DevOps Diaries

Jack McCurdy

DevOps Diaries, brought to you by Gearset, is the podcast for Salesforce professionals to hear stories from folks in the Trailblazer ecosystem responsible for delivering awesome Salesforce implementations — the trials, tribulations, and successes. Hosted by Jack McCurdy.

  1. -2 H

    074 — Make SOX audits easy with Salesforce DevOps!

    Jack sits down with Tapan Patel, Gearset DevOps Leader for 2026 and DevOps Lead for the Salesforce practice at Braze, a publicly traded omnichannel platform where every change management decision is subject to SOX audit scrutiny.  Tapan brings a rare blend of project delivery experience, release management rigour, and genuine passion for building DevOps not just as a set of processes, but as a culture. The episode is a masterclass in phased, people-first DevOps rollout. Tapan walks through exactly how he's taken Braze from change sets and manual deployments to a governed, audit-ready CI/CD pipeline over the past year and a half — breaking it down into four distinct phases and sharing what actually worked, what took longer than expected, and where he's headed next. Tapan shares his rounded take on AI, including where it's already adding value in the pipeline today, why agentic autonomy in prod is still a way off, and how Claude, Jira and Gearset's reporting API are becoming a powerful combination for DevOps KPI tracking. 00:01 – Intro & Meet Tapan Patel 00:40 – Tapan's Journey: From Data & Analytics to Salesforce DevOps 02:12 – What DevOps Actually Means as an Organisational Culture 04:10 – DevOps in a SOX-Audited, Publicly Traded Company 05:10 – The State of DevOps at Braze When Tapan Joined 08:14 – Shifting Mindsets From Change Sets to a DevOps Tool 10:32 – Precision Deployments: Why Page Layouts Break Everything 11:49 – Stakeholder Visibility & the Value of Issue Tracking Integration 13:36 – What Tapan Values Most About Gearset 15:53 – The Four Phases of CI/CD Rollout at Braze 19:16 – Phase Two: Stabilisation & SOX Integration 20:30 – Phase Three: Automation Layers & QA Integration 21:18 – Phase Four: Maturity & Minimal Intervention 22:55 – The Admin Learning Curve for DevOps Adoption 25:25 – Continuous Improvement as a Practice, Not a Project 28:34 – Where AI Fits Into the DevOps Pipeline Right Now 31:07 – Supplementary vs. Agentic AI: Why Tapan Is Taking It Slow 33:14 – Using Claude + Gearset Data for Sprint Analysis & KPI Tracking 36:00 – The DevOps KPIs That Matter at Braze 37:24 – Closing Advice for Anyone Starting Their DevOps Journey

    40 min

  2. 21 AVR.

    073 — Mike Dickson: Successful Salesforce data strategy!

    Tune in to hear everything from why data projects are chronically underestimated at the exec level, to what a proper data strategy actually looks like when you strip away the buzzwords. Mike gets practical on data migrations, data cleanup, and the hidden gotchas that trip teams up when they start handing control to agentic AI.  Before finding his way into Salesforce consulting, Mike Dickson cycled solo across Canada, studied mechanical engineering, and cut his teeth on some of the most data-rich implementations in the nonprofit space. That analytical, problem-solving mindset shapes everything he has to say about why so many organisations are sleepwalking into their AI ambitions without the data foundation to back them up. Mike and Jack close things out with a thread about what commercial organisations can learn from the nonprofit world when it comes to relationships, relevance, and not being noisy. 00:01 Intro & Meet Mike Dickson 00:13 Why Data Is So Important in Salesforce 01:47 Mike's Background: Mechanical Engineering & Cycling Across Canada 05:12 Lessons from the Road That Still Apply Today 07:53 10 Years in the Ecosystem: The Rise of Data 08:17 Starting in the Nonprofit Space & Why Nonprofits Were Data-Rich Early Adopters 12:25 Data Migrations: Why They're Harder Than Anyone Thinks 15:58 Is the Complexity of Data Projects Misunderstood at the Exec Level? 19:01 What a Solid Data Strategy Actually Looks Like 22:08 Start With the Business Objective, Not the Data 23:13 How to Approach a Data Cleanup Project 26:49 The Hidden Gotcha: Records That Can't Be Saved Anymore 27:04 Don't Boil the Ocean — Chunk It Up 30:14 Data Migration Tips & How to Avoid Disaster 33:22 The Right Tooling for the Job 35:36 Data Doesn't Sit in a Vacuum 36:05 What Nonprofits & Commercial Orgs Can Learn From Each Other 40:15 Where to Find Mike & Speediful

    42 min

  3. 7 AVR.

