The Programming Podcast

Anthropic's IPO is leaked and OpenAI DevDay 2026 just dropped a $500 AI plan, Decisions API, cloud-powered Codex, Dots, and a much bigger vision for AI agents. At the same time, Anthropic is reportedly targeting a massive IPO while the economics of frontier AI are getting harder to ignore.So what actually matters for developers?🤝 Thank You to Our Sponsors!GitKraken: Stop fighting Git and spend more time building. Get visual Git workflows, PR management, and tools built for modern AI-powered development. Check out exclusive offers at https://www.gitkraken.com/programmingpodLevel Up Financial Planning: Take your financial confidence to the next level with certified financial planner Lucas Casares, specializing in early and mid-career tech professionals. Get a complimentary meeting at https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/🔗 Resources & Links MentionedUndersold - https://www.undersold.ai/workspaceThe Developer's Guide to AI: Grab the newly released book by Danny Thompson from here! http://developersguide.ai/Stay in Touch:📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?Email us at [email protected]!Danny Thompsonhttps://x.com/DThompsonDevhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDevwww.DThompsonDev.comLeon Noelhttps://x.com/leonnoelhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/https://100devs.org/📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?Email us at [email protected]!In this episode of The Programming Podcast, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel break down the biggest AI and developer news of the week from the perspective of people actually using these tools every day.We get into:• Anthropic’s IPO, explosive revenue growth, infrastructure costs, and what the economics of frontier AI could mean for developers• OpenAI DevDay 2026 and the announcements we think actually matter• The new $500 ChatGPT plan and who could realistically justify paying for it• GPT-6.1 Sol and OpenAI’s push toward faster, higher-volume AI workflows• Decisions API vs. Jev and why decision-focused models are becoming interesting• Codex moving into the cloud and why cloud agents could change how developers work• Dots, Grokbot, Muse, and the shift from chatbots to always-on AI assistants• Why open-weight models are taking a larger share of real-world AI usage• Whether Notion, Slack, and traditional SaaS tools should be worried about AI-native workspaces• How Danny and Leon are actually using AI agents in their day-to-day workflows• Real Grokbot use cases for email, research, QA, content, development, and delegation• The difference between asking AI for answers and giving AI ongoing responsibilitiesThe bigger conversation underneath all of this:AI is moving from something you prompt to something you delegate to.And that changes what developers need to learn next.

Ranking the latest AI models from S tier to F tier. We break down when to use each one and which ones to avoid for your workflow.

🤝 Thank You to Our Sponsors!

GitKraken: Stop fighting Git and spend more time building. Get visual Git workflows, PR management, and tools built for modern AI-powered development. Check out exclusive offers at https://www.gitkraken.com/programmingpodLevel Up

Financial Planning: Take your financial confidence to the next level with certified financial planner Lucas Casares, specializing in early and mid-career tech professionals. Get a complimentary meeting at https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/

🔗 Resources & Links MentionedThe Developer's Guide to AI: Grab the newly released book by Danny Thompson from here! http://developersguide.ai/
Stay in Touch:📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?Email us at [email protected]!Danny Thompsonhttps://x.com/DThompsonDevhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDevwww.DThompsonDev.comLeon Noelhttps://x.com/leonnoelhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/https://100devs.org/📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?Email us at [email protected]!

Danny and I put popular tools to the test to see what actually holds up under pressure. We go through our own specific AI model ranking, debating the merits of each based on real-world application rather than just marketing hype. Since we did not compare notes beforehand, you get our honest, unfiltered thoughts on which systems are worth your time and which ones are currently failing to deliver.

This LLM comparison covers the nuance of daily usage, helping you decide where to invest your focus. We also discuss how to optimize your AI usage to stay efficient without getting distracted by every new release. Whether you are a developer looking for better productivity or just trying to navigate the crowded landscape of tech tools, this breakdown gives you the straight answers you need to make better decisions.

Subscribe for weekly software breakdowns, and let us know in the comments which model you think deserves the top spot.

