Salesforce Developer Podcast

Join us as we welcome Rob Cowell, a renowned DevOps advocate, on a journey through his personal and professional life in the world of programming and Salesforce. Starting with his early experiences tinkering with a Sord M5 computer, Rob shares how he transformed his passion for programming into a fulfilling career. We trace his evolution from working with Microsoft Access to .NET, C Sharp, and ultimately Salesforce and Apex, highlighting the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in the fast-paced tech industry.

Transitioning into his current role, Rob pulls back the curtain on what it truly means to be a DevOps advocate. Emphasizing the significance of communication, collaboration, small incremental changes, and automation, he discusses how a commitment to quality is integral to delivering excellent results. The episode also explores the role of a Salesforce DevOps engineer and how to adopt the required skill set.

Tune in to glean invaluable insights from Rob's vast experience and deep knowledge of the Salesforce ecosystem.

Show Highlights:

• The role and importance of Salesforce DevOps in delivering quality results efficiently.

• The key components of Salesforce DevOps include communication, collaboration, small incremental changes, and automation.

• The transition from traditional development stacks into Salesforce and the unique elements of the platform.

• The role of a Salesforce DevOps engineer and how to adopt the necessary skill set.

• The introduction of Rob Cowell's project, 'Shirt Force,’ which combines humor and philanthropy by creating Salesforce-themed t-shirts and donating the profits to charity.

• Insights into continuous improvement and the importance of adapting DevOps to your way of working.

Links:

• Julián on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/juliandavidduque

• Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-cowell/

• Rob's Twitter/X: @RobSalesforce

Other resources:

• Gearset: https://gearset.com/

• DevOps Launchpad free training and certs: https://devopslaunchpad.com/

• Shirtforce: https://shirtforce.org/

• His work on the demoscene: https://demozoo.org/sceners/32053/

Strap in for a journey that takes you from the vibrant streets of Mumbai to the bustling tech scene of London, led by none other than Akshata Sawant, Senior Developer Advocate at Salesforce. We had the pleasure of delving into her career, starting from her time as a Newellsoft ambassador to her current influential role at Salesforce, where she's truly making a difference by connecting with community groups across the globe.

We dive deep into the robust capabilities of MuleSoft’s transformation from a simple API integration tool to a comprehensive automation suite. We also shine a light on Akshata co-authored book, "MuleSoft for Salesforce Developers," which is a must-read for anyone interested in this space. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a tech newbie, this episode's got insights and conversations that you just can't afford to miss!

Show Highlights:

• Akshata’s work as a MuleSoft ambassador and her current role as Salesforce's Senior Developer Advocate.

• Deep dive into MuleSoft’s evolution from a simple API integration tool to a comprehensive automation suite.

• Akshata's co-authored book, "Mulesoft for Salesforce Developers," offering insights for anyone interested in this field.

• The potential game-changers from MuleSoft's Anypoint Platform, such as AI capabilities and a Visual Studio Code plugin.

• The capabilities of MuleSoft and the value of the platform for Salesforce developers.

• The Anypoint platform's offerings and potential future developments.

Links:

• Twitter account: https://twitter.com/sawantakshata02

• Linkedin account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshatasawant02/

• Github account: https://github.com/devrelakshata

• MuleSoft for Salesforce Developers: https://www.amazon.co.uk/MuleSoft-Salesforce-Developers-practitioners-integrations/dp/1801079609/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=mulesoft+for+salesforce+developers&qid=1687466406&sprefix=mulesoft+%2Caps%2C70&sr=8-1

Get set for an illuminating episode with our special guest, Jagannathan Padmanabhan, a security advocate within his current role as a Technical Architect at Salesforce. Jagan brings to the fore how he leverages Salesforce to tackle customer challenges and his fervor for platform security. He imparts his wisdom on the zero trust security model and the principle of least privilege, both key aspects in maintaining a safe platform.

Prepare to be enthralled as Jagan unveils the intricate workings of event-driven architecture within Salesforce. He walks us through the various events that transpire when a user logs in, accesses a list view, generates reports, or logs out. By the closure of our engaging conversation, you'll have a deeper comprehension of file and event security in Salesforce - a pertinent skill in this digital age. Don't miss out on this enlightening conversation!

Show Highlights:

• Discussion on Salesforce's zero trust security model and the principle of least privilege.

• Explanation of the role of Salesforce Shield in platform security.

• In-depth exploration of event-driven architecture within Salesforce.

• Introduction to the Event Monitoring add-on license, file events, and transaction security policies.

• How developers can use condition builders or Apex classes to send notifications and alerts.

• Importance of file and event security in Salesforce and its practical application in solving customer problems.

