Beyond the Hype: Real Talk on AI-Assisted Development • Jessica Kerr & Diana Montalion

GOTO - The Brightest Minds in Tech

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted.
https://gotopia.tech

Jessica Kerr - Engineering Manager of Developer Relation at Honeycomb.io & Symmathecist
Diana Montalion - Systems Architect, Mentrix Founder & Author of "Learning Systems Thinking"
RESOURCES
Jessica
https://bsky.app/profile/jessitron.bsky.social
https://linkedin.com/in/jessicakerr
https://www.twitch.tv/jessitronica
https://jessitron.com

Diana
https://bsky.app/profile/dianamontalion.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianamontalion
https://montalion.com
https://learningsystemsthinking.com
DESCRIPTION
Systems architect Diana Montalion and engineering manager Jessica Kerr cut through the AI coding hype to explore what these tools actually do well - and where they have room for improvement. Moving beyond the "AI will replace developers" narrative, they reveal how AI assistants excel at the tedious work of typing, scaffolding, and error handling while remaining surprisingly bad at the nuanced thinking that experienced developers bring to complex systems.
Their discussion illuminates a more mature relationship with AI tools: one where developers maintain agency over design decisions while leveraging AI's strengths in automation, synthesis, and rapid prototyping. The result is a pragmatic roadmap for using AI to amplify human expertise rather than replace it.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Diana Montalion • Learning Systems Thinking • https://amzn.to/3ZpycdJ
Andrew Harmel-Law • Facilitating Software Architecture • https://amzn.eu/d/5kZKVfU
Donella H. Meadows • Thinking in Systems • https://amzn.to/3XtqYCV
Yu-kai Chou • Actionable Gamification • https://amzn.to/45D8bHA

Bluesky
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facebook
CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS
Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join

Looking for a unique learning experience?
Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

Kapitler

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Systems are always broken – And that's okay (00:02:20)

3. From error handling to AI-assisted typing (00:09:55)

4. The art of scaffolding: Scripts, tests & automation (00:18:11)

5. AI as a thinking partner (00:30:02)

6. Outro (00:36:02)