    072 — Mike Gerholdt: The future of Salesforce Admins

    With agentic AI reshaping what it means to work in Salesforce, Mike Gerholdt makes a compelling case for why the role of a Salesforce Admin isn't shrinking, but shifting. The value was never really in the buttons Salesforce admins click, but in the judgments they make. Jack chats to Mike about everything from the principle of least privilege in an agentic world, to whether generalist or specialist skills will win out as the platform keeps expanding.  Mike also shares why the admin who hoards their knowledge, whether that's contacts in a Rolodex or config know-how in their head, is ultimately doing their organisation and themselves a disservice.  Plus, with TDX just around the corner at the time of recording, Mike gives a preview of what makes that event different from every other Salesforce gathering on the calendar. 00:01 Intro & Meet Mike Gerholdt 01:32 Why Admins Shouldn't Fear the AI Revolution 04:14 Decisioning is Cheap, Judgment is Expensive 06:35 What a Salesforce Org Actually Is 07:28 The Mundane Stuff vs. The Valuable Stuff 10:27 Why Admins Have an Emotional Response to AI 11:19 Identity, Expertise & the Evolving Admin Role 13:44 Security, Permissions & Principle of Least Privilege 17:14 Trust, Vibe Coding & the AI Learning Curve 19:51 Why Tools Like Gearset Still Matter 21:03 AI Won't Replace Admins — Here's Why 23:43 How Engineers Are Actually Using AI Day-to-Day 26:48 Security Guardrails in an Agentic World 31:02 User Experience as a Specialisation 32:47 Generalist vs. Specialist: Where Should You Focus? 38:26 You're Not Learning to Drive Until After You Pass Your Test 40:59 What to Look Forward to at TDX 44:22 Final Bits of Wisdom

    47 min

  4. 23 MARS

    071 — Matt Dickens (CPO, Gearset): Moving beyond AI's veneer of value

    After 70 episodes, Jack finally gets Gearset's CPO and co-founder Matt Dickens!  The conversation goes deep on what it means to build something people want to use, as well as why most teams, whether they're building product or building on Salesforce, are asking the wrong questions.  Matt shares his honest take on AI. Why the barrier to doing things has never been lower, why that's not the same as the barrier to doing something valuable, and why verticalized AI solutions will win out over general purpose tools for teams that actually want ROI.  Tune in for a rare peek behind the curtain from someone who thinks about these problems every single day. 00:00 Intro & Meet Matt Dickens 00:44 From EA Game Dev to Gearset Co-Founder 02:23 The Founding Story: How Gearset Was Born Inside Redgate 04:48 Why the Salesforce Ecosystem Is Unlike Any Other 06:02 Salesforce Teams vs. Traditional Software Engineering 09:52 How the Salesforce DevOps Landscape Has Shifted 11:23 How Gearset's Own DevOps Practices Have Evolved 12:41 Building Products People Actually Want to Use 16:44 What "Job to Be Done" Really Means at Gearset 20:36 Advice for Junior Salesforce Professionals in the Age of AI 22:02 Expose Your Ignorance: The Most Underrated Career Skill 26:13 Lead with Curiosity: Jack & Matt's Shared Philosophy 28:44 AI in the Salesforce Ecosystem: The Opportunity & The Trap 33:20 General Purpose vs. Verticalized AI Tools 41:29 How Gearset Is Thinking About AI 46:51 Closing Advice for the Salesforce Ecosystem 52:13 Wrap Up

    53 min

  5. 5 MARS

    070 — Paul Calf: From audit fail to DevOps pipeline success!

    Jack sits down with Paul Calf (Salesforce Release Manager at Standard Life, and Gearset DevOps Leader for 2026) to talk through a decade-long Salesforce journey that took him from accidental admin to release manager. Paul gets candid about the failed audit that forced his team to get serious about governance, what it looked like to build a compliant release process from scratch, and why cherry-picking components in VS Code nearly broke him (and the team). The conversation goes beyond tooling. Paul opens up about the culture-first approach his team takes to collaboration, from daily standups to blameless post-mortems, and what happens when someone accidentally data loads the wrong file into prod. He also shares his take on evaluating DevOps tools, approval bottlenecks, and how his financial services org is treading carefully, but deliberately, into AI territory. About DevOps Diaries: Salesforce DevOps Advocate Jack McCurdy chats to members of the Salesforce community about their experience in the Salesforce ecosystem. Expect to hear and learn from inspirational stories of personal growth and business success, whilst discovering all the trials, tribulations, and joy that comes with delivering Salesforce for companies of all shapes and sizes. New episodes bi-weekly on YouTube as well as on your preferred podcast platform. Podcast produced and sponsored by Gearset. Learn more about Gearset: https://grst.co/4iCnas2 About Gearset: Gearset is the leading Salesforce DevOps platform, with powerful solutions for metadata and CPQ deployments, CI/CD, automated testing, sandbox seeding and backups. It helps Salesforce teams apply DevOps best practices to their development and release process, so they can rapidly and securely deliver higher-quality projects. Get full access to all of Gearset's features for free with a 30-day trial: https://grst.co/4iKysKW Chapters: 00:00 – Intro & Meet Paul Calf 02:00 – The Accidental Admin Origin Story 03:44 – The Audit That Changed Everything 05:28 – Building a Release Process from Scratch 08:00 – From Change Sets to Gearset 09:34 – Tackling Approval Bottlenecks 12:43 – Breaking Down Silos & Building a Collaborative Culture 15:42 – Blameless Culture & Owning Your Mistakes 18:55 – Lessons from Building a DevOps Pipeline 22:29 – Cherry Picking: A Horror Story 25:40 – How to Evaluate DevOps Tooling 28:11 – Continuous Improvement as a Mindset 30:15 – Approaching AI in a Regulated Industry 33:46 – Final Advice for Salesforce & DevOps Teams 37:20 – Wrapping Up

    38 min

  6. 19 FÉVR.