Stop losing job offers due to poor interview preparation. Learn why a three-minute interview cutoff signals a lack of care.Most candidates assume that getting the interview is the hard part, but showing up unprepared is a fatal error. This breakdown examines a real-world scenario where a recruiter ended a conversation after only three minutes because the applicant couldn't demonstrate basic knowledge about the company. When you neglect to perform 30 seconds of homework, you communicate that the position is just another line on your resume rather than a priority.Proper interview preparation requires more than just rehearsing your own bio. It demands that you frame your value through the lens of what the employer actually needs. By failing to research the organization, you signal to the hiring manager that your interest is surface-level at best. Adjusting your strategy to include this quick research step ensures you stay in the conversation longer and separates you from the crowd.🤝 Thank You to Our Sponsors!GitKraken: Stop fighting Git and spend more time building. Get visual Git workflows, PR management, and tools built for modern AI-powered development. Check out exclusive offers at https://www.gitkraken.com/programmingpodLevel Up Financial Planning: Take your financial confidence to the next level with certified financial planner Lucas Casares, specializing in early and mid-career tech professionals. Get a complimentary meeting at https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/🔗 Resources & Links MentionedThe Developer's Guide to AI: Grab the newly released book by Danny Thompson from here! http://developersguide.ai/Commit Your Code Conference (CYC 2026): Join us Sept 2nd-4th at the Capital One Campus in Plano, Texas. Keynote by the CTO of the PGA! https://www.commityourcode.com/Resilient Coders: Free coding boot camp paying you a stipend to learn. Applications open in Boston, Philly, NY, Maine, and Pittsburgh: https://www.resilientcoders.org/Plus, we cover the Friday 3 PM developer log habit, why you should always be interview-ready every six months, and answer a listener question about how to handle recruiters before your first interview round.✅ If you made it to the end, comment: “Better talking points!” so we know who is a real one!https://www.commityourcode.com/Come to CYC!Get The Developers Guide To AI here!http://developersguide.ai/Stay in Touch:📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?Email us at [email protected]!Danny Thompsonhttps://x.com/DThompsonDevhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDevwww.DThompsonDev.comLeon Noelhttps://x.com/leonnoelhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/https://100devs.org/📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?Email us at [email protected]!

Is Opus 5 worth the hype? I spent two days testing the 2026 release to see if the performance lives up to expectations.This Opus 5 review provides an honest look at the latest model, moving past marketing claims to examine real-world usability. If you are deciding whether to upgrade or switch workflows, this analysis breaks down the actual capability of the software compared to previous versions.I cover the specific Opus 5 benchmarks I recorded during my testing phase, highlighting where it succeeds and where it falls short. You will see my candid Opus 5 impressions after two days of heavy use, helping you determine if this model fits your specific needs or if you should wait for further updates.Subscribe for weekly software breakdowns, and let me know in the comments if you want to see a head-to-head comparison between Opus 5 and other top-tier models.

A new 2.8 trillion parameter model from China is officially outperforming Claude on key AI benchmarks. Get the facts on this release.

🤝 Thank You to Our Sponsors!

GitKraken: Stop fighting Git and spend more time building. Get visual Git workflows, PR management, and tools built for modern AI-powered development. Check out exclusive offers at https://www.gitkraken.com/programmingpod

🔗 Resources & Links Mentioned

The Developer's Guide to AI: Grab the newly released book by Danny Thompson from here! http://developersguide.ai/

Commit Your Code Conference (CYC 2026): Join us Sept 2nd-4th at the Capital One Campus in Plano, Texas. Keynote by the CTO of the PGA! https://www.commityourcode.com/

Resilient Coders: Free coding boot camp paying you a stipend to learn. Applications open in Boston, Philly, NY, Maine, and Pittsburgh: https://www.resilientcoders.org/

Plus, we cover the Friday 3 PM developer log habit, why you should always be interview-ready every six months, and answer a listener question about how to handle recruiters before your first interview round.

✅ If you made it to the end, comment: “Better talking points!” so we know who is a real one!

https://www.commityourcode.com/

Come to CYC!

Get The Developers Guide To AI here!

http://developersguide.ai/

Stay in Touch:

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at [email protected]!

