vBrownBag

vBrownBag
  • 4.7 (34)
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  • Updated Weekly

vBrownBag.com is a community of people who believe in helping other people. Specifically we work in IT infrastructure and we help other people in the IT industry to better their careers through education. Most frequent activity is producing the vBrownBag podcast. vBrownBag also attends global conferences to produce TechTalks and theater sessions.

  1. 19h ago ·  Video

    Yelling at LLM Costs

    AI subscriptions are becoming as essential as internet bills - and just as expensive. The vBrownBag gang takes a hard look at the real cost of LLMs and what happens when the free ride ends. Chris, Shala, and Damian dig into the Anthropic pricing plot twist, why AI data centers consume 10x the power of traditional racks, the DeepSeek distillation controversy, and what happens when the first hit's free phase ends. You'll learn practical strategies for reducing token burn, why local models are becoming a viable cost escape hatch, how to pick the right model for the right job, and why blindly using Opus for everything is lighting money on fire. This is the unfiltered conversation every AI practitioner needs to have - before the subsidies disappear and the real bills arrive. Timestamps 0:00 Cold Open: Get These Darn Kids Off My Lawn 1:27 Chris's Big News: Leaving IBM for Six Feet Up 8:09 How Many AI Subscriptions Do You Have? 16:41 Stack Overflow Is Dead, Long Live Claude 17:12 Don't Just Blindly Copy and Paste (AI Edition) 31:00 Anthropic Gross Margin 2025: Negative 53% 35:30 When Token Costs Exceed a Junior Dev's Salary 42:02 Find the Model That Fits the Job 46:11 AI Multitasking Is a Lie (Just Like Humans) 49:05 We Are Uniquely Bad at Making Money Off This Show 53:19 Supply Chain Attacks and GitHub Actions 54:45 Did We Solve Anything? Yes. No. Maybe. 55:58 Grateful for Friends & Wrapping Up Links from the show:

    57 min

  2. 2d ago ·  Video

    The AI Dev Skills You Need to Future-Proof Your Career

    Join us as Brian Hough (CEO & Founder of Tech Stack Playbook, AWS Hero) gets brutally honest about the state of tech hiring and what skills developers actually need to survive - and thrive - in the AI era. Brian walks through his frontline perspective on why tech layoffs aren't about skills - they're about market economics - and what that means for engineers trying to stay relevant. You'll learn which roles are actually hot right now (ML engineer, AI engineer, cloud architect, full stack dev), why companies want utility players who can build end to end, how to use social media and building in public to get quietly hired, and why the engineers who thrive will be those who can go from vision to deployed system. Brian also covers practical strategies for positioning yourself before the next wave hits, including using roadmaps as a personal curriculum and leveraging AI as a career accelerator rather than a threat. Timestamps 0:00 Cold Open 0:11 Welcome & Introduction 2:16 Taking Vibe Code to Production-Grade Systems 3:01 Brian's Update: Dog Feeding & Building Internal Tools 8:05 Mac Maximus: Building on AWS EC2 Mac 9:49 Let's Get Into the Presentation 10:10 Agenda Overview 11:11 Is Anyone Actually Working Less Because of AI? 12:52 What Happens When You Don't Understand What You Built 20:10 AWS Root Account Horror Story 23:24 The Skills You Need in 2026 24:09 Tech Scene Overview & Job Posting Divergence 26:19 What Companies Actually Want: Utility Players 28:00 Hot Roles: ML Engineer, AI Engineer, Cloud Architect 32:00 The Layoff Reality: It's Market Economics, Not Skills 40:49 Now Is the Best Time to Start a Startup 42:31 Roles & Salaries Breakdown 43:55 This Advice Is for Everyone - Not Just Job Seekers 48:01 What's Getting Replaced vs. What's Irreplaceable 49:14 How to Become an Irreplaceable Engineer 52:42 Maximum Viable Product 53:02 Building in Public & Social Media Strategy 55:32 Positioning Yourself Before the Next Wave 56:19 Brian's Closing Thoughts 57:03 AI on Your Resume = Getting Hired Fast 58:12 Using Brian's 30-Day Plan as a Claude Curriculum 59:55 Platform Engineering Hot Take 1:03:05 Wrap-up & See You in Seattle How to find Brian: https://brianhhough.com/techstackplaybook Links from the show: https://roadmap.sh/python https://roadmap.sh/ai-engineer https://roadmap.sh/machine-learning https://roadmap.sh/ai-agents

    1h 4m

  3. May 10 ·  Video

    Claude / Codex / Gemini / Open-model Gen AI from Zero with Andrew Brown

    Andrew Brown (ExamPro) joins the vBrownBag crew to talk Gen AI skills, bootcamps, and whether vibe coding has made "learning to code" irrelevant. 🤖 Spoiler: it hasn't. Andrew walks through his upcoming Cloud Code Camp, demos agentic workflows he's built using Claude Desktop and Claude Code, and breaks down how to actually think about coordinator patterns, MCPs, and token-efficient development. 💡 The crew also gets into the "coders are obsolete" debate, AI-assisted JRPG game development, and whether AI certifications are worth your time in 2026. 🎮 Chapters: 00:00:01 - Andrew Brown, Classified Backstories, and Gen AI Fatigue 00:08:45 - Cloud Code Camp: Who It's For and What You'll Actually Build 00:15:38 - Building MCPs and Agentic Workflows with Claude Desktop and Claude Code 00:32:22 - Vibe Coding, Junior Devs, and Why Technical Skills Still Matter 00:54:03 - Are AI Certifications Worth It in 2026? #GenAI #CloudComputing #AIAgents #ExamPro #vBrownBag