    069 — Dan Barckley: Accidental admin, intentional architect!

    What happens when you deploy to prod on a Friday and it starts firing emails to every customer? Dan Barckley has lived it — and it's why he's now a DevOps believer. In this episode: accidental admin origins, why simple beats complex every time, Agentforce skepticism, and the leadership mindset that changes everything. About DevOps Diaries:  Salesforce DevOps Advocate Jack McCurdy chats to members of the Salesforce community about their experience in the Salesforce ecosystem. Expect to hear and learn from inspirational stories of personal growth and business success, whilst discovering all the trials, tribulations, and joy that comes with delivering Salesforce for companies of all shapes and sizes. New episodes bi-weekly on YouTube as well as on your preferred podcast platform. Podcast produced and sponsored by Gearset. Learn more about Gearset: https://grst.co/4iCnas2 About Gearset:  Gearset is the leading Salesforce DevOps platform, with powerful solutions for metadata and CPQ deployments, CI/CD, automated testing, sandbox seeding and backups. It helps Salesforce teams apply DevOps best practices to their development and release process, so they can rapidly and securely deliver higher-quality projects. Get full access to all of Gearset's features for free with a 30-day trial: https://grst.co/4iKysKW Chapters: 01:36 Introducing Daniel Barckley: A Journey in Salesforce 04:16 The Joy of Problem Solving in DevOps 07:05 Learning from Mistakes: The Accidental Admin 09:35 Tinkering and Innovation: Building in Salesforce 12:37 The Importance of Mentorship and Leadership 15:21 Characteristics of Great Leaders 18:18 Navigating the Salesforce Ecosystem 20:46 The Future of Salesforce: AI and Automation 23:46 Data Management and Business Continuity 26:43 Iterative Development and Continuous Improvement 29:19 Embracing Change in the Tech World 32:11 Closing Thoughts: Lead with Curiosity

    39 min

  7. 15 JANV.

    068 — Sam Crossland: Securing AI Code & Mastering DevOps Fundamentals

    Sam Crossland returns to DevOps Diaries to dissect the evolving world of Salesforce development and AI-generated code. As artificial intelligence reshapes the coding landscape, Sam and Jack go beyond the hype to discuss the real risks and rewards. They explore why trusting AI-generated code without strict quality gates is a dangerous game, emphasizing that human oversight remains the ultimate security protocol for reliable software delivery. However, technology is only half the battle. Sam advocates for a return to the fundamentals that drive high-performing teams, highlighting the critical importance of robust documentation and the use of RACI metrics to clarify roles. The conversation dives deep into the necessity of continuous improvement, offering practical strategies for chipping away at technical debt and measuring success through meaningful metrics.  Whether you are navigating the complexities of AI integration or simply seeking to streamline your team’s workflow, this episode offers the strategic blueprint you need to thrive in the modern DevOps lifecycle. Tune in now to discover how to perfectly balance innovation with reliability.

    46 min

  8. 11/12/2025

    067 — Nicolas Vuillamy: CTO, DevOps enthusiast, and open-source champion!

    Jack sits down to talk all things Salesforce DevOps, open-source, and career development in an AI-forward world with Nicolas Vuillamy.  They discuss the often-overlooked reality that DevOps is a mindset, not just a set of buttons to push and Nicolas opens up about the responsibilities of technical leadership. Also discussed are the "threat" and opportunity of AI, and why getting involved in open-source projects might be the single best move you can make for your career.  Whether you are a junior developer or an aspiring architect, this conversation offers a roadmap for navigating the complexities of Salesforce in 2026 and beyond. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Open Source and DevOps 02:43 The Value of Open Source Collaboration 05:13 Journey into Salesforce and Trailhead 07:42 Understanding DevOps in Salesforce 09:54 SFDX Hardis: A DevOps Tool for Salesforce 12:31 Challenges in Salesforce DevOps 15:29 The Role of AI in Salesforce 18:02 Career Advice for Aspiring Salesforce Professionals 20:31 The Importance of Collaboration in Tech 23:05 The Evolving Role of a CTO 25:56 Predictions for the Future of Salesforce and DevOps

    36 min
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À propos

DevOps Diaries, brought to you by Gearset, is the podcast for Salesforce professionals to hear stories from folks in the Trailblazer ecosystem responsible for delivering awesome Salesforce implementations — the trials, tribulations, and successes. Hosted by Jack McCurdy.

Informations

  • Création
    Jack McCurdy
  • Années d’activité
    2022 - 2026
  • Épisodes
    74
  • Classification
    Contenu explicite
  • Copyright
    © 2026 DevOps Diaries
  • Site web de l’émission
    DevOps Diaries