Inside Tech Comm with Zohra Mutabanna

Zohra Mutabanna

5.0 (9)
Technology

Inside Tech Comm explores how technology, content, and the changing workplace are reshaping technical communication—and the people behind it. Through candid conversations with practitioners and thinkers, the show looks beyond tools and trends to examine how the work is evolving, how people are navigating that change, and what it means for the future of the profession.

22h ago

S8E7 The Work AI Cannot See

AI can summarize meetings, monitor repositories, categorize support tickets, and generate instructions. But automation does not eliminate the need to understand what customers are trying to do—or what happens when a product enters the real world. Vinay Payapilli joins me to examine the assumptions beneath the rush to automate technical communication. Drawing on 26 years in the profession, he explains how mapping documentation’s critical path changed the problem his team was trying to solve. The largest delays were not in writing. They were in recovering context from scattered conversations and waiting for knowledgeable people to review the result. That distinction leads us to a larger question: What must be understood before any part of the work can be handed to AI? A system can describe the steps encoded in software. It cannot observe a cashier memorizing a sequence of keystrokes because reading the interface takes too long. It cannot know that customers are misusing a delete button because the product gives them no reason to stop. And it cannot decide, without human context, whether the customer needs another article or a better product. Our conversation moves between documentation practice and the wider uncertainty surrounding AI: The difference between generating instructions and helping customers make decisionsHow AI can surface patterns that manual analysis missesWhy customer workarounds may never appear in support dataThe role of technical writers in questioning product decisionsWhy rapid prototypes distort leadership’s expectations of deliveryWhat drives the demand for an organizational “AI story”How practitioners can respond to disruption without pretending to predict the futureVinay’s message is neither resistance nor blind optimism. Use AI. Experiment with it. But go deep enough into the product, the domain, and the customer’s reality to recognize what the technology cannot know on its own. Use discount code ITC26 to save $200 on registration for LavaCon 2026.
Sep 10

S8E6 Documentation Is Becoming the Interface

Documentation is not just support material anymore. It is quietly becoming a product surface, a competitive advantage, and in many cases the raw fuel that AI systems use to help customers get work done. I’m joined by Nico Berry, a former technical writer who now works in product management at Contentful. We start with his move from technical writing into product management and the skills that carried over: technical storytelling, interviewing, and the ability to translate complexity across audiences. But the conversation quickly moves into a bigger question: What happens to documentation when AI becomes another way users interact with a product? We unpack headless CMS, structured content, APIs, and MCP in practical terms. Nico explains why separating content from presentation matters when that content may be consumed not only by websites and apps, but also by LLMs that interpret it for users or take action on their behalf. That shift makes context, structure, and governance increasingly important. If AI becomes another interface to your product, the quality of the experience still depends on the quality of the information underneath it. We also get into the tradeoffs: hallucinations, lower-quality AI-generated content, brand trust, data privacy, and a concern that gets less attention than job replacement—the fragmentation that comes from being expected to do more simply because AI makes us faster. This conversation is ultimately about more than using AI to write documentation. It’s about what documentation becomes when AI starts consuming it. Use discount code ITC26 to save $200 on registration for LavaCon 2026.
Sep 3

S8E5 You are the Product: Storytelling Your Tech Comm Career

Technical writers do work that can influence products, customers, and business outcomes. Yet we can still find ourselves described as the people who make things look good or “do the documentation.” In this episode, I talk with Nibu Thomas about changing that narrative. Nibu’s own career has moved through several S-curves—from manufacturing and quality-focused work to documentation leadership, marketing, and go-to-market support. We use that journey to explore what happens when you stop defining your career by the deliverables you produce and start thinking about the value you create. A big part of that shift is storytelling. How do you tell the story of your career? How do you make your value visible on a resume when a hiring manager may be scanning hundreds of them? And how do you build a professional network before you actually need something from it? We also talk about what AI changes for technical writers. As tools become better at generating and updating documentation, Nibu argues that writers need to move closer to customers and business outcomes—and think beyond producing more content. Some highlights from our conversation: Finding the common thread across career transitionsMoving beyond tools and deliverables when describing your workUsing storytelling to communicate your professional valueBuilding relationships outside your immediate professional circleApproaching networking with kindness rather than reciprocityMaking your resume stand out when hiring managers have little timeConnecting technical communication work to revenue and cost savingsMoving closer to customers and product outcomesRethinking the technical writer’s value as AI takes on more content workTreating yourself as the product you need to positionIf you've ever struggled to explain what you bring to the table beyond “I write documentation,” this conversation offers another way to think about your career. Use discount code ITC26 to save $200 on registration for LavaCon 2026.
Aug 26

S8E4 From Technical Writer to Founder: Solving the Product Video Problem

Video feels like the “obvious” way to teach software until you’re the one stuck updating walkthroughs after every release. We sit down with Sagar Garuda, founder and CEO of Zenious, to talk about the real bottleneck behind product education videos: the editing, the reviews, the sync work, and the high cost of keeping content current when a SaaS product changes fast. We follow Sagar’s path from engineering to technical writing, then through customer education leadership at fast-growing startups, where onboarding speed and tribal knowledge become existential scaling problems. He explains how multiple teams describe the same product differently across the customer journey and why technical writers create the most value when they stop operating in silos and start orchestrating a single source of truth across help portals, knowledge bases, LMS content, and digital adoption platforms. Then we get concrete about how Zenious approaches the workflow: record your screen, speak naturally, and let transcript-based editing handle polishing, tightening, and syncing audio to what’s happening on screen. We also explore why structured documentation matters more in the AI era, how “knowledge layers” power contextual AI, and where human judgment still beats automation when deciding what belongs in customer-facing content. If you’re building a documentation strategy, scaling customer education, or trying to make video sustainable for your team, subscribe, share this with a content friend, and leave a review with your biggest challenge: what’s the one thing that keeps you from shipping more video? Use discount code ITC26 to save $200 on registration for LavaCon 2026.
Aug 21

