Join Chief Technologist, John Janek, and Data Scientist, Mariana Ritchie, as they discuss various aspects of artificial intelligence from its influence on daily work environments, the use and advancements in technology, and its role in shaping future developments.

Mariana discusses her journey at the company, touching on her early projects building ML pipelines to diving into the rapid progress and expansion of AI, following the release of ChatGPT. John and Mariana continue the conversation discussing the evolution of AI from natural language processing to multi-agent systems, highlighting the integration of large language models (LLMs) and the transition towards more specialized and efficient use cases.

The conversation also shares insights into the future of AI, emphasizing the relevance of LLMs, the rise of smaller, specialized models, and the role of robust data practices. The episode concludes with Mariana sharing advice for aspiring technologists, urging them to build strong foundational knowledge and highlighting the criticality of being an active, engaged practitioner in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

In this episode Chief Technologist John Janek has an insightful conversation with Abigail Haddad, a former DHS AI Team member, about the transformative impact of AI on data science and government operations.

Abigail shares her transition to contracting from working in the government, and how AI tools like ChatGPT have revolutionized data analysis and project efficiency. John and Abigail discuss the importance of incorporating AI into government workflows to improve productivity and the need to move away from outdated, manual processes like Excel.

The conversation concludes on key insights that AI capabilities are transformative, and integrating these tools into your work is essential for enhancing productivity and achieving more effective outcomes.

Join Chief Technologist, John Janek, and Tiffany Ceasor, Technical Director for Partnerships, discuss her new role at the company and tech projects. Tiffany shares her background as a data scientist and AI/ML engineer at Microsoft, and her journey through various roles at Dev Technology, including business development and data architecture. The discussion highlights her latest project, the Executive Monitoring Service, which is a serverless, cloud-native AI solution that generates personalized summaries based on executive orders and other governmental documents. Tiffany also talks about her experience at the recent Congressional Hackathon and the rapidly evolving landscape of AI, emphasizing the transformative power of AI tools in software development.

The conversation also touches on the future of software engineering, the importance of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and how AI is making software more accessible and scalable.

Join Chief Technologist, John Janek, and the summer interns as they discuss technical solutions and their summer project in this second part of their 2025 Internship Experiences conversation.

The group shares experiences working on their summer project, which was developing an IT Chatbot to help assist the company’s internal departments. The interns discuss their approach of building the bot from integrating various technologies, tailoring the functionality to the stakeholder requirements, testing, and more. They also highlight the challenges and successes of creating a modular, multi-persona chatbot from backend architecture to front-end user experience.

The episode concludes with insights into the supportive and collaborative environment at Dev Technology, and reflections from both the interns on the growth, learning, and team camaraderie throughout their internship experience.

Dev Technology’s internship program is an outstanding chance for students to gain practical and real experience working in a modern IT organization delivering solutions for our internal and external clients. Join Chief Technologist, John Janek, as he speaks with our internship leaders and some of our summer interns as they explore the intersection between people and technology, the unique aspects of Dev’s internship program, lessons learned, and the significant projects the team worked on – including the development of an IT Bot.

The conversation also touches on their teamwork, innovation, and agile methodologies, emphasizing the practical and impactful experience provided by the intern program that they can apply in their academic and professional futures.

In this episode, Chief Technologist John Janek talks with Christi Porter, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition, and Ashley Crute, Associate for Innovative Work Based Learning Initiatives at the Virginia Talent and Opportunity Partnership (V-TOP) on the latest DevCast episode. The conversation highlights the significance of the internship experience for students in the state.

Ashley discusses V-TOP’s mission to provide high-quality internships for Virginia students, emphasizing the program's role in career readiness, finding opportunities, and resources for employers. Christi shares insights into Dev Technology's successful internship program, highlighting our focus on mentorship, professional development, and company-wide investment in intern success. The discussion also touches on the upcoming Virginia Intern Day, a celebration of the state's top employers for interns, which aims to emphasize the importance of internships in shaping students' future careers.

The conversation concludes with resources available for both employers and students through V-TOP and Dev Technology Group's plans for continued engagement and recruitment, as well as celebrating the company as a 2025 Top Employers for Interns.

Join Chief Technologist, John Janek and Technical Director for Digital Security, Niroop Gonchikar, as they discuss the concept of Zero Trust and its practical applications in cybersecurity. They explore its application across various environments, emphasizing the philosophy behind constant authentication and authorization to enhance security. The conversation includes insights from Niroop's experience at the Zero Trust Summit, where government agencies and vendors discussed their progress and challenges.

They highlight the importance of making security easy for users, leveraging AI, maintaining continuous delivery and monitoring, and the evolving complexities of modern digital environments. The discussion also touches on the necessity of mentoring, community, and systemic understanding in developing secure codes and systems.

Join Chief Technologist John Janek and Darryle Stephens, a program manager at Dev, discuss the integration of AI tools in program and project management. The conversation delves into the practical applications of AI tools like Microsoft Copilot and how it can enhance efficiency in day-to-day tasks like meeting transcription, scheduling, and research.

Darryle shares his journey of adapting to using AI tools, the benefits observed, and the potential future advancements. John and Darryle also address common concerns and misgivings about AI, emphasizing its role as a tool that augments rather than replaces human capabilities also touching on prompt engineering. Darryle concludes the conversation by sharing practical advice for colleagues and others on embracing and exploring AI tools to save time and enhance productivity.