Danny Thompson

https://x.com/DThompsonDev

https://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDev

www.DThompsonDev.com

Leon Noel

https://x.com/leonnoel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/

https://100devs.org/

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at [email protected]!

This episode of The Programming Podcast breaks down the specs of this massive Chinese AI model. We analyze why it matters that this is the first open-weight AI of this scale to compete at the top of the leaderboards. If you follow the rapid advancement of large language models, this update is critical for understanding the shifting competitive landscape.

We discuss the technical implications of a 2.8 trillion parameter model and what its open-weight status means for developers globally. You will walk away with a clear understanding of how this Chinese AI model compares to current industry leaders like Claude and whether it truly sets a new standard for performance.

Subscribe for weekly AI and programming breakdowns, and comment below if you think open-weight models will overtake proprietary systems this year.

Chapters

0:00 - Intro & The 2.8 Trillion Parameter Breakthrough

A look at Moonshot’s Kimmy K3, the first frontier-level open-weight model, and why its release is a massive moment for the AI space.

2:04 - Sponsor Segment: GitKraken

3:26 - Open Weights, Privacy, & Breaking the Monopoly

9:00 - Real-World Testing & Token Optimization

17:48 - Beyond Code: Omniscience & Context Engineering

24:04 - AI Swarms & Cloning MacOS

29:37 - Community Win: Landing an IBM Job with AI

33:17 - Q&A: Navigating the Salary Target Question

41:38 - Outro

Senior developers with years of experience are struggling in today’s market, and the reasons are painfully obvious once you look closely. In this episode, we break down a real-world case study of a developer with 27 years of experience who couldn't get an interview, the "Barista Makes Coffee" trap you might be falling into on your resume, and the brutal data behind cold applying versus networking.

🤝 Thank You to Our Sponsors!

GitKraken: Stop fighting Git and spend more time building. Get visual Git workflows, PR management, and tools built for modern AI-powered development. Check out exclusive offers at https://www.gitkraken.com/programmingpod

Level Up Financial Planning: Take your financial confidence to the next level with certified financial planner Lucas Casares, specializing in early and mid-career tech professionals. Get a complimentary meeting at https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/

🔗 Resources & Links Mentioned

The Developer's Guide to AI: Grab the newly released book by Danny Thompson from here! http://developersguide.ai/

Commit Your Code Conference (CYC 2026): Join us Sept 2nd-4th at the Capital One Campus in Plano, Texas. Keynote by the CTO of the PGA! https://www.commityourcode.com/

Resilient Coders: Free coding boot camp paying you a stipend to learn. Applications open in Boston, Philly, NY, Maine, and Pittsburgh: https://www.resilientcoders.org/

Plus, we cover the Friday 3 PM developer log habit, why you should always be interview-ready every six months, and answer a listener question about how to handle recruiters before your first interview round.

✅ If you made it to the end, comment: “Better talking points!” so we know who is a real one!

https://www.commityourcode.com/

Come to CYC!

Get The Developers Guide To AI here!

http://developersguide.ai/

Stay in Touch:

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at [email protected]!

Danny Thompson

https://x.com/DThompsonDev

https://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDev

www.DThompsonDev.com

Leon Noel

https://x.com/leonnoel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/

https://100devs.org/

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at [email protected]!

⏱️ Timestamps

0:00 - The Senior Developer Dilemma

1:07 - Announcements: Commit Your Code 2026 & The Developer's Guide to AI

2:27 - Case Study: 27 Years of Experience but Zero Interviews

5:00 - The "Barista Makes Coffee" Resume Trap

7:15 - Track Your Accomplishments: The Friday 3 PM Rule

10:02 - You Must Win Over the Recruiter First

11:45 - Managing AI Code Complexity with GitKraken

13:06 - Level Up Financial Planning for Tech Professionals

14:06 - ATS Myths: You Are Optimizing for a Human

15:22 - The Brutal Data: Cold Applying vs. Internal Hires & Referrals

20:07 - Why You Should Interview Every 6 Months

24:19 - Overcoming the Fear of Falling Behind (AI vs. Blockchain)

29:15 - Why Senior Devs Must Have Hard Metrics to Prove Value

36:50 - Q&A: Should I email a recruiter about the hiring process before the first chat?

