In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I sit down with Mike Hostetler, creator of Jido, a powerful framework for building autonomous AI agent systems in Elixir. We explore why Elixir's actor model and OTP make it the ideal platform for creating massive agent swarms. Mike shares his vision of "10,000 agents per human" and explains how Jido's architecture leverages Elixir's strengths to build scalable, distributed agent systems. We dive deep into the framework's core components including ac...
Jul 25, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 54
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I sit down with Zach Daniel, the brilliant creator of Ash Framework, for a fascinating discussion about the intersection of AI and application development. We dive deep into LLM workflows, explore the revolutionary usage rules system, and get an exclusive look at Ash AI - the comprehensive toolkit that's changing how we integrate AI capabilities into Elixir applications. Zach shares his insights on effective LLM usage patterns, from vibe coding workf...
Jul 12, 2025•2 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 53
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I welcome back Greg Medland, a recruiter who specializes in connecting talented developers with companies seeking expertise in the Elixir ecosystem. We dive deep into the current state of the Elixir job market and explore what developers can expect in 2025. Greg shares valuable insights on how the market has evolved since the post-COVID correction, revealing encouraging signs of recovery and continued Elixir adoption. We discuss the most in-demand sk...
Jun 21, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 52
In this comprehensive episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I sit down with Brian Cardarella, CEO of DockYard, to tackle one of the most critical topics facing our community: Elixir adoption. We dive deep into the challenges and opportunities that shape how developers and companies discover and embrace Elixir. Brian shares his extensive experience from the consulting world, discussing everything from the changing conference landscape and social media fragmentation to the existential questions ar...
Jun 07, 2025•3 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 51
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I sit down with Henry Saint-Juste, Solutions Architect at NetJets, to explore his philosophy of rapid prototyping and moving fast to validate ideas before committing to tech stacks. Henry shares his unique approach to staying 2-3 sprints ahead of engineering teams and building proof of concepts that drive real business decisions. We dive deep into Henry's experience building NetJets' mobile application using a "code once, deploy anywhere" strategy wi...
May 24, 2025•1 hr 36 min
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I talk with Elliott Clark, former engineer at both Facebook and Microsoft, who now runs Batteries Included. Elliott shares his rich background from working on the .NET team at Microsoft and infrastructure and developer efficiency at Facebook to creating a platform that simplifies cloud deployment for developers of all sizes. Elliott explains how his experience at tech giants shaped his vision for Batteries Included, particularly the pain points he ob...
May 17, 2025•1 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 49
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I chat with Kimberly Erni, a software developer who has found balance through contract-based work. We explore the often-overlooked topic of burnout in the tech industry, where "grind culture" is normalized but comes with significant personal costs. Kimberly shares her personal journey, including how taking a break from full-time work helped her overcome infertility struggles. We discuss the challenges of working in startups with constantly shifting p...
May 10, 2025•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 48
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I chat with Tristan Kildaire, a systems programmer who works on low-level projects including his own programming language. We explore LoRa radio technology, Reticulum mesh networking, and how Elixir can revolutionize IoT development. Tristan explains the fundamentals of long-range wireless communication using LoRa, which operates in unlicensed spectrum bands and enables low-power, long-distance data transmission perfect for IoT applications. We discu...
Apr 26, 2025•1 hr 49 min•Season 1Ep. 47
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I chat with Andrea Leopardi, Elixir core team member and author of "Network Programming in Elixir and Erlang." We dive deep into the fundamentals of network programming and how the BEAM's process model is perfectly suited for building robust networking applications. Andrea breaks down complex concepts like the TCP protocol, the OSI model, and the acceptor pool pattern in clear, understandable terms. We explore how Elixir's message-passing paradigm na...
Apr 19, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 46
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I chat with Chris Nelson, co-founder and principal engineer at Launch Scout, about leveraging AI tools for Elixir development and how these technologies are transforming developer workflows. Chris brings over a decade of Elixir experience to the conversation, sharing valuable insights on how consultancies can integrate AI to dramatically increase productivity. Chris discusses the inflection point where AI tools became truly valuable for production wo...