Links:

• Real-time event monitoring: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.real_time_event_monitoring_overview.htm&type=5

• Linkedin account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jagansalesforce

• FileEvents developer blog post: https://developer.salesforce.com/blogs/2023/06/using-fileevents-to-strengthen-file-security

Get ready for a lively discussion with our good friends and fellow admin evangelists, Mike Gerholdt and Gillian Bruce. Listen in as we tackle opinionated launches in the tech world and beyond, drawing from our experiences and personal thoughts. From the strange matrix of Coke Zero being the New Coke formula to the interesting fact that everyone has an opinion about Vision Pro, we share our insights and perspectives on how these launches draw attention and incite people's opinions.

We explore the long-rumored Apple car, the standardized dongles and charging ports, and the irony of gasoline pumps having a standard-size nozzle. Join us as we delve into the world of self-driving cars and how current roads are built for humans, not machines. Join us as we appreciate the diversity of experiences and opinions, building a deeper understanding of product appeal and consumer behavior.

Show Highlights:

• Opinionated product launches, including Coke Zero, Google Glass, and Vision Pro.

• Deep dive into the tech world with a focus on the rumored Apple car and the standardization of charging ports.

• Exploration of self-driving cars, roads built for machines, and the future of technology.

• Debate on controversial tech launches like Tesla’s Autopilot and McDonald's McRib.

• Examination of the role of public opinion in product launches and its impact on the product's success and accessibility.

• The possibilities and challenges of AI in future product launches.

Links:

• Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegerholdt/

• Gillian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilliankbruce/

• Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuabirk/

Navigating through the tech world can feel like stepping into a labyrinth, but our guest Danielle Larregui has found her own unique path. Now a senior developer advocate for Marketing Cloud at Salesforce, Danielle shares her experiences that have transformed her from an accidental admin to a ‘casual teacher’ of developers. We chat about her intriguing journey into the tech world, her engaging first public speaking experience, and how she embraces each new challenge as an opportunity for growth.

We also dive deep into the world of customer data platforms (CDPs). Our conversation with Danielle is inspiring and packed with insights, offering a fresh perspective on the evolving tech industry.

Show Highlights:

• Danielle’s journey from an "accidental admin" to a senior developer advocate for Marketing Cloud at Salesforce, discussing her career trajectory and experiences.
• The role of customer data platforms (CDPs) in consolidating customer data from disparate sources to provide a comprehensive view of the customer journey.
• How Salesforce's Commerce Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Data Cloud can be used together to create intelligent, data-driven marketing campaigns.
• The significance of data in modern society and the differentiation between data lake objects and data objects.
• Exploration of Danielle's work with Marketing Cloud, including her projects involving AMPScript, server-side draw script, and the platform's REST and SOAP API.
• Discussion on the role of Data Cloud in AI and its future prospects.
• Introduction to Salesforce's Data Cloud, its structure, and its difference from standard Salesforce objects.
• Insight into the connection between Data Cloud and Tableau and how they work together for data analysis.

Links:

• Danielle on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DnLarregui
• Danielle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-larregui-1567b973/

Join us in an enlightening discussion with Greg Bennett, a Director of Conversational Design at Salesforce. We cover how he applies his knowledge of interactional social linguistics and discourse analysis to create more natural and intuitive interactions with generative AIs. He also shares anecdotes from his tenure at Microsoft working on Cortana and how his insights from different writing systems in Japanese inform the design of chatbot dialogues.

In the second part of our discussion, Greg takes us through his path to Salesforce and how he made the business case for starting conversation design there. He provides insights into the careful design of prompts for models and model providers and the role of context in conversational AI. We then switch gears to explore the future of conversational design, the relevance of prompt engineering, and the exciting possibilities of generative AI.

Listen in as we unpack the evolution of conversational interfaces, the future of human-AI interaction, and the emerging vernacular of AI slang.

Show Highlights:

• Greg's journey to Salesforce and his role in pioneering conversation design, particularly the design of prompts for models and model providers.
• The significance of context in conversational AI is discussed, along with the future of conversational design and the emerging discipline of prompt engineering.
• The potential of generative AI and its impact on Salesforce's user interface.
• The evolution of conversational interfaces, human-AI interactions, and the development of AI slang.
• The importance of prompt writing and its transformation into a fundamental skill for conversational AI is discussed, with insights into the system of prompt orchestration.