39:08 - The UFC Fighter Approach to Job Interviews

Ever wondered what advice we’d give our younger selves if we could go back in time? Want the real, unfiltered insights on building a meaningful career, authentic connections, and mastering the game of life and tech? This episode reveals it all—no fluff, just pure wisdom from those who've been there, done that, and still learning.In this episode:- The power of visibility and intentional networking — why it’s more important than coding skills.- How to leverage relationships and reputation for career growth—stories that prove it works.- Why embracing vulnerability and asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.- The importance of systems, frameworks, and mental models to troubleshoot and accelerate progress.- The value of helpfulness, generosity, and authentic connection—how they come back tenfold.- The significance of active self-auditing and practicing deliberate habits.- The “Karma Method” and goal breakdown—a practical tool to turn dreams into actionable steps.- Challenging hustle culture with energy management and strategic recharge.- Real talk on social media, imposter syndrome, and overcoming the fear of being “cringe.”Timestamps:(00:00) The advice we’d give our rookie selves: Visibility is your career’s secret weapon(02:12) Why trusting multiple sources beats listening to one myth — and the importance of data-backed advice(05:07) How a simple recruiter story saved my career: the power of reputation(06:37) Building long-term relationships with the “Never Eat Alone” philosophy(07:29) The long game: nurturing relationships for exponential growth(08:27) Making networking about friendship, not transactions(09:35) Ambiguity kills credibility—be honest and ask questions(10:34) How clarifying tasks builds trust and accelerates learning(15:03) Presenting constraints—systematically guiding conversations for clarity(16:27) The weight of questions—framing discussions to carry less and engage more(17:52) Visibility vs. helpfulness—finding balance without expectations(19:16) How helpfulness compounds into opportunities and trust(20:37) The importance of systems for mental clarity and stress management(35:50) Reframe your hustle—work intensely, then fully recharge(41:38) The power of tracking your outreach: from failures to wins in job hunts(55:50) Thinking long-term: the “No Cringe” mental model and valuing authenticity(56:22) Energy is infrastructure—mindset shifts for sustainable success(71:58) Learning how to learn—why you should master meta-skills to thrive(73:35) Notes, triggers, and habits—the invisible systems that boost productivity(76:12) Resilient Coders NYC opening doors—education as a leverage point(77:18) Final thoughts: embrace vulnerability, systemize your efforts, and go all-in

Everyone's vibe coding their way to broken software. More AI doesn't fix a bad foundation, it just makes the mess louder and faster! You've been told AI makes you 10x more productive. So why does it feel like you're drowning?

In this episode, Danny Thompson, Leon Noel, and GitKraken's Chris Griffing and Jeremy Castile break down what AI workflows actually look like at a senior level, the context docs, the architecture guardrails, the multi-agent orchestration, and the research data behind why 84% of developers feel more productive (and why the other 16% are probably doing it wrong).

Plus: the one thing Danny does after every successful AI session that multiplies the value of every token he's ever spent.

Check out GitKraken at https://www.gitkraken.com/

Follow Jeremy Castile! https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremycastile/

Follow Chris Griffing

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmgriffing/

https://x.com/cmgriffing

Get The Developers Guide To AI here! http://developersguide.ai/

✅ If you made it to the end, comment: “Shine bright like a GitHub Star!” so we know who is a real one!

https://www.commityourcode.com/

Come to CYC!

Get The Developers Guide To AI here!

http://developersguide.ai/

Stay in Touch:

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at [email protected]!

Danny Thompson

https://x.com/DThompsonDev

https://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDev

www.DThompsonDev.com

Leon Noel

https://x.com/leonnoel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/

https://100devs.org/

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at [email protected]!

00:00 AI Amplifies Whatever Workflow You Already Have

01:29 Meet the Hosts & Guests

02:37 What AI Tools Are We Actually Using?