Apr 05, 2025•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 45
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I chat with returning guest Daniel Bergholz about leveraging AI tools like Windsurf and Claude to dramatically improve Elixir development workflows. Daniel shares his journey from skepticism to becoming a power user, demonstrating how these tools can help developers build faster without compromising quality. Daniel walks us through his practical approach to incorporating AI into both professional development work and side projects. He explains how to...
Mar 29, 2025•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 44
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I chat with Isaac Tsalicoglou, author of Northwind Elixir Traders. We explore database modeling techniques, working with Ecto, and his fascinating transition from mechanical engineering to Elixir development. Isaac shares his experience creating a practical guide for database modeling in Elixir, explaining how the Northwind Traders project helps developers understand complex relationships and query optimization. We discuss the benefits of SQLite for ...
Mar 22, 2025•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 43
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I chat with German Velasco, creator of Elixir Streams and Phoenix Test. We explore test-driven development practices, the benefits of pair programming, and consulting experiences within the Elixir ecosystem. German shares his journey into Elixir development and discusses how adopting test-driven development has improved his coding workflow. He explains the philosophy behind Phoenix Test and demonstrates how proper testing can lead to more maintainabl...
Mar 15, 2025•1 hr 49 min•Season 1Ep. 42
In this episode, Christopher Grainger, founder of Amplified.ai, joins me to discuss the intersection of Elixir and AI, particularly focusing on Lang graph functionality and agentic workflows. Christopher shares his journey from academia to founding a successful patent search platform, and how Elixir's unique characteristics make it particularly well-suited for AI/ML workloads. We explore how OTP primitives provide natural solutions for agent-based AI systems, discussing how Elixir's actor model ...
Feb 23, 2025•1 hr 45 min•Season 1Ep. 41
In this laid-back episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, Alex Koutmos and Peter Ullrich return for another engaging conversation. The discussion covers various topics, including Alex's recently completed Elixir Patterns book, experiences with AI tools in development, and their thoughts on different CI/CD platforms. They share their experiences using tools like Broadway, GitHub Actions, and ObanPro, while also discussing the challenges and benefits of various development workflows. The conversatio...
Feb 15, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 40
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I chat with Ellie and Josep, co-authors of "Engineering Elixir Applications: Navigate Each Stage of Software Delivery with Confidence." They discuss their journey into Elixir development, their experience writing the book together as a couple, and dive deep into DevOps concepts for Elixir applications. The conversation covers their approach to teaching deployment concepts through practical examples, including their use of Docker, Docker Swarm, and Te...
Feb 10, 2025•1 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 39
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, we dive into JustCrossPost with creator Peter Solnica, exploring his journey from Ruby to Elixir development and the evolution of his social media automation tool. Peter shares insights on using AI for development, particularly for frontend work, and discusses how his background in functional programming through Ruby helped smooth his transition to Elixir. We explore the technical architecture behind JustCrossPost, including its use of Oban Pro workf...
Jan 25, 2025•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 38
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, we welcome back Zach Daniel, creator of the Ash Framework, to explore Igniter, a sophisticated code generation and project patching framework for Elixir. Zach shares his vision for modernizing how developers handle project upgrades, installations, and code refactoring in the Elixir ecosystem. We dive into how Igniter streamlines dependency management with smart installers, simplifies project upgrades and provides powerful tools for library authors to...
Jan 11, 2025•1 hr 39 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, we welcome back Peter Ullrich and Alex Koutmos to discuss their new venture, EZSuite. With over 20 years of combined software engineering experience, they're tackling the challenge of automating away essential but time-consuming aspects of Elixir development. We explore their first product, Phx2Ban, a sophisticated Fail2Ban alternative for Phoenix applications that helps developers implement robust bot protection with minimal setup. Peter, known for ...
Dec 21, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 36
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I'm joined by Paulo Valente, an R&D Software Engineer and maintainer of Nx, the Numerical Elixir ecosystem. Paulo shares his deep expertise in numerical computing and machine learning within the Elixir ecosystem, discussing both advanced concepts like sharding strategies and fundamentals for newcomers to the field. We explore the technical challenges and opportunities in growing Nx adoption, examining how this powerful library brings tensor compu...
