AWS VP of Global Networking Matt Rehder joins Corey Quinn to pull back the curtain on the massive network infrastructure behind AWS. They explore resiliency at scale, AWS’s move toward flatter networks, the advantages of building custom hardware, and why AI is making networking exciting again.

Show Highlights:

(01:08) Meet AWS Networking Lead

(02:01) Why AWS Avoids Global Outages

(05:23) RNG Flat Network Explained

(10:08) Overbuild Capacity And Custom Hardware

(17:37) VPC Virtual Network Origins

(19:50) Why TCP Still Wins

(20:38) SRD Inside AWS

(21:54) Opt In SRD Transport

(25:31) Networks As Utilities

(27:24) Learning And Growing Engineers

(29:22) Training Talent In House

(31:27) AI Rekindles Networking

(34:26) Where To Learn Networking

On this episode of Screaming in the Cloud, Corey Quinn sits down with Adam Larsen, Principal Developer at Aurora Educational Technologies, to explore what technology and AI should actually look like in K-12 education. They discuss using tech to empower teachers rather than replace them, the risks of outsourcing critical thinking to AI, student data privacy, and what happens when schools become dependent on tools that may not be affordable forever. Adam also shares how AWS became his go-to platform for solving complex education data problems, and why sometimes the best technology is simply the one that reliably gets the job done.

Show Highlights:

00:00 Critical Thinking Warning

00:15 Meet the Guest

01:07 From Psych to Edtech

02:07 Teachers and Tool Whiplash

07:29 AI as a Teaching Aid

10:07 Process Over Shortcuts

14:29 Tech Misconceptions in Schools

16:38 Privacy and Picking Vendors

21:50 AI Costs and Ecosystem Bets

26:33 Building on AWS and Wrap Up

Sponsored by:
duckbillhq.com

AI-generated code is no longer just producing low-quality pull requests. According to AWS Principal Engineer and Valkey core maintainer Madelyn Olson, the quality of AI-assisted contributions has improved dramatically in just the last few months.

In this episode of Screaming in the Cloud, Corey Quinn and Madelyn discuss how AI is changing open source development, the growing burden on maintainers, and how projects like Valkey are using AI to find bugs, improve security, and harden production systems. They also explore Valkey's continued growth, the future of software development, and why experience, operational knowledge, and community still matter in an age where code is becoming cheaper to create.

*Since this episode was recorded without video, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to get creative with AI!

Show Highlights:
(00:00) Open Source Stability Push
(00:32) Reinvent Afterglow Banter
(01:40) AI PRs Get Better
(04:36) Whimsy Versus AI Slop
(06:14) AI Security Hunting Reality
(09:12) Maintainers Adapt to AI
(11:28) Valkey Fork Wins Adoption
(14:43) Fighting the AI Tidal Wave
(23:45) Next Five Years and Roadmap
(27:02) Release Woes and Where to Follow

About Madelyn:
Madelyn Olson is a co-creator and core maintainer of Valkey, a high-performance key-value datastore, and a Principal Engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS). She specializes in building secure, highly reliable systems and is passionate about collaborating with open-source communities. In her role at Amazon, Madelyn serves as a Principal Software Development Engineer for Amazon ElastiCache and Amazon MemoryDB, where she focuses on advancing distributed data technologies and contributing to the growth and success of the Valkey project.

Sponsored by:
duckbillhq.com