06:07 Danny's Architecture-First Approach

10:19 Leon's Burnout Warning & Workflow Honesty

12:00 What AI Has Unlocked (and What It Hasn't)

17:43 GitKraken's Research: The Code Churn Problem

19:41 84% of Developers Feel More Productive — Here's Why

21:52 The Three Cohorts: Assistive → Emerging → Agent Native

23:32 Leon's Raw Take: Middle Manager Extreme

25:09 The Bottleneck Has Shifted (It's No Longer the Code)

27:12 GitKraken Kepler: The Agentic Development Environment

30:57 Managing Multiple Agents Like a Team

33:29 How Do You Stay Updated Across All Your Agents?

36:45 Is This For Everyone or Just Enterprise?

39:27 Danny's #1 Tip: The Context Doc Strategy

42:22 How to Fight Context Rot

46:17 Git Workflow When Running Multiple Agents

49:50 Structured Files: Code Standards, UI Docs, Deviation Files

51:15 Question of the Day: Which AI Tool Would You Miss Most?

57:01 Closing

Are we hitting the ceiling of AI progress, or just restructuring for a massive leap? In this episode, we break down Jack Dorsey’s radical "Mini AGI" thesis and why companies like Block are nuking management layers to move at the speed of intelligence. We discuss the breakdown of scaling laws, the transition from "SaaS" to "Company as Intelligence," and why the traditional product roadmap is officially dead.

In the second half, we dive into a "cringe-worthy" freelance scenario: a developer charging a one-time fee of $200 for a project. We explain why that pricing is a race to the bottom and lay out a specific strategy to pivot into high-margin, recurring revenue that scales.

Timestamps

00:00:00 – The AGI Plateau: Why Scaling Laws Might Be Failing

00:04:54 – Data Center Constraints & The Billion-Dollar Cerebras IPO

00:07:34 – Jack Dorsey’s Thesis: Every Company as a "Mini AGI"

00:11:36 – SPONSOR: Auth0 & Level Up Financial Planning

00:13:08 – Killing the Onboarding Nightmare with AI Context

00:16:06 – Flattening the Org: Moving from 5 Layers of Management to 2

00:18:24 – The 3 New Roles: Builder, Operator, and Player-Coach

00:21:42 – "Company as Intelligence": The Death of the Traditional Roadmap

00:27:38 – Async Meetings: Prototypes vs. Google Docs & The Power of 2x Speed

00:30:25 – Q&A: The Freelance Pricing Trap—Is $200 Too Cheap?

00:35:32 – The Pivot: Turning a $200 Project into $1,000+ Annual Revenue

The industry has fundamentally shifted. Developers with decades of experience are openly admitting they haven't written a line of manual code in months. We break down the massive shift toward AI-assisted coding, why 60% of companies are pushing unreviewed AI code to production, and how you need to adapt your workflow before the "AI forgiveness bubble" bursts. Plus, we answer a listener question on salary negotiation and explain exactly how one 5-minute conversation can replace 6 years of grinding for annual 3% raises.

Timestamps

00:00:00 - The 90/10 Split: Are Senior Developers Still Writing Code?

00:06:36 - The Shift to AI-Native Engineering & Social Media Volume Drops

00:08:58 - Context is King: Atlassian's Paradigm Shift in Code Intelligence

00:11:58 - SPONSOR BREAK: Level Up Financial Planning (LevelUpFinancialPlanning.com)

00:12:59 - The Data: 76% Dev Adoption & 60% of Companies Shipping Unchecked AI Code

00:17:02 - The "AI Forgiveness Bubble" is Officially Bursting

00:20:41 - Practical Strategies: Setting Standards, SLMs, and the 60/40 Workflow

00:26:03 - Gatekeeping Quality: Does Clean Code Still Matter to AI?

00:31:13 - Building Secret Internal Tools with AI

00:34:15 - Q&A: Do You Always Negotiate Job Offers?

00:37:28 - The Exact Phrases to Use When Asking for "Wiggle Room"

00:42:42 - The Math: Why Negotiating Replaces 6 Years of 3% Raises