    1 hr

  4. May 9 ·  Video

    Survive & Thrive: Skills for Techs in 2026 with Stephen Sennett

    AWS Hero Stephen Sennett joins the vBrownBag crew to argue that foundational knowledge matters more now, not less. 🧠 They dig into why communication skills have become a functional technical requirement, 💬 how to build a T-shaped career that AI can't commoditize, and where LLMs still fall completely flat. 🤖 There's a live car wash prompt test 🚗, an honest AGI reality check, and a look at how junior and senior expectations are shifting in the cloud careers era. ☁️ Worth the watch for anyone mapping out their tech skills strategy for 2026. Chapters: 00:01:35 - Why Foundational Knowledge Is Your Advantage in the AI Era 00:12:50 - Communication Is Now a Technical Requirement (AI Proves It) 00:20:07 - T-Shaped Skills, Learning in Public, and Standing Out in Cloud Careers 00:34:46 - What AI Still Can't Do: The AGI Reality Check and Car Wash Test 00:49:20 - How AI Is Reshaping Junior, Mid, and Senior Dev Expectations #CloudComputing #AWS #TechCareers #AISkills #vBrownBag

    1h 2m

  5. Apr 21 ·  Video

    Getting Started with Local AI

    Join us for Part 1 of a 3-part series as Du'An Lightfoot (Senior AI Engineer at Akamai) breaks down everything you need to know to get started running AI models locally on your own hardware. Du'An walks through the fundamentals of local AI - from understanding why you'd want to run models privately (data ownership, air-gapped environments, IP protection) to the hardware concepts that make it possible. You'll learn how inference actually works under the hood, why GPUs matter for AI workloads, how to choose and quantize models for your hardware, and how to get up and running with tools like Ollama. This is Part 1 of a 3-part series - future episodes cover serving models via API and distributing inference at the edge with Kubernetes. Timestamps 0:00 Cold Open: Why Local AI? 0:26 Welcome & Introduction 1:30 Following Up on the Frontier Models Episode 2:25 Du'An's Background & AI Inference at Akamai 3:49 What If You Wanted to Own Your Data? 5:00 Local AI vs Cloud AI: A Different Layer of the Stack 5:47 Why GPUs Matter: The Nvidia Story 7:03 CPU vs GPU: Serial vs Parallel Processing 8:28 Model Weights & Quantization Explained 12:45 Choosing the Right Model for Your Hardware 18:22 Getting Started with Ollama 24:16 Live Demo: Running Your First Local Model 30:41 Hardware Recommendations & Requirements 36:52 Hugging Face & Finding Models 42:18 Performance Tips & Benchmarking 48:35 Use Cases: When to Go Local vs Cloud 1:01:30 Live Demo: Claude Put-in-Work Repo 1:11:17 Bonus: Building a Deck with Co-work Live 1:16:36 Preview: Episodes 2 & 3 1:17:17 Wrap-up How to find Du'An: https://www.duanlightfoot.com/ https://github.com/labeveryday/ Links from the show: https://ollama.com/ https://apxml.com/ https://localllm.in/ https://huggingface.co/ https://github.com/labeveryday/claude-put-in-work https://claude.ai/

