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Kelsey Hightower
@kelseyhightower.com
· Dec 11
AI, DevOps, and Kubernetes: Kelsey Hightower on What’s Next
YouTube video by JetBrains
www.youtube.com
It's rare that I get to reflect back on my entire tech career and my philosophy towards work and life, but this interview captures it perfectly. One of the few recordings of myself I've watched end to end. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdUb...
I'm now getting emails from people claiming to be in desperate need of financial assistance. They are asking me to claim the trading fees from a memecoin made in my name, without my permission, and transfer the money to them.
This all feels like one big coordinated scam -- or trap.
This all feels like one big coordinated scam -- or trap.
January 19, 2026 at 5:11 PM
I'm now getting emails from people claiming to be in desperate need of financial assistance. They are asking me to claim the trading fees from a memecoin made in my name, without my permission, and transfer the money to them.
This all feels like one big coordinated scam -- or trap.
This all feels like one big coordinated scam -- or trap.
Occupy Wall Street turned into Copy Wall Street.
January 19, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Occupy Wall Street turned into Copy Wall Street.
Crypto. No ethics. No integrity. Just money.
January 19, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Crypto. No ethics. No integrity. Just money.
I did not create this memecoin nor do I endorse any memecoins.
This technology is being used to automate pump and dump schemes. The "community" is recruiting "investors" and co-conspirators with upfront payments and the promise of future gains by collectively exploiting each other.
This technology is being used to automate pump and dump schemes. The "community" is recruiting "investors" and co-conspirators with upfront payments and the promise of future gains by collectively exploiting each other.
It seems the crypto community has found a new way to extract money from people. They are creating tokens for popular open source projects and inviting maintainers to get in on the scheme.
Here is the email I got earlier today.
Here is the email I got earlier today.
January 19, 2026 at 2:51 PM
I did not create this memecoin nor do I endorse any memecoins.
This technology is being used to automate pump and dump schemes. The "community" is recruiting "investors" and co-conspirators with upfront payments and the promise of future gains by collectively exploiting each other.
This technology is being used to automate pump and dump schemes. The "community" is recruiting "investors" and co-conspirators with upfront payments and the promise of future gains by collectively exploiting each other.
I just don't get it. Someone help me understand. How is this not a Ponzi scheme?
Hearing the word "crypto" and immediately thinking it's a scam is close minded. All the traders in the space openly know the risk they take in investing in projects like this. Open Source devs get rewards for building cool shit through trading volume fees. How is it a scam?
January 19, 2026 at 12:20 AM
I just don't get it. Someone help me understand. How is this not a Ponzi scheme?
It seems the crypto community has found a new way to extract money from people. They are creating tokens for popular open source projects and inviting maintainers to get in on the scheme.
Here is the email I got earlier today.
Here is the email I got earlier today.
January 19, 2026 at 12:07 AM
It seems the crypto community has found a new way to extract money from people. They are creating tokens for popular open source projects and inviting maintainers to get in on the scheme.
Here is the email I got earlier today.
Here is the email I got earlier today.
Google + Apple resulted in Google's search expanded reach. Now we're adding AI to the mix. Apple still controls distribution of the entire Apple ecosystem.
Unless people stop using iPhones and Macs, then this is no different than any other Apple partnership including Google Maps and Intel chips.
Unless people stop using iPhones and Macs, then this is no different than any other Apple partnership including Google Maps and Intel chips.
Google is doing to Apple with AI what Apple did to Microsoft with smartphones
January 16, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Google + Apple resulted in Google's search expanded reach. Now we're adding AI to the mix. Apple still controls distribution of the entire Apple ecosystem.
Unless people stop using iPhones and Macs, then this is no different than any other Apple partnership including Google Maps and Intel chips.
Unless people stop using iPhones and Macs, then this is no different than any other Apple partnership including Google Maps and Intel chips.
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
This is why you can't afford RAM anymore
January 14, 2026 at 10:19 PM
This is why you can't afford RAM anymore
🎯
One of the biggest problems we have is that Americans play politics by agreeing to lie to each other. The accepted strategy is just to deceive people about what you're gonna do. Then once you gain power, do whatever you want until they can oust you.
