AI Panel Discussion at DDD South West 2026

This was another live audience recording, hosted once again at the DDD South West conference in Bristol (UK) - two years on from the first live panel we recorded there. I was joined by a panel of speakers, and this time the conversation focused specifically on what AI means for software developers. After introductions, we dug into whether AI is going to take our jobs, how much code we actually still hand-write, whether (and how) we review every line of AI-generated code, what's going to happen to programming languages, and what advice the panel had for developers just starting out.For a full list of show notes, or to add comments, please see the website here

In this episode, I was joined by Chris “Woody” Woodruff to chat about a simplicity-first approach to software architecture. Chris has a book coming out on this topic, and we discussed why simplicity should be the default.For a full list of show notes, or to add comments - please see the website here

In this episode, I was joined by both Irina Dominte and Jonathan Tower to chat about the .NET Foundation. They both recently ran for the .NET Foundation’s board of directors, and were elected! 👏 We chatted about their experiences running for the board, what the election process was like, and their initial experiences as board members.For a full list of show notes, or to add comments - please see the website here

In this episode, I was joined by Debbie O’Brien to chat about Playwright - Microsoft’s open-source end-to-end testing framework. I’m a huge fan of Playwright, so I was really excited to have this chat with Debbie. We covered a lot of ground, including features such as Codegen, Trace Viewer, and UI Mode. We also spoke a lot about AI - including the exciting Playwright MCP Server which enables AI agents to automate browser interactions!Debbie has been an integral part of Playwright as a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft and has led the Playwright community, shaping much of what Playwright has become today - driving a lot of the features mentioned above. She’s also a Google Developer Expert in web technologies, Nuxt Ambassador, and is a former Microsoft Most Valuable Professional in developer technologies, Media Developer Expert and GitHub star alumni.For a full list of show notes, or to add comments - please see the website here

In this episode, I was joined by James World to chat about AI for developers. We covered a lot of general AI chat - from using it to quickly knock up tools, to spec-driven development, and much more. We also discussed the Microsoft Agent Framework - a new open-source framework for building AI agents and multi-agent workflows.James World is a seasoned technology leader and Solution Architect with over three decades of experience building and guiding software solutions across the financial and enterprise sectors. He’s a passionate polyglot programmer, with deep expertise in C# and the Azure ecosystem, including years spent learning and teaching at Microsoft where he was a consultant advising customers building solutions on the Microsoft stack. Outside of hands-on engineering and architecture, he loves exploring continuous learning, mentorship, and ways to help teams level up their craft - topics he’s shared on The Unhandled Exception Podcast and in tech communities around .NET and cloud computing.For a full list of show notes, or to add comments - please see the website here

In this episode, I was joined by Jeffrey Palermo to chat about AI-driven development and DevOps. We discussed how AI is changing the way we write software, and the importance of having mature DevOps processes in place (eg. good tests, CI pipelines, and specs) before we can properly start leveraging AI to write features in a reliable and consistent way.Jeffrey Palermo is the host of the Azure & DevOps podcast, Founder and Chief Architect of Clear Measure, a long-time Microsoft MVP, tech speaker, book author, and more!For a full list of show notes, or to add comments - please see the website here

In this episode, I was delighted to be joined by Jan De Dobbeleer to chat about the amazing Oh My Posh! This is something I’ve used for years, so it was really great chatting with Jan about it. Oh My Posh is a highly customisable cross-platform prompt engine for any shell. We also chatted about his experiences as an open-source developer.Jan is a passionate software engineer with a love for creating clean, intuitive, and user-friendly tools. With a background in computer science and years of experience in the industry, he has a deep understanding of what it takes to build successful and widely-used open-source projects.For a full list of show notes, or to add comments - please see the website here

In this episode, I was joined by Olorunfemi Davis to chat about AI. We chatted about Microsoft Copilot Studio, Semantic Kernel, and AI in general.With 9 years of experience, Olorunfemi specialises in architecting, building, and optimising secure, high-performance systems. His expertise covers the full spectrum of C# / .NET development and managing infrastructure across Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud (GCP). He focuses on bridging Dev and Ops to drive efficiency, CI/CD Automation, and data-driven reliability, incorporating robust security features like end-to-end encryption and leveraging techniques like AI/machine learning to streamline complex workflows.For a full list of show notes, or to add comments - please see the website here

In this episode, I was joined by Gui Ferreira to chat about one of my favourite topics - life productivity! Where we talked about goal-setting, time management, and productivity in general. We also chatted a bit at the end about testing and AI.Guilherme Ferreira, also known as Gui, is a Minimalist Software Craftsman, passionate about simplicity and continuous learning. Gui is a Microsoft MVP for Developer Technologies, a Tech Speaker, a YouTuber, and a .NET content creator. With over 15 years of experience in software development, Gui went from Startups to Tech Giants. Along his journey, he got to know several hats, including Software Engineer, Architect, CTO, and Developer Advocate, gathering a diverse and invaluable skill set.For a full list of show notes, or to add comments - please see the website here

In this episode, I was delighted to be joined by Shawn Wildermuth. We chatted about software development in general, careers, AI, and more!Shawn Wildermuth is a software development consultant, Microsoft MVP, Pluralsight author, and speaker with over 30 years of experience in the industry.For a full list of show notes, or to add comments - please see the website here