Code To Cloud

AI Agents, Guardrails and Turning Ideas into Products, with Dan Wahlin

AI agents can now take an idea to a working deployment faster than ever. Does that make engineering discipline matter less, or more?

Dan Wahlin joins Kevin Evans to look at how agents are