S04E06: AI-Accelerated SDLC – featuring John Waters
In this episode, host Jonathan "J." Tower sat down with John Waters, fellow partner and founder at Trailhead, to talk about how AI changes every phase of the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
Podcast
J's Blue Blazes podcast is conversations with experts about how to make software development more predictably successful. Episodes below link to the full show on trailheadtechnology.com .
Season 4
S04E05: AI Smart Features – featuring Spencer Schneidenbach
In this episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower sat down with Spencer Schneidenbach to talk about the practical realities of integrating AI into modern software applications. Rather than focusing on AI hype or novelty chatbots, J. and Spencer dig into what actually makes AI features...
S04E04: MCP C# SDK – featuring Mike Kistler
In this episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower sat down with Mike Kistler, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft and one of the maintainers of the official MCP C# SDK, following the SDK’s v1.0 release. J. and Mike cover what MCP actually is and how it compares to OpenAPI, why impl...
S04E03: AI-Assisted Development – featuring Cory House
In this episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower sits down with Cory House, author, consultant, founder of ReactJSConsulting, and a 12-time Microsoft MVP, to explore what it actually looks like to code effectively with AI today. Cory has trained more than 10,000 developers worldwide ...
S04E02: GitHub Copilot App Modernization for .NET – featuring Matt Soucoup
In this episode, host Jonathan "J." Tower sits down with Matthew Soucoup, Principal Cloud Advocate and .NET Cloud Advocacy Lead, to explore how GitHub Copilot's new App Modernization agent is transforming the way teams upgrade and migrate .NET applications to modern platforms....
S04E01: Uno Platform – featuring Sam Basu
In this episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower sits down with Sam Basu, technologist, author, Microsoft MVP, and Lead Developer Advocate at Uno Platform, to unpack the realities of modern cross-platform app development with .NET. Sam shares how Uno Platform enables developers to bu...
Season 3
S03E10: Trailhead at 10 – featuring Trailhead Founders
In this special 10th-anniversary episode, guest host Mark Adams turns the microphone toward the founders of Trailhead Technology Partners — Jonathan “J.” Tower, John Waters, and Josh Eastburn — for a candid conversation about a decade of building great software and a great com...
S03E09: .NET Conf – featuring Javier Lozano
In this episode, host J. Tower sits down with Javier Lozano, co-founder of .NET Conf and CEO of Lozanotek, a .NET-focused software consultancy based in Des Moines, Iowa. Javier is a longtime Microsoft MVP, recognized for nearly 20 years for his contributions to ASP.NET, Azure,...
S03E08: AI for .NET Developers – featuring John Waters
In this episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower talks with Trailhead’s Chief Architect, John Waters, about how AI is transforming the .NET developer experience. Together, they explore: – How GitHub Copilot’s new agent mode is changing the way developers collaborate with AI – Why Mic...
S03E07: .NET Aspire – featuring Maddy Montaquila
In this episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower talks with Maddy Montaquila from Microsoft’s .NET team about .NET Aspire—a tool aimed at simplifying modern cloud app development. They discuss how Aspire helps orchestrate services across languages and platforms, improves the local de...
S03E06: Storybook – featuring Varun Vachhar
In this episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower chats with Varun Vachhar from Chromatic about using Storybook to build, test, and document UI components in isolation. The conversation explores best practices for component-driven development, how visual and accessibility testing inte...
S03E05: Modular Monoliths – featuring Steve Smith
In this episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower chats with Steve Smith about the modular monolith, an architecture that delivers microservices‑style modularity within a single in‑process deployment. The conversation covers designing modules, leveraging in‑memory messaging for event‑...
S03E04: Event Streaming – featuring Mary Grygleski
In this episode, host Jonathan "J." Tower and his guest, Mary Grygleski, delve into the intricacies of event streaming within distributed systems. They explore the definition of event streaming, its comparison with traditional messaging techniques, and the unique features of p...
S03E03: Redis – featuring Guy Royse
In this episode, host Jonathan "J." Tower sits down with Guy Royse to explore the power of Redis, an in-memory data store designed around classic data structures. They discuss how Redis enhances application performance and simplifies architectural complexity. The conversation ...
S03E02: Event Storming – featuring Sarah Dutkiewicz
In this episode, host Jonathan "J." Tower speaks with Sarah Dutkiewicz about Event Storming and how it helps teams unravel complex systems. They discuss the origins of Event Storming in Domain-Driven Design (DDD) and its effectiveness in bridging communication gaps between tec...
S03E01: Terraform – featuring Carey Payette
In this episode, host Jonathan "J." Tower speaks with Carey Payette about Terraform and Infrastructure as Code (IAC). They discuss the benefits of using Terraform for managing cloud infrastructure, including its declarative approach, multi-cloud capabilities, and integration w...
Season 2
S02E12: .NET 9 – featuring John Waters
In this episode, host Jonathan "J." Tower speaks with fellow Trailhead partner John Waters about the latest features in .NET 9. They dive into the platform’s new capabilities, exploring how updates like performance enhancements, expanded platform support, and cutting-edge tool...
S02E11: htmx – featuring Carson Gross
In this podcast episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower speaks with Carson Gross, creator of htmx, about simplifying web development with hypermedia-based design. Carson shares the story behind htmx, a JavaScript library that enhances HTML for interactivity without the need for comp...
S02E10: Blazor – featuring Steve Sanderson & Javier Calvarro Nelson
In this episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower speaks with Steve Sanderson and Javier Calvarro Nelson about Blazor, a web UI framework for .NET. They explore the various capabilities of Blazor, including its support for WebAssembly, server-side rendering, and mobile applications vi...
