Code To Cloud

Government of Alberta AI Transformation: App Modernization, Open Source, and Digital Government
Kevin Evans sits down with Janak Alford, Deputy Minister for the Government of Alberta, to explore how Alberta is using artificial intelligence to modernize legacy applications, accelerate software development, improve cybersecurity, and transform public services.Janak explains the Government of Alberta’s AI strategy, including the Alberta AI Academy, the Velocity White Papers, open source technology, AI agents, and secure development frameworks. He shares how AI is helping the province reduce certain app development and remediation timelines by approximately 20 times, including the modernization of a 25-year-old application in days instead of months.The conversation also explores agentic government, human-centered AI, technical debt, personalized digital services, open source government software, and why AI adoption is becoming essential for productivity, innovation, and Canada’s economic competitiveness.

Topics covered

Government of Alberta AI transformation

AI for government and public-sector innovation

Application modernization and legacy systems

Alberta AI Academy and workforce training

AI agents and agentic government

Open source government technology

Cybersecurity and fraud prevention

AI-powered policy research and data analysis

Secure AI development frameworks

Technical debt and digital transformation

Human-centered AI and personalized user experiences

The future of digital government and public services

Chapters
00:00 — Alberta’s AI transformation and digital government
01:53 — The Velocity White Papers and Alberta’s AI playbook
03:11 — Open source tools for public-sector innovation
05:01 — Why AI became essential for government delivery
08:04 — The Alberta AI Academy and workforce training
09:06 — Alberta’s reported 20x app modernization gains
12:15 — Cost avoidance and faster public-service delivery
14:38 — AI, cybersecurity, and fraud prevention
17:49 — Rebuilding a 25-year-old application with AI
21:34 — AI for policy research and government decision-making
24:59 — Analyzing open data with AI
27:13 — From code generation to AI agents
28:45 — Why AI needs standards, security, and governance
30:16 — The paint-by-numbers approach to AI development
34:33 — Alberta’s open source policy
38:52 — The future of agentic government
41:44 — AI agents for public servants
42:42 — Personalized interfaces and human-centered AI
45:34 — Reducing technical debt with self-healing systems
47:56 — AI agents and citizen access to government services
48:55 — Government 3.0 and intent-driven digital services
50:51 — Solving post-AI problems with pre-AI thinking
57:40 — AI productivity and Canada’s economic opportunity
59:05 — The impact of compounding productivity gains
61:34 — Why AI adoption is becoming essential
64:22 — AI and the return of the entrepreneur
66:33 — Expanding human capability with AI

What if meal planning could save you money, reduce food waste, and make grocery shopping smarter with AI?

In this episode of the Code to Cloud Podcast, Kevin sits down with Jacob Deinum, systems programmer and founder of Annona, to discuss how he's rethinking the way we shop, cook, and manage food. Built with Rust, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, and Docker Compose, Anona is an AI-powered meal planning platform designed to optimize grocery shopping, reduce food waste, and help families save money.

Jacob shares the story of building Anona from scratch on a single basement server, creating a scalable architecture with minimal dependencies, and using AI to solve practical, everyday challenges. From determining whether it's more cost-effective to buy pre-made guacamole or make it from scratch, to generating optimized weekly meal plans based on budget, nutrition, pantry inventory, and time, Anona demonstrates how thoughtful software engineering can improve daily life.

During the conversation, we discuss:

Jacob's background in systems programming

Why Rust is the foundation of Anona

Building scalable software with a small, efficient tech stack

Using AI to personalize meal planning

Reducing household food waste through technology

Creating new revenue opportunities for recipe creators

Lessons learned building a startup as a solo founder

The future of programming and AI-assisted software development

This episode is for software developers, entrepreneurs, startup founders, and anyone interested in AI, sustainability, food technology, and building products that solve real-world problems.

About Jacob Deinum

Jacob Deinum is a systems programming expert and startup founder focused on food technology, artificial intelligence, and open-source software. Through Anona, he is building technology that helps make food more affordable while reducing waste across the food supply chain.

Links

Code to Cloud
https://codetocloud.io

Code to Cloud Podcast
https://codetocloud.io/podcast

Anona
https://annona.ca/

Accelerating DevOps and AI Integration with Paul Duvall In this episode of Code to Cloud, Kevin Evans talks with Paul Duvall, award‑winning author, software engineer, and AI‑driven DevOps leader.

They explore how AI agents, automation, and modern engineering practices are reshaping software development, testing, and deployment. Learn how to build trust in AI systems, accelerate feedback loops, and deliver more reliable software at scale.