    1h 18m

  6. Apr 20 ·  Video

    AI for Good

    Join us as Kira Intrator (MIT-trained urban planner, systems thinker, and social impact technologist based in Geneva) makes the case that AI for Good isn't failing because of models - it's failing because of systems. Kira walks through why so many AI pilots never reach deployment, drawing on her experience building tools scaled across 9,000 users, three ministries, and six countries in Central Asia. You'll learn the five factors that kill AI projects in the development sector, why 80% of clinical AI models are trained on data that can't be deployed outside Western contexts, and what the $2.6 trillion opportunity in developing markets actually requires to unlock. This episode is equal parts systems thinking masterclass and call to action - a rare perspective from someone who has moved AI from prototype to production in places most tech professionals never consider. Timestamps 0:00 Welcome & Introduction 2:47 Kira's Background: MIT, Geneva, Central Asia 3:54 The Core Thesis: It's About Systems, Not Models 5:20 AI is Our Generation's Revolution 6:35 The $2.6 Trillion Opportunity 7:17 The 80% Western Data Problem 8:20 Why AI Projects Fail in Development: 5 Factors 9:28 Systems Mismatch & Low-Bandwidth Environments 9:52 Built for Pilot vs. Built for Deployment 10:29 Ownership, Economics & Sustainability 18:22 Real-World Case Studies 24:16 What Actually Works: Levers for Scale 30:41 The Role of Tech Companies & Foundations 33:39 Crystal Ball: Merging the Two Universes 35:01 A Call to Action 38:48 Wrap-up How to find Kira: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiraintrator/ Links from the show: Infrastructure & Platforms Anthropic Beneficial Deployments: https://www.anthropic.com/ Google Research Global South Labs: https://research.google/ Lelapa AI: https://lelapa.ai/ Microsoft AI for Good: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/ai-for-good OpenAI Foundation: https://openai.com/ Research & Innovation Hubs Data Science Africa: https://www.datascienceafrica.org/ Masakhane: https://www.masakhane.io/ Stanford HAI: https://hai.stanford.edu/ Wadhwani AI: https://www.wadhwaniai.org/ Global Governance & Policy OECD AI Observatory: https://oecd.ai/ UNICEF Office of Innovation: https://www.unicef.org/innovation/ World Health Organization AI: https://www.who.int/ Funders & Philanthropies Gates Foundation: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ Patrick J. McGovern Foundation: https://www.mcgovern.org/ Conferences AI for Good Global Summit (July 7-10, 2026 - Geneva): https://aiforgood.itu.int/ Data Science Africa 2026 (July 20-24 - Kampala, Uganda): https://www.datascienceafrica.org/ Deep Learning Indaba 2026 (August 2-7 - Lagos, Nigeria): https://deeplearningindaba.com/

    38 min

  7. Apr 18 ·  Video

    700,000 Learners Later: AWS Education Community and What's Changed

    Join us as Hiroko Nishimura (AWS Hero, LinkedIn Learning Instructor, and author of AWS for Non-Engineers) reflects on seven years of teaching cloud to 700,000 learners - what she's learned about learning, and how AWS education has changed. Hiroko walks through the evolution of AWS certification content, what changed when the Cloud Practitioner exam shifted focus, and her honest take on the industry's move away from non-engineer focused learning. You'll hear her best advice for anyone wanting to build a career in tech through content creation, why you only need to be 1-2 steps ahead to start teaching others, and how community has shaped her entire journey. This episode is equal parts AWS education deep dive and career inspiration - whether you're studying for your first cert or wondering how to break into the cloud community, Hiroko's 700,000-learner perspective is exactly what you need to hear. Timestamps 0:00 Welcome & Introduction 1:42 How We Get to 700,000 Learners 3:37 The 22 Courses Explained 6:15 How AWS Cloud Practitioner Has Changed 7:31 The Shift Away from Non-Engineer Focus 12:45 What Actually Changed in the Exam Content 18:22 Hiroko's Teaching Philosophy 24:16 How AI Has Changed the Learning Landscape 30:41 Community Building & AWS Heroes 35:00 Content Creation as a Career Strategy 39:02 Key Takeaways: You Only Need to Be 1-2 Steps Ahead 41:08 The Origin Story: 700,000 Learners from One Study Blog 44:02 Wrap-up & Where to Find Hiroko How to find Hiroko: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hirokonishimura/ https://hirokonishimura.com/ https://hiroko.io/ Links from the show:

    45 min

  8. Apr 7 ·  Video

    Uncovering the Hard Truth of Vendor Neutrality in OTEL

    Join us as Josh and Adriana call BS on the oversimplified vendor neutrality narrative - because switching observability vendors isn't magic, even with OpenTelemetry. Josh and Adriana walk through the hard truths about OTel vendor neutrality using their favorite analogy: switching from iOS to Android because vCard exists. Sure, your contacts will move, but what about everything else? You'll learn what vendor neutrality actually means in production, why vendor-neutral instrumentation still matters (your code artifacts survive tool changes), the real challenges and pitfalls of switching vendors, and best practices to make the process as pain-free as possible. This episode cuts through the hype with honest talk about what works, what doesn't, and why OpenTelemetry is still valuable even when it's not a magic wand. Timestamps 0:00 Welcome & Introduction 3:32 Getting Into the Talk 4:28 Origin Story: From LinkedIn Post to Full Presentation 5:35 Standards We Love: USB-C, Stop Signs, McDonald's 8:00 The No Name Brand Analogy 12:45 What Vendor Neutrality Actually Means 18:22 The iOS to Android / vCard Comparison 24:16 What You Lose When Switching Vendors 30:41 Why Vendor-Neutral Instrumentation Matters 36:52 Real Challenges & Pitfalls 42:18 Best Practices for Switching 46:17 Shameless Self-Promotion & Resources 49:03 Wrap-up How to find Josh & Adriana: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuamlee/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianavillela/ Links from the show: https://opentelemetry.io/

    50 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
34 Ratings

About

vBrownBag.com is a community of people who believe in helping other people. Specifically we work in IT infrastructure and we help other people in the IT industry to better their careers through education. Most frequent activity is producing the vBrownBag podcast. vBrownBag also attends global conferences to produce TechTalks and theater sessions.

Information

  • Creator
    vBrownBag
  • Years Active
    2011 - 2026
  • Episodes
    77
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    vBrownBag

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