Links:

• Greg on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gabennett45
• Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gab45/

Get ready for an incredible journey as we chat with Jeremiah Peoples, a Senior Developer Advocate for Slack at Salesforce, and explore his fascinating career path. From his earliest computer encounters to joining the Air Force and teaching himself to code, Jeremiah's story will inspire you to chase your dreams. Learn how he became a freelance YouTuber and ultimately landed his dream job at Slack, where he now shares his unique perspective on the power of Slack as a development platform and its potential to make the other 98% of software more efficient.

But that's not all - we'll also dive deep into the world of building modular Slack applications. Jeremiah walks us through the new tools available for Slack developers, the starting point of the Slack CLI, and the different ways you can trigger a workflow. Discover the magic of Block Kit, a tool for building surfaces with JSON, and how modularity can be used to create powerful applications. Don't miss this enlightening conversation that will leave you eager to explore the endless possibilities of Slack development!

Show Highlights:

• Exploring the world of building modular Slack applications, including the new tools available for Slack developers.
• The three main pillars of modular Slack applications: functions, workflows, and triggers.
• The different ways to trigger a workflow in Slack, including event triggers, shortcut triggers, webhooks, and scheduled triggers.
• The upcoming features for Workflow Builder, including conditional logic and a greater contribution to the ecosystem of apps in Slack.

Links:

• Twitter account - https://twitter.com/we_the_peoples
• Linkedin account - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremiah-peoples-7b2a65185/
• The next generation Slack Platform: https://api.slack.com/automation

Join us as we chat with Nicolas Vuillamy, CTO at Cloudity, about his journey from programming on a Commodore 64 at the age of 10 to becoming a professional developer at 16. Listen in as he shares his experience of discovering Salesforce and how the Trailblazer community played a crucial role in his growth. Nicolas talks about the inception of SFDX-Hardis, an open-source project designed to help developers and administrators implement CI/CD processes efficiently, filling the gap between expensive homemade pipelines and third-party tools.

In this episode, we explore how SFDX-Hardis allows administrators and developers to perform complex tasks with simple commands without needing extensive knowledge of Git or SFDX. Nicolas also highlights the importance of having a release manager with Git expertise to handle more complicated tasks like conflicts. Hear the story behind the creation of a purging flow versions command and how feedback from colleagues contributed to the SFDX-Hardis roadmap.

Don't miss this fascinating conversation with Nicolas Vuillamy and learn more about the powerful SFDX-Hardis project!

Show Highlights:

• What SFDX-Hardis is and how it works.
• What the role of a release manager with Git experience is.
• The importance of the project being open source
• How new features are handled

Links:

• Nicolas on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-vuillamy/
• Nicolas on Github: github.com/nvuillam
• Nicolas on Twitter twitter.com/NicolasVuillamy
• Nicolas' blog: nicolas.vuillamy.fr/
• SFDX-Hardis: https://sfdx-hardis.cloudity.com/

Listen in as Sridhar Raghavan, a Senior Director of Product Management at Salesforce, shares his journey from working in speech recognition two decades ago to generative AI today. We explore his early memories of playing Pac-Man on his dad's computer in the mid-90s, his break from Salesforce to pursue his own startup, and his strategy to get kids away from digital devices and into reading with AI.

Discover how Salesforce is pushing the boundaries of AI-assisted code generation for developers. We discuss parameter sizes, Salesforce's open-sourced 16 billion parameter model, and the importance of customizing and updating language models. Learn about the GPT (Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) acronym and how it is used to create the wiring necessary for a language model to become a learning engine.

Don't miss this fascinating conversation with Sridhar Raghavan!

Show Highlights:

• Sridhar's strategy to get kids away from digital devices and into reading and how AI can help make reading more fun and engaging.
• How Salesforce open-sourced a 16 billion parameter model.
• The importance of customizing and updating language models.
• What the open source project CodeGen is and how it is used to generate code in six popular programming languages.
• How Salesforce is enhancing CodeGen to generate Apex code, LWC, and flows.

Links:

• Sridhar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sridharraghavan/

Join us for a virtual coffee catch-up as we discuss our activities since the last Trailblazer DX conference, as well as the upcoming Salesforce release, along with a friendly debate on coffee versus tea. We share our excitement about sharing information about releases and share some tips on how to best prepare for it.

In the second half of this episode, we explore the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in generating content and the need for critical thinking despite AI's ability to summarize content. We also discuss the difficulty of using AI to create content such as jokes, blog posts, and even fantasy stories. Finally, we share our experiences with ChatGPT, Bard, and Simon and Garfunkel even make an appearance! Don't miss this engaging and informative episode!

Show Highlights:

• Covering Salesforce releases
• AI's potential for content generation, critical thinking, and joke/story creation
• Crafting quality submissions for CFPs

Links:

• Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegerholdt/
• Gillian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilliankbruce/
• Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuabirk/