Screaming in the Cloud

Corey is joined by cloud economist Eric Pullen to discuss Eric’s journey at AWS that led to his current role as a cloud economist at Duckbill Group. They explore Eric’s early career building data centers and learning IT finance, highlighting how today’s cloud-first world has transformed career paths. The conversation also addresses the hype around cloud repatriation, with Eric arguing that enterprises are unlikely to return to on-prem due to the efficiency of cloud solutions. Additionally, they touch on cloud cost optimization, AWS service deprecation, and the importance of aligning cloud spending with business value rather than cutting costs blindly.

Show Highlights:

(1:35) Eric Pullen’s background before joining The Duckbill Group

(3:22) What’s going on with cloud repatriation

(6:39) Eric’s advice for getting into the IT industry

(7:08) How Eric got involved with AWS

(10:51) Different aspects of Eric’s time at AWS, including Well-Architected

(15:02) The rise of service deprecation in AWS

(17:47) Why Eric joined The Duckbill Group

(22:42) Eric’s concept of consulting at scale

(26:23) How cost can affect performance

(32:32) Problems with standardization in enterprises

(39:10) Where to learn more about Eric and his work

About Eric Pullen
I'm Eric Pullen, and I live just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. I've been following Duckbill Group for a while now, and when I saw an opportunity to join as a Cloud Economist, I couldn't pass it up. Before AWS, I worked at Appriss, Inc. for over 14 years, where I was the Director of IT and helped grow several SaaS products, including VINE, JusticeXchange, and MethCheck. In 2015 I joined AWS, where I worked as a Senior Cloud Infrastructure Architect, the Global Performance Efficiency Pillar Lead for the AWS Well-Architected Framework, and most recently as a Global Solutions Architect in their Healthcare and Life Sciences (HCLS) division. During my time at AWS, I had the chance to work with some of their biggest customers, including GE, Siemens, and AstraZeneca.

Outside of work, I've been married to Kelly for almost 19 years, and we have two daughters: Jordan, who is 26 and fully embracing adulthood, and Myia, who is 15. We also have two pets: Rocky, my charcoal Lab, and Turbo, our Lionhead bunny.

Links

• Personal site: https://www.ericpullen.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericpullen/
• Twitter: https://x.com/ericpullen

Sponsors
Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/

In this Replay of Screaming in the Cloud, we revisit our inspiring conversation with Jackie Singh. At the time, she had recently served as a senior cybersecurity staffer at the Biden campaign. But her venerated career is considerably more than that alone. Jackie’s time spent in the Army, at the DoD, and eventually at work in the commercial world allows her to bring an adroit sensibility to her work and to this episode. Jackie goes into detail on her time spent at the Biden campaign and the intricacies of working in such highly politicized, and short term, environment. The cyber security threats she faced there were paramount, to downplay it, and have given Jackie a rich and constantly developing perspective on security. That in combination with her career has helped her develop a perspective that she has kindly discussed in detail during this episode! Tune in for the whole story.

Show Highlights

(0:00) Intro

(1:16) Backblaze sponsor read

(1:42) Working for the 2020 Biden Campaign

(4:45) The high-stakes world of political information security

(10:08) Breaking down Jackie’s impressive resume

(12:38) Being the target of a far-right tabloid hit piece

(16:24) Contemporary politics, bad faith discourse, and its role in tech

(23:34) Common Fate sponsor read

(24:03) The ethics of reporting InfoSec vulnerabilities

(31:13) Explaining “threat modeling”

(36:49) Where you can find more from Jackie

About Jackie Singh

Jackie Singh is an Information Security professional with more than 20 years of hacking experience, beginning in her preteen. She began her career in the US Army, and deployed to Iraq in 2003. Jackie subsequently spent several years in Iraq in cleared roles for the Department of Defense.

She is now an independent consultant. Her passion extends to evangelizing best practices, writing and research for her blog, tweeting informative content, speaking at conferences, contributing to podcasts, and collaborating with fellow journalists and security professionals.

Links:

• Disclose.io: https://disclose.io
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hackingbutlegal

Original Episode:
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/security-challenges-and-working-for-president-biden-with-jackie-singh/

Sponsors

Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/

Common Fate: http://commonfate.io/

Xe Iaso returns to Screaming in the Cloud, and it’s been quite an interesting few months for them. They’re now the CEO of Techaro and are back for a discussion that spans career trials, the peculiarities of AI, and the intricacies of video production. Xe shares candid insights about being laid off multiple times and how it paradoxically led to career growth (and the tricks to resume-building). Xe also highlights the nuanced world of video editing and they’re learning tools like DaVinci Resolve.

Show Highlights:

(00:00) Intro

(00:50) Backblaze sponsor read

(0:52) Xe’s transparency with their layoffs over the past couple of years

(04:39) What Xe has been up to with their coding lately 

(05:05) Xe’s method of addressing AI models’ Strawberry Problem

(10:44) Xe’s use of prompt injection attacks in their resume

(13:23) Why Xe has been embracing independent contracting

(15:20) How Xe has been working with video

(18:10) Common Fate sponsor read

(19:56) The shifting nature of content creation and the need for practice

(24:23) The importance of having audio backups for presentations

(26:17) What Xe is building toward as a contractor

(28:50) Where you can find more from Xe

About Xe Iaso

Xe Iaso is a top voice on cloud computing, developer marketing, and shitposting. They focus on making computers easier to understand and entertaining people in the process. They also use satire as a way to cope with the surreal madness that is the technology industry these days.

Links

• Xe’s blog: https://xeiaso.net/ 
• Friend pendant ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Q1hoEhfk4

Sponsors

Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/

Common Fate: https://www.commonfate.io/ 

Do we have your permission to share this episode of Screaming in the Cloud with you? Sonrai CTO and Co-Founder Sandy Bird is back on the show to help Corey break down the woes that come with granting permissions in the world of cloud security. As they catch up, the pair touch base on how automation can create major headaches, what goes into navigating the minefield of granting permissions, and if the future of adoption patterns is as grim as Corey predicts. Sandy also answers one of Corey’s long-time questions: how do you pronounce “Sonrai?” Who knows? Maybe Corey will finally learn how to say it properly...

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro

(0:30) Breaking down Sonrai’s name
(1:45) Sonrai sponsor read

(2:25) Getting alerts vs. fixing the root of the problem

(4:50) The problems with granting permissions

(7:34) The dangers of automating permissions

(10:10) "Where do I make this change, and how do I enforce it?" 

(13:46) The security concerns that come with tagging automation
(16:12) Sonrai sponsor read

(16:53)  Properly deploying permissions access

(21:16) Woes of running reporting in the middle of the night

(23:21) Are adoption patterns getting worse?

(29:01) Where you can find more from Sonrai Security

About Sandy Bird
Sandy Bird is the co-founder and CTO of Sonrai Security, helping enterprises protect their data by securing cloud identities and access. Sandy was the co-founder and CTO of Q1 Labs, which was acquired by IBM in 2011. At IBM, Sandy became the CTO for the global security business and worked closely with research, development, marketing and sales to develop new and innovative solutions to help the IBM Security business grow to ~$2B in annual revenue. He is a trusted and experienced cloud security expert., Sandy Bird is the co-founder and CTO of Sonrai Security, helping enterprises protect their data by securing cloud identities and access. Sandy was the co-founder and CTO of Q1 Labs, which was acquired by IBM in 2011. At IBM, Sandy became the CTO for the global security business and worked closely with research, development, marketing and sales to develop new and innovative solutions to help the IBM Security business grow to ~$2B in annual revenue. He is a trusted and experienced cloud security expert.

Links

• Sonrai Security: https://sonraisecurity.com/
• Sonrai Security free trial: https://sonraisecurity.com/trial/
• Sonrai Security demos: https://sonraisecurity.com/demo/
• Sonrai Security learning resources: https://sonraisecurity.com/resource-library/
• Sonrai Security blog: https://sonraisecurity.com/blog/
• Sonrai Security ACCESS Virtual Summit: sonrai.co/access-on-demand

Sponsor

Sonrai Security: https://sonraisecurity.com/

From elementary school music teacher to a Senior Cloud Engineer at Defiance Digital, Mike Gray has lived quite a few lives. He hit it off with Corey during the AWS New York Summit this past summer. What brought them together? Their mutual frustration at what dominated the discourse of the event: the current fascination with GenAI. Although Mike has his qualms with AI, he also enjoys working with it quite a bit. As a matter of fact, he uses it to help automate his home and appliances! From exploring what goes into consulting customers on cloud products, to the nightmare of having your kids hijacking your Alexa with an endless stream of children’s music, this episode features twists and turns, leaving no stone unturned.

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro

(0:40) Chronosphere sponsor read

(1:14) The responsibilities of a Senior Cloud Engineer at Defiance Digital

(2:07) Cloud product consulting

(3:27) The challenges of working with Kubernetes

(7:50) Mike's problems with AI

(9:33) Challenges with home automation

(15:38) Chronosphere sponsor read

(16:13) The joys of home automation

(18:34) Prefered hardware for home automation

(20:10) Home automation and the impact on your relationships and kids

(23:43) Going from teaching kids to the world of tech

(28:42) Where you can find more from Mike

About Mike Gray
Mike Gray is a technologist, currently employed as a Senior Cloud Engineer, with a focus on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform.

In previous roles, he has worked with companies of every size, from single-digit employee startups to Fortune 500 companies. In a past life, Mike has worked as a professional musician and music educator.

Mike is also an active open source contributor, splitting time between OpenVoiceOS and Neon AI. Think of it as open source Alexa, but all your data stays at home.

Links

• Mike's website: https://graywind.org
• Mike’s email: [email protected]
• Mike’s Twitter: https://x.com/saxmanmike

Sponsor

Chronosphere: https://chronosphere.io/?utm_source=duckbill-group&utm_medium=podcast

It turns out, you don’t need to step outside to observe the clouds. On this episode, we’re joined by Chronosphere Field CTO Ian Smith. He and Corey delve into the innovative solutions Chronosphere offers, share insights from Ian’s experience in the industry, and discuss the future of cloud-native technologies. Whether you're a seasoned cloud professional or new to the field, this conversation with Ian Smith is packed with valuable perspectives and actionable takeaways.

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro

(0:42) Chronosphere sponsor read

(1:53) The role of Chief of Staff at Chronosphere

(2:45) Getting recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant

(4:42) Talking about the buying process

(8:26) The importance of observability

(10:18) Guiding customers as a vendor

(12:19)  Chronosphere sponsor read

(12:46) What should you do as an observability buyer

(16:01) Helping orgs understand observability

(19:56) Avoiding toxicly positive endorsements

(24:15) Being transparent as a vendor

(27:43) The myth of "winner take all"

(30:02) Short term fixes vs. long term solutions

(33:54) Where you can find more from Ian and Chronosphere

About Ian Smith
Ian Smith is Field CTO at Chronosphere where he works across sales, marketing, engineering and product to deliver better insights and outcomes to observability teams supporting high-scale cloud-native environments. Previously, he worked with observability teams across the software industry in pre-sales roles at New Relic, Wavefront, PagerDuty and Lightstep.

Links

• Chronosphere: https://chronosphere.io/?utm_source=duckbill-group&utm_medium=podcast
• Ian’s Twitter: https://x.com/datasmithing
• Ian’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ismith314159/

Sponsor

Chronosphere: https://chronosphere.io/?utm_source=duckbill-group&utm_medium=podcast

In this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Miles War — perhaps the closest thing Google Cloud has to Corey Quinn. With a wit and sharpness at hand, and an entire backup retinue of trumpets, trombones, and various brass horns, Miles is here to join the conversation about what all is going on at Google Cloud. Miles breaks down SADA and their partnership with Google Cloud. He goes into some details on what GCP has been up to, and talks about the various areas they are capitulating forward. Miles talks about working with Thomas Kurian, who is the only who counts since he follows Corey on Twitter, and the various profundities that GCP has at hand.

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro

(1:38) Sonrai Security sponsor read

(2:40) Reliving Google Cloud Next 2021

(7:24) Unlikable, yet necessary change at Google

(11:41) Lack of Focus in the Cloud

(18:03) Google releases benefitting developers

(20:57) The rise of distributed databases

(24:12) Backblaze sponsor read

(24:41) Arguments for (and against) going multi-cloud

(26:49) The problem with Google Cloud outages

(33:01) Data transfer fees

(37:49) Where you can find more from Miles

About Miles Ward

As Chief Technology Officer at SADA, Miles Ward leads SADA’s cloud strategy and solutions capabilities. His remit includes delivering next-generation solutions to challenges in big data and analytics, application migration, infrastructure automation, and cost optimization; reinforcing our engineering culture; and engaging with customers on their most complex and ambitious plans around Google Cloud.

Previously, Miles served as Director and Global Lead for Solutions at Google Cloud. He founded the Google Cloud’s Solutions Architecture practice, launched hundreds of solutions, built Style-Detection and Hummus AI APIs, built CloudHero, designed the pricing and TCO calculators, and helped thousands of customers like Twitter who migrated the world’s largest Hadoop cluster to public cloud and Audi USA who re-platformed to k8s before it was out of alpha, and helped Banco Itau design the intercloud architecture for the bank of the future.

Before Google, Miles helped build the AWS Solutions Architecture team. He wrote the first AWS Well-Architected framework, proposed Trusted Advisor and the Snowmobile, invented GameDay, worked as a core part of the Obama for America 2012 “tech” team, helped NASA stream the Curiosity Mars Rover landing, and rebooted Skype in a pinch.

Earning his Bachelor of Science in Rhetoric and Media Studies from Willamette University, Miles is a three-time technology startup entrepreneur who also plays a mean electric sousaphone.

Links:

• SADA.com: https://sada.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/milesward
• Email: [email protected]

Original episode:
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/gcp-s-many-profundities-with-miles-ward/

Sponsors

Sonrai Security: sonrai.co/access24

Backblaze: backblaze.com 

After years of trying, Corey has finally convinced a TAM to come on the show! In this lively episode, AWS Senior Technical Account Manager Shlomo Dubrowin takes the mic to share his fascinating experiences dealing with cloud complexities. Listen in as Shlomo recounts building AWS Reasonable Account Defaults from scratch, stresses the importance of writing a solid application, and shares the benefits of leveraging GenAI to help maintain his work. Don't miss this entertaining and insightful conversation that could save you a few bucks!

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro

(0:42) Chronosphere sponsor read

(1:15) Finally getting a TAM on the show

(2:24) Providing quality customer service as a TAM

(5:31) AWS Reasonable Account Defaults

(11:01) What went into crafting AWS Reasonable Accounts Defaults

(12:20) Chronosphere sponsor read

(12:54) Writing a program that won't break easily

(17:25) Optimizing billing data

(19:53) Transparency in costs

(21:27) Expanding AWS Reasonable Account Defaults

(23:34) Further optimizing AWS Reasonable Account Defaults in the future

(26:18) Building with GenAI

(29:01) Where you can find more from Shlomo

About Shlomo Dubrowin

Shlomo Dubrowin has been a TAM for over 6 years supporting AWS customers from startups through to Fortune 100 companies. He has spoken at re:Invent twice and has specialized in Cost Optimization. Shlomo has been in the tech industry since 1994. And he lives with his wife, son and 2 dogs.

Links

• Clouded Torah: https://www.clouded-torah.org/

Sponsor

Chronosphere: https://chronosphere.io/?utm_source=duckbill-group&utm_medium=podcast 

In this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we revisit a spirited debated between Corey and the VP of Product and Industry Marketing at Google Cloud, Brian Hall.  The topic — How much time should one spend in a job? But thankfully, their conversation doesn’t limit itself to just that! Corey and Brian chat about how social media’s failure to capture nuance and context can lead to some unfortunate misinterpretations. Brian offers some insight on his significant amount of time spent at Microsoft under various roles. He gives his perspective on how one should optimize their career path for where they want to go, and not just follow the money. Tune in to see how Corey and Brian let the dust settle, and develop what was a disagreement into a well-rounded conversation.

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro

(1:02) Chronosphere sponsor read

(1:36) Job hopping vs. job loyalty

(6:14) Being in the right place at the right time

(9:57) Investing in the job vs. the job investing in you

(13:31) Weighing the cost of job hopping

(20:14) Chronosphere sponsor read

(20:47) Changing jobs to get a raise

(24:02) How to attract people as a cloud employer

(26:31) Changing paths into the industry

(30:14) What's ahead for Brian

(32:33) Where you can find more from Brian

About Brian Hall

Brian Hall leads the Google Cloud Product and Industry Marketing team - focused on accelerating the growth of Google Cloud. Before joining Google, he spent more than 25 years in different forms of product marketing or engineering.

Brian is the father of three children who are all named after trees in different ways. He met his wife Edie at the beginning of their first year at Yale University, where he studied math, econ, and philosophy and was the captain of the Swim and Dive team my senior year. Edie has a PhD in forestry and runs a sustainability and forestry consulting firm she started, that is aptly named “Three Trees Consulting”. They love the outdoors, tennis, running, and adventures in Brian's 1986 Volkswagen Van, which is his first and only car, that he can’t bring myself to get rid of.

Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/IsForAt
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brhall/
• Episode 10: https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/episode-10-education-is-not-ready-for-teacherless/

Original Episode:
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/letting-the-dust-settle-on-job-hopping-with-brian-hall/

Sponsor

https://chronosphere.io/?utm_source=duckbill-group&utm_medium=podcast

On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we revisit our fall of 2021 conversation with Chloe Condon. At the time of recording, Chloe was a Senior Cloud Advocate for Microsoft, and today, she works for Google as a Senior Developer Relations Engineer. When we spoke to her, Chloe had recently started the Master Creep Theatre (yes, with the British spelling) which is a project to bring some more creative and artistic efforts into the tech world! Given Chloe’s non-traditional background she’s able to bring a lot of great perspective to weaving these two worlds together. Chloe also discusses the politics of navigating DMs as a woman on the internet, fun. Her and Corey discuss internet culture in general and how to make the most of it, in spite of all the baggage. Tune in for Chloe's take!

Show Highlights:

(0:00) Intro

(0:47) Sonrai sponsor read
(1:48) Master Creep Theatre 
(6:16) The wide world of creepy DMs
(12:21) What's the root of the creep behavior?
(15:52) Harassment and privilege in tech
(20:00) The fight for privacy

(27:58) Backblaze sponsor read
(28:24) Designing things to be more inclusive and "jerk-free"
(37:49) Where you can find more from Chloe

About Chloe Condon:
Chloe is a Bay Area based Developer Advocate for Google Cloud and AI. Previously, she worked at Microsoft, as well as Sentry.io where she created the award winning Sentry Scouts program (a camp themed meet-up ft. patches, s’mores, giant squirrel costumes, and hot chocolate), and was featured in the Grace Hopper Conference 2018 gallery featuring 15 influential women in STEM by AnitaB.org. Her projects and work with Azure have ranged from fake boyfriend alerts to Mario Kart 'astrology', and have been featured in VICE, The New York Times, as well as SmashMouth's Twitter account. Chloe holds a BA in Drama from San Francisco State University and is a graduate of Hackbright Academy. She prides herself on being a non-traditional background engineer, and is likely one of the only engineers who has played an ogre, crayon, and the back-end of a cow on a professional stage. She hopes to bring more artists into tech, and more engineers into the arts.

Featured in the Grace Hopper Conference 2018 gallery featuring 15 influential women in STEM by AnitaB.org: https://vimeo.com/289762602/30c246c503

Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChloeCondon
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gitforked/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChloeCondonVideos

Sponsors
Sonrai: http://sonrai.co/zombie
Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/