#058 - The Future of AI and Platform Engineering with Blake Sherwood (Smarsh)

In this episode, special guest Blake Sherwood joins the show to discuss his unique career trajectory from tourism and coal mining to leading massive-scale Kubernetes migrations. Blake shares insights from his experience managing petabytes of data in high-compliance environments, delving into the practical realities of integrating AI into enterprise workflows and observability systems. The conversation explores the shifting landscape of platform engineering, the importance of hiring for analytical aptitude over specific AI skills, and the potential risk of developers losing their fundamental coding "muscle memory" as AI tools become increasingly ubiquitous.  Looking ahead, Blake predicts that AI will act as a supercharger for platform engineering and DevOps, finally turning years of industry promises into tangible, value-driven business outcomes.