In this episode of the TestGuild DevOps Toolchain Podcast, host Joe Colantonio sits down with Jennifer Rahmani, Co-founder and COO of Thoras.ai, a company redefining how infrastructure scales with AI-driven predictive technology. Drawing from her years as a DevOps engineer in the defense tech sector, Jennifer shares how she and her twin sister turned real-world frustrations into a reliability-first platform that eliminates the guesswork from scaling.

We discuss how Thoras.ai integrates with Kubernetes to predict workload demand minutes—or even hours—in advance, allowing teams to maintain high availability without overspending. Jennifer explains why they use the right AI for the right use case, how their predictive autoscaling works in multi-cloud and hybrid environments, and how it helps SREs avoid downtime during unpredictable events like Black Friday or major product launches. Whether you're dealing with noisy data, high cloud bills, or sleepless nights worrying about reliability, this episode delivers practical insights for making smarter scaling decisions.

Curious if AI will automate your contract testing—or wreck it?

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In this episode of the DevOps Toolchain Podcast, I sit down with Matt Fellows, co-founder of Pacflow and core maintainer of the PACT framework (now under SmartBear). We dive into the evolution of contract testing, how agentic AI tools like Copilot and Cursor are shaping testing workflows, and what the next 3–5 years might look like for API validation.

We also get real about:

• Why test quality matters more in an AI-driven pipeline
• How autonomous testing may reshape developer tooling
• Whether AI-generated tests are improving code or just spreading bugs faster

Whether you're leading a QA team, building APIs, or navigating the DevOps–AI intersection, this episode has hard-earned insights from someone shaping the tools used by teams around the world.

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Today, we're diving into a hot topic for many in the software industry: leaping testing to DevOps. Joining us is Maciek Konkolowicz, a senior DevOps manager at an AI-driven test automation platform, who brings more than a decade of experience ensuring software quality and accelerating delivery.

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Maciek shares his journey from functional test automation to DevOps leadership, offering real-world insight into what motivated his career shift, the skills and mindset that helped him thrive, and how the lines between testing and DevOps continue to blur with today's continuous learning culture. Whether you're thinking about making a similar move or looking to support testers within your DevOps team better, this conversation is full of actionable advice and inspiration.

Stick around to hear Maciek's tips on upskilling, working at AI-powered companies, and why keeping your "sunglasses" on, rather than blinders, might be the smartest career move you make this year.

How do you go from idea to impact—without wasting time or overbuilding too early?

In this episode, Joe Colantonio is joined by Mac, CTO at Wednesday Solutions, to dive deep into what it really takes to scale software smartly and sustainably. They explore the mindset and systems needed to go from MVP to product-market fit, how to think about scaling for 3 years (not forever), and the biggest distribution mistakes startups make.

You'll also hear hard-earned lessons on using AI tools effectively, when to skip hyped tech (like serverless), and why building great software isn't enough—you need distribution and insight to win.

Try out Insight Hub free for 14 days now: https://testguild.me/insighthub. No credit card required.

On this episode host Joe Colantonio sits down with Jacek Marmuszewski of Let's Go DevOps, an expert with more than a decade of experience building and managing mission-critical cloud infrastructure for companies like Sabre and Oracle, as well as for numerous startups.

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Jacek shares his journey from a Java and C programmer to a cloud-native advocate and DevOps platform engineer, offering invaluable insights into what it truly takes to create scalable, secure, and cost-effective cloud environments.

Together, they dig into the most common misconceptions about cloud scalability, why high performance and seamless user experience are critical for DevOps success, and how early architectural decisions can make or break your ability to scale.

Jacek explains how his company, Let's Go DevOps, helps organizations—especially startups—design cloud infrastructures with future growth, security, and compliance in mind. The conversation covers everything from balancing feature delivery and security in fast-paced environments to optimizing cloud costs, preparing for outages, and tackling the complexities of multi-cloud strategies.

If you're looking for actionable advice on cloud transformation, designing for scale, ensuring performance, and securing your applications, as well as a few best practices around AI and digital privacy-- Listen up!

In this episode of the DevOps Toolchain podcast, we dive deep into the evolving intersection of AI, IoT, and embedded systems with special guest Hariharan Ragothaman who's a seasoned technologist and DevSecOps expert.

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Hariharan shares how he went from programming in BASIC as a kid to leading cutting-edge AI server validation today. We explore the mindset shifts needed when moving from embedded systems to cloud-native architectures, and why having a security-first approach isn't just optional anymore — it's essential.

We also discuss:
✅ The growing role of AI in embedded systems and IoT — and what that means for testers and engineers.
✅ Practical strategies for building a security mindset (even if you don't think of yourself as a "security person").
✅ Favorite tools and techniques for shifting security left, including real-world examples and open-source tips.
✅ The balance between technical depth and leadership skills in an AI-powered future.
✅ Hariharan's personal approach to staying ahead of the curve, from continuous learning habits to favorite books and tools.

Whether you're deep in DevSecOps, testing embedded devices, or just curious about where AI and IoT are taking us next, this episode is packed with actionable advice and fresh perspectives to help you stay ahead.