beyond the hype.

Open source is giving you choices with your agent systems

Ryan welcomes John Dickerson, CEO of Mozilla.ai, to talk about the evolving landscape of AI agents, the role of open source in keeping the tech ecosystem healthy, the challenges OS communities have faced with the rise of AI, and the implications of data privacy and user choice in the age of multi-agent AI systems.

From multilingual semantic search to virtual assistants at Bosch Digital

From sprawling PDFs to a fast, factual conversational assistant.

Distributed SQL for Dummies — Compliments of Yugabyte

Modern organizations need an agile, cloud-native database. Distributed SQL Databases For Dummies shows how distributed SQL delivers scalability, resilience, and consistency for AI-ready, cloud-native applications. Download your free copy today.

Interesting questions

Why can't a body move faster than light?

Disproving Landau-Lifshitz with two simple words: Super Sonic.

What is and isn't an indie game?

Humans are really good at categorizing things based purely off vibes.

How to extend the Wi-Fi signal on second floor of an old house?

When in doubt, the solution to your poor WiFi is probably just Ethernet cables.

Cycling with a kid in real world conditions

The age-old parent problem of, "Do I watch my kids or do I watch where I'm going?"