Dec 14, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I'm joined by Owen Bickford, a Software Engineer at SmartLogic and co-host of the Elixir Wizards podcast. Owen shares his journey developing webauthn_components, an innovative library that brings passwordless authentication to Phoenix applications using WebAuthn standards. We dive deep into the technical challenges of implementing secure, passwordless login flows, and how Phoenix LiveView makes it possible to create seamless user experiences. Owen ex...
Nov 23, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 34
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I'm joined by Miguel Camba, a Senior Engineer at DockYard and key contributor to Beacon CMS. Miguel dives deep into the development of Beacon's visual editor, a powerful feature that bridges the gap between developers and content creators. We explore how the team leveraged Phoenix LiveView and JavaScript to build an intuitive, real-time editing experience while maintaining Beacon's commitment to performance. Miguel shares fascinating technical insigh...
Nov 16, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 33
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, I'm joined by Leandro Pereira, one of the key developers behind Beacon CMS. Leandro discusses Beacon, a cutting-edge content management system built with Phoenix LiveView that aims to deliver high performance without compromising productivity. We explore how Beacon leverages Phoenix to boost rendering speeds and enhance SEO performance, even for content-heavy pages. Leandro shares insights into Beacon's core components, including its LiveView UI for ...
Nov 09, 2024•1 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 32
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, your go-to source for All Things Elixir, I welcome Steve Bussey, author of "Real-Time Phoenix" and "From Ruby to Elixir." We'll discuss Steve's journey transitioning from Ruby to Elixir, discussing key differences between the languages and Elixir's unique strengths in building scalable, real-time applications. Steve shares insights from his experience as a software engineer and entrepreneur, including lessons learned while building SUPERED. Whether y...
Nov 02, 2024•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, the go-to source for All Things Elixir, Parker and Shannon Selbert, the creators of Oban, join me to discuss their groundbreaking work. We explore the journey of developing Oban, a powerful job processing system that has become essential for thousands of Elixir applications. The Selberts share their vision behind Oban's creation, emphasizing its core principles of reliability, consistency, and observability in background job processing. Our conversat...
Oct 26, 2024•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 30
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, your go-to source for All Things Elixir, I'm excited to welcome Greg Medland, a seasoned Elixir developer recruiter with over 4 years of experience placing talent across the US and Canada. We'll dive into the current Elixir job market, exploring trends, opportunities, and challenges facing both employers and job seekers in this growing field. Greg will share invaluable insights on what companies are looking for in Elixir developers and how candidates...
Oct 19, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 29
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, your go-to source for All Things Elixir, I'm excited to welcome back Peter Ullrich, a returning guest and passionate Elixir advocate. We'll dive into Peter's latest project, runelixir.com , a free resource designed to help newcomers get started with Elixir. Peter will share insights on best practices for learning Elixir, common pitfalls to avoid, and why he believes Elixir is an excellent choice for developers. We'll explore the features of runelixir...
Oct 12, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 28
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, your go-to source for All Things Elixir, I'm excited to welcome Daniil Popov, creator of an innovative embedded analytics tool for Phoenix projects. We'll explore Daniil's journey developing this tool, which seamlessly integrates analytics capabilities into Phoenix applications. Daniil will share his experiences, challenges, and the advantages of using Elixir and Phoenix for this project. We'll discuss how his tool enhances the Elixir development exp...
Oct 05, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 27
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, your go-to source for All Things Elixir, I'm excited to welcome Levi Robertson, CEO and founder of double-zero (00). Levi's company offers a unique, self-hosted email monitoring service that integrates with Amazon SES, allowing users to take full control of their email platform. We'll explore Levi's journey as he built double-zero using Elixir, a language he was new to when he started this venture. Levi will share his experiences navigating the learn...
Sep 28, 2024•1 hr 57 min•Season 1Ep. 26
In this episode of the Elixir Mentor Podcast, your go-to source for All Things Elixir, I'm excited to welcome Filipe Cabaco, a talented Elixir developer at Supabase, an open-source real-time database platform. Filipe has been key in enhancing Supabase's real-time capabilities, particularly Broadcast and Presence Authorization. We'll explore Supabase's Elixir-powered real-time engine, discussing how Filipe leveraged Elixir's strengths to build scalable solutions for data synchronization and user ...
Sep 21, 2024•1 hr 59 min•Season 1Ep. 25