--- Episode Highlights

• Paul’s journey from building large systems to founding Redacted Ventures

• Why static analysis, testing, and early feedback loops remain essential

• Harness engineering and codifying best practices with Claude Code and Claude MD

• The evolution of CI and the value of trunk‑based development • Progressive delivery, feature flags, and trust scores for safer deployments

• How AI can monitor production, assist in bug fixes, and feed telemetry back into development

• Reducing friction and shrinking queues to speed up delivery

• Recommended DevOps resources from Jez Humble, Gene Kim, Martin Fowler, and others

• Upcoming industry events including the AI Engineer World Fair

Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction and guest credentials 02:00 – Paul’s early days in software engineering and the rise of DevOps 07:15 – The impact of AI on coding and automation practices 12:30 – Implementing harness engineering and codifying best practices 17:00 – Progressive delivery techniques and deployment strategies 22:00 – Resources for DevOps and CI mastery 28:45 – Building trust with AI in production environments 33:00 – Streamlining code review and PR processes with AI agents 38:30 – The importance of feedback loops and shrinking queues 43:00 – Future of AI in software delivery and recommendations --- Resources and Links • Continuous Integration — Paul Duvall https://www.amazon.ca/Continuous-Inte... • The DevOps Handbook — Gene Kim, Jez Humble, et al. https://www.amazon.ca/DevOps-Handbook... • Accelerate — Nicole Forsgren https://www.amazon.ca/Accelerate-Soft... • Martin Fowler’s blog on Continuous Integration https://www.martinfowler.com/articles... • Redacted Ventures https://www.redactedventures.com • AI Engineer World Fair (San Francisco) https://www.ai.engineer/worldsfair/2026

Code To Cloud Presents:

Most developers don’t realize how close we are to running powerful, personalized AI models locally without sacrificing privacy, performance, or control.

If you’re frustrated with oversized cloud models, rising costs, or AI systems flooding the internet with low‑quality content, this episode offers a grounded perspective on what’s possible today.

Kevin Evans sits down with Chris Williams, AWS Hero and Field CTO at Six Feet Up, to explore the future of local AI, open‑source tooling, and ethical development.

Chris shares how he moved from traditional data centers to building AI systems that support real societal needs, including climate research, healthcare, and disaster prediction.

They discuss how smaller, smarter models can run on everyday hardware, from a MacBook Pro to a single server, eliminating cloud dependency and reducing environmental impact.

You’ll hear how a small AI dev shop helped NASA detect lightning strikes within 200 feet, why massive models are often overhyped, and how open‑source projects like OpenCode are reshaping local development.

The conversation covers the AI hype cycle, security concerns, deepfakes, and the ethics of autonomous systems, along with practical advice for building your own local AI setup.

This episode is ideal for developers, cloud professionals, and anyone interested in building AI that is efficient, ethical, and genuinely useful.

Kevin and Chris offer a balanced view of AI’s potential to improve healthcare, fight climate change, and empower individual creators when used responsibly.

Guest Bio: Chris Williams is an AWS Hero and the first Field CTO at Six Feet Up, recognized for his work in cloud architecture, AI ethics, and community‑driven technology education.

Most fintech startups dream of building a bank, but Neo Financial is redefining what’s possible by starting in the cloud.

 

In this episode of the Code to Cloud podcast, host Kevin Evans sits down with Fahad Zaidi, Director of Software Development at Neo Financial, to discuss how a Calgary startup scaled into one of Canada’s most ambitious digital banks using a tech-first, customer-focused approach.

 

Fahad shares how Neo Financial built a cloud-native platform designed for speed, scalability, and innovation without the limitations of legacy banking systems. The conversation explores how modern engineering practices, strong developer experience, and disciplined execution allow Neo to serve millions of customers while continuously evolving its products.

 

In this episode, we discuss:

 

How Neo Financial built its banking platform using cloud-native infrastructure and microservices architecture
How the team reduced developer onboarding from weeks to hours
Balancing innovation with compliance, regulation, and security requirements
How partnerships with established financial institutions enable rapid fintech growth
The role of AI and automation in fraud detection, personalization, and customer experience
Why a customer-obsessed mindset is central to Neo’s long-term vision

 

This episode is ideal for fintech founders, engineering leaders, software developers, and technology enthusiasts interested in modern banking, cloud architecture, and large-scale software systems.

 

Host
Kevin Evans
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinevans01

 

Guest
Fahad Zaidi
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahadzaidi/

 

Code to Cloud Podcast
https://codetocloud.io

 

If you’re interested in building faster, smarter, and more customer-centric financial platforms, this conversation offers practical insights into what it takes to challenge established banking models and build the future of finance.