S02E09: ML .NET – featuring Luis Quintanilla
In this episode, host Jonathan “J.” Tower speaks with Luis Quintanilla about ML.NET, an open-source, cross-platform machine learning framework within the .NET ecosystem. They delve into the capabilities of ML.NET, including building data transformation pipelines and training c...
S02E08: Fitness Functions – featuring Neal Ford
In this episode, host Jonathan "J." Tower speaks with Neal about architectural fitness functions and how they can serve as unit tests for your software architecture. They explore how incorporating fitness functions into your development process ensures that your system's archi...
S02E07: Vertical Slice Architecture – featuring Jimmy Bogard
In this episode of Blue Blazes, host Jonathan "J." Tower speaks with Jimmy Bogard about vertical slice architecture (VSA), and how using it in your software projects can help make them more predictably successful. We delve into how VSA organizes your code by feature, allowing ...
S02E06: Architecture Decision Records – featuring Mark Richards
In this episode of Blue Blazes, host Jonathan "J." Tower speaks with Mark Richards about how architecture decision records can improve your software development process. You might know Mark from his books. This episode includes lots of ground, including the best place to store...
S02E05: Hybrid Mobile – featuring Mike Hartington
In this episode of Blue Blazes, host Jonathan "J." Tower speaks with Mike Hartington from Ionic about the ins and outs of hybrid mobile app development. Mike, an expert in mobile development, gives listeners a great overview of why you would want to explore building your appli...
S02E04: Serverless – featuring Olivia Liddell
In this podcast episode, host Jonathan "J." Tower speaks with Olivia Liddell from AWS about the intricacies of serverless computing. Olivia, a seasoned solutions architect, demystifies serverless technology, emphasizing its practicality and the mindset shift required for effec...
S02E03: Low-code – featuring Cecelia Martinez
In this podcast episode, Cecilia discusses the nuances of low-code and no-code solutions with Blue Blazes host, J. Tower. She explains that low-code is just another abstraction layer that allows developers to build applications visually within a development environment. Ceceli...
S02E02: Identity and Access Management – featuring Corey Weathers
Giving the right users appropriate access to technology resources is Data Security 101. For security purposes, you may want to utilize a framework of policies and technologies known as identity and access management (IAM). Join us on today’s journey and see how using a third-p...
S02E01: Online Learning – featuring Tim Corey
Do you want efficient, predictably successful software projects? Would you like to enhance your team’s skills? Online courses and training allow you to accomplish both. But with so many options out there, how do you know: Which courses and programs are worth utilizing? How to ...
Season 1
S01E12: C# – featuring Matt Groves
Struggling with selecting the right language or framework for your software projects? Unsure if C# and .NET are the right fit? Learn how these technologies can help solve common coding challenges around maintainability, cross-platform support, productivity, and more. Discover ...
S01E11: Component Libraries – featuring Sam Basu
It can be tricky to know when to use third-party component libraries and which ones to use. While these libraries can be crucial in making modern software projects more successful, it’s important to know: · When to use third-party components versus building custom ones · How t...
S01E10: Failing Successfully – featuring Cassandra Faris
Cassandra Faris—community manager for Kasten by Veeam, president of the Stir Scholarship, and international speaker—joins J. in the newest episode of Blue Blazes. Together, the two discuss how to fail successfully, covering topics that include: What it means to fail successful...
S01E09: Community – featuring Clark Sell
Clark Sell, co-founder of THAT Conference and Unspecified Software, stops by our podcast to talk with J. about community and industry conferences. During the journey through this popular topic in the software world, they share their thoughts on: · Why conferences are worth att...
S01E08: Unit Testing – featuring Jesse Liberty
Trailhead’s long-time friend Jesse Liberty joins J. to discuss an array of topics related to unit testing. In this episode, the ground they cover includes: · Key advantages of unit testing · Common mistakes developers make with it · Tips for incorporating unit testing into a t...
S01E07: Building Trust – featuring Richard Campbell
In this episode, J. explores the potency of trust in successful teams with guest Richard Campbell. Check it out, and you will learn what makes for good team building, how to establish trust, and what you can do about challenging individuals in a team. In doing so, you’ll see t...
S01E06: Accessibility – featuring Martine Dowden
Martine Dowden stops by Blue Blazes and chats with J. about accessibility and its role in successful software projects. In this episode, you will see why this is such an important subject and learn smart approaches for establishing accessibility in legacy projects (from the co...
S01E05: AI – featuring Mike Benkovich
In this episode of Blue Blazes, J. talks with developer, business owner, consultant, and cloud architect Mike Benkovich about AI and how software teams can use it. During the conversation, we see why AI should be viewed as a tool (not something to be feared), how it can help h...
S01E04: Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) – featuring Christina Aldan
Christina Aldan—an award-winning speaker and brand strategy consultant—joins Blue Blazes to talk with J. about Jobs To Be Done (JTBD). In doing so, we learn how this approach can drive better results through more effective communication and conducting upfront research before y...
S01E03: Custom Tools – featuring Cory House
Cory House joins J. to talk about using custom dev tools to improve web applications. Cory discusses the importance of slowing down to go faster in a build, how dev tools work in different environments, project pitfalls you can avoid, and why the right mindset during a build m...
S01E02: Feedback Cycles – featuring Steve Smith
On Blue Blazes Episode 2: Feedback Cycles, J. is joined by Steve “Ardalis” Smith to talk about feedback cycles in software development. As co-founder and chief architect of NimblePros—and having over 20 years’ experience in building custom software solutions—Steve has a ton of...
S01E01: Everything EOS – featuring Brian McKeiver
Welcome to the inaugural episode of our new Blue Blazes podcast. Today, J. talks with Brian McKeiver, co-owner of BizStream, about EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) and how technology companies can utilize this valuable tool to keep projects focused and on track.