I’m paying attention. I’m paying attention to how you blew policy reform with Defund the police. I’d rather use language that will appeal to more people like reform and restrain ICE and actually get something accomplished.
January 14, 2026 at 6:10 PM
🎯
Yes, we need code reviews.
In addition to reviewing intent, code reviews are an opportunity to review the how and ask questions: should we bring in these 3rd party dependencies, are we duplicating existing functionality, did we check in credentials by mistake, etc.
Most of this can be automated.
In addition to reviewing intent, code reviews are an opportunity to review the how and ask questions: should we bring in these 3rd party dependencies, are we duplicating existing functionality, did we check in credentials by mistake, etc.
Most of this can be automated.
Do we need code reviews. I argued that we need "Change Review" not "Code Reviews". That is, we should review the intent (what & why) and not the how.
But then everyone told me this is obvious, this is what we did all along.
So do we need "Code" Reviews?
But then everyone told me this is obvious, this is what we did all along.
So do we need "Code" Reviews?
January 14, 2026 at 6:00 AM
Yes, we need code reviews.
In addition to reviewing intent, code reviews are an opportunity to review the how and ask questions: should we bring in these 3rd party dependencies, are we duplicating existing functionality, did we check in credentials by mistake, etc.
Most of this can be automated.
In addition to reviewing intent, code reviews are an opportunity to review the how and ask questions: should we bring in these 3rd party dependencies, are we duplicating existing functionality, did we check in credentials by mistake, etc.
Most of this can be automated.
When the bad guys win they become fixated on rewriting history and reframing themselves as the good guys.
January 14, 2026 at 4:17 AM
When the bad guys win they become fixated on rewriting history and reframing themselves as the good guys.
This makes sense to me.
It's vibe coding only if you don't know what you're doing. A software engineer using AI to speed up development isn't vibe coding. Someone who's never developed anything and doesn't know how AI generated code works is vibe coding.
January 14, 2026 at 3:51 AM
This makes sense to me.
I bet code review pipelines are on fire. We were barely able to keep up when people were writing the code.
The problem for me is when the whole code is produced by AI and someones ask for your review. Should humans review it or use AI to do it? I don’t want to review the AI code unless I explicitly do it for myself
January 14, 2026 at 12:54 AM
I bet code review pipelines are on fire. We were barely able to keep up when people were writing the code.
In some ways tool mandates feel like an industry norm. For years companies have restrict their developers to only using Windows laptops, GitHub for version control, Jira for issue tracking, or Zoom for meetings.
How do people feel about the usage of GenAI tools being mandated at work?
January 14, 2026 at 12:48 AM
In some ways tool mandates feel like an industry norm. For years companies have restrict their developers to only using Windows laptops, GitHub for version control, Jira for issue tracking, or Zoom for meetings.
How do people feel about the usage of GenAI tools being mandated at work?
January 14, 2026 at 12:24 AM
How do people feel about the usage of GenAI tools being mandated at work?
Every few months I take GenAI tools for a spin. As my experiments get more complex, this is what I expect to find, but I feel it's super important that I gain that hands on experience and come to my own conclusion. Even if it's just to defend my position down the road.
This part is what makes me miserable when using such tools to work on complex domains with problems that are too open.
Even with all the good practices possible, sometimes it is excruciating to have to prompt the same thing 20 times to get a very bad result, with bad architecture and performance.
Even with all the good practices possible, sometimes it is excruciating to have to prompt the same thing 20 times to get a very bad result, with bad architecture and performance.
January 13, 2026 at 11:44 PM
Every few months I take GenAI tools for a spin. As my experiments get more complex, this is what I expect to find, but I feel it's super important that I gain that hands on experience and come to my own conclusion. Even if it's just to defend my position down the road.
This is why I use the block button with little hesitation. Why do people talk to each other like this?
This person has no understanding of my actual views on GenAI, and didn't bother to ask before writing this.