S8E3 Sentient Design for Intelligent Interfaces

What if we stopped thinking about AI simply as a tool for doing our existing work faster—and started treating it as a new material for designing experiences? In this episode, I talk with Josh Clark and Veronica Kindred, co-authors of Sentient Design, about what happens when intelligence moves beyond the chatbot and becomes part of the interface itself. Josh and Veronika define sentient design as the practice of creating intelligent interfaces that are aware of context and intent and can adapt to users in the moment. We explore what that looks like in practice, from dynamically assembled dashboards to AI agents that behave more like collaborators within an interface. And for technical communicators, there’s an interesting implication: our ability to define context, instructions, rules, guardrails, and behavior could make us important contributors to these emerging experiences. Want to explore the ideas further? Inside Tech Comm listeners can get 20% off Sentient Design from Rosenfeld Media with code SENTIENT-TECHCOMM through October 31, 2026. Some highlights from our conversation: Moving from AI as a tool for production to a material for productWhat sentient design actually means—and what it doesn’t Combining probabilistic AI with deterministic systems How adaptive interfaces can respond to context without giving AI unlimited control Why technical communicators may have a new audience: the AI systems themselvesWhat Salesforce and Cisco are already experimenting with in adaptive interfaces Why AI could change collaboration across content, design, development, and product Making room for experimentation and “mad science” Using defensive design to build trust and guardrails into AI experiences Designing AI to express uncertainty instead of pretending to know everything Why critical thinking and AI literacy may become more—not less—important Use discount code ITC26 to save $200 on registration for LavaCon 2026.
Aug 14

S8E2 Content Is The Strategy

We talk with Lindsey Rix about moving beyond AI anxiety and experimenting with what AI can actually make possible for technical writers. Drawing from her presentation, Content Is the Strategy, Lindsey shares how she moved from experimenting with custom agents and AI skills to working with developer-adjacent tools, source code, and MCP connections. She explains why she starts with the problem rather than the tool, how AI is helping her gather and interpret information more efficiently, and why technical writers’ language, research, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills may become even more valuable. Some highlights from our conversation: Reframing AI from threat to tool through hands-on experimentationUsing content standards, patterns, and style guidance to improve AI resultsRecognizing how technical writing skills translate to prompt engineering and AI workflowsLearning new tools by building personal projects outside workCreating repeatable AI “skills” from real pain points and busyworkDrafting from pull requests and source code using connectors and MCPAsking for read-only access and demonstrating value through small experimentsBuilding resiliency by troubleshooting, iterating, and continuing to learnUse discount code ITC26 to save $200 on registration for LavaCon 2026.
Aug 7

S8E1 What Do We Lose When We Forget Our Work History

We talk with Sharon Burton, editor of Women in Technical Communication, about how women’s stories reveal the real history of technical communication and why our work is bigger than “typing words.” We connect documentation to revenue, customer stickiness, and institutional knowledge while facing the disruption and cost realities of AI. Episode highlights: Sharon’s path into TechCom and how the book comes together How the field flips from mostly men to mostly women over 50 years Why AI changes workflows but does not replace task analysis and judgment Tying documentation and user assistance to retention, adoption, and revenue Why being left off the “team” slide hurts and how writers validate each other Using conferences to learn the current language for proving value Shared patterns for women in tech across cultures and generations Documenting careers and decisions before retirements erase context The pay gap still showing up in today’s data Use discount code ITC26 to save $200 on registration for LavaCon 2026.
Feb 25

S7E4 Claiming Space In Systems Not Built For You with Kae Kronthaler-Williams

We explore how to navigate bias, claim space, and thrive in systems not built for women and minorities. Kae Williams shares practical ways to build influence, handle microaggressions, and reach senior leaders with competence and calm. We touch upon these topics: mapping systemic patterns that reward proximity over performancetying work to business goals to earn visibilityone‑on‑one networking and cross‑team collaborationscripts to approach CFOs and VPs for inputworking with ego‑first leaders and assessing fitidentifying microaggressors and setting boundariesdocumenting severe incidents and staying professionalbuilding external support networks and mentorshipcreating psychological safety and inclusive teamsspeaking up with data, questions, and clarityFind Kae’s book Not Made For You on her website with links to Amazon and more. Follow Kae on LinkedIn, Substack, and Instagram. Guest Bio Kae Kronthaler-Williams is a marketing leader who knows how to turn big ideas into real growth. She’s led teams as CMO at companies like Ocelot and Adroit North America, working at the intersection of AI, supply chain, manufacturing, and data-driven strategy. Kae is also a coach and speaker who cares deeply about people, purpose, and performance. She helps leaders build better cultures, strengthen their influence, and lead with confidence and clarity. She’s passionate about equity, growth — both professional and personal — and what it really takes to show up as your best self in work and life. Show Credits Intro and outro music - AzAudio engineer - RJ Basilio

5

out of 5

9 Ratings

Inside Tech Comm explores how technology, content, and the changing workplace are reshaping technical communication—and the people behind it. Through candid conversations with practitioners and thinkers, the show looks beyond tools and trends to examine how the work is evolving, how people are navigating that change, and what it means for the future of the profession.

Creator

Zohra Mutabanna
Years Active

2021 - 2026
Episodes

65
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2026 Inside Tech Comm with Zohra Mutabanna
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Inside Tech Comm with Zohra Mutabanna