This person has no understanding of my actual views on GenAI, and didn't bother to ask before writing this.
January 13, 2026 at 11:40 PM
This is why I use the block button with little hesitation. Why do people talk to each other like this?
This person has no understanding of my actual views on GenAI, and didn't bother to ask before writing this.
This person has no understanding of my actual views on GenAI, and didn't bother to ask before writing this.
🎯
My take: AI can enhance expertise but cannot replace it. You have to know what good looks like.
January 13, 2026 at 11:35 PM
🎯
I refuse to call it vibe coding, but I prompted my way to a command line tool, written in C, that converts millimeters to inches and vice versa. A few prompts later, I got something that works, and a man page with usage examples. 🤯
I usually can't find the time to create man pages or remember how.
I usually can't find the time to create man pages or remember how.
January 13, 2026 at 11:18 PM
I refuse to call it vibe coding, but I prompted my way to a command line tool, written in C, that converts millimeters to inches and vice versa. A few prompts later, I got something that works, and a man page with usage examples. 🤯
I usually can't find the time to create man pages or remember how.
I usually can't find the time to create man pages or remember how.
This is the part about LLMs I don't like. Seems some of the people behind them don't mind stealing from others.
Even I got notice of a class action lawsuit because a book I authored was used to train a model without my permission.
Even I got notice of a class action lawsuit because a book I authored was used to train a model without my permission.
Pretty wild that LLMs seem to have trained on my 2019 article of "The product-minded engineer" and I now find blog posts published in 2025 that are an exact rehash of my post.
Because if you ask an LLM "write a blog about a product-minded engineer" they spit out mine!!
Because if you ask an LLM "write a blog about a product-minded engineer" they spit out mine!!
January 12, 2026 at 10:09 PM
This is the part about LLMs I don't like. Seems some of the people behind them don't mind stealing from others.
Even I got notice of a class action lawsuit because a book I authored was used to train a model without my permission.
Even I got notice of a class action lawsuit because a book I authored was used to train a model without my permission.
I'm in Richmond VA, and as a fan of public transportation, I'm pleasantly surprised to learn all buses are zero fare! Free WiFi too.
January 12, 2026 at 2:53 PM
I'm in Richmond VA, and as a fan of public transportation, I'm pleasantly surprised to learn all buses are zero fare! Free WiFi too.
I want this next generation of software development tools to run on my own computer. Vim and Emacs helped democratize software development and made it accessible. We shouldn't allow this AI wave to take us backwards.
I really hope the open source community can keep pace.
I really hope the open source community can keep pace.
January 12, 2026 at 11:47 AM
I want this next generation of software development tools to run on my own computer. Vim and Emacs helped democratize software development and made it accessible. We shouldn't allow this AI wave to take us backwards.
I really hope the open source community can keep pace.
I really hope the open source community can keep pace.
I'm on my first flight for the year and found time to play with some of these AI coding tools, and I gotta say, this shit has come a long way.
The interactive nature of the tool I'm using makes me feel like I'm in control. I'm reviewing artifacts and approving them before the agent moves on.
The interactive nature of the tool I'm using makes me feel like I'm in control. I'm reviewing artifacts and approving them before the agent moves on.
January 12, 2026 at 11:19 AM
I'm on my first flight for the year and found time to play with some of these AI coding tools, and I gotta say, this shit has come a long way.
The interactive nature of the tool I'm using makes me feel like I'm in control. I'm reviewing artifacts and approving them before the agent moves on.
The interactive nature of the tool I'm using makes me feel like I'm in control. I'm reviewing artifacts and approving them before the agent moves on.
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
If you are assigned a leadership position in an #OpenSource project, step 1 after accepting it should be finding someone you can mentor to take over for you when you step down. Whatever the position is, you do not want to do it forever.
January 8, 2026 at 11:36 PM
If you are assigned a leadership position in an #OpenSource project, step 1 after accepting it should be finding someone you can mentor to take over for you when you step down. Whatever the position is, you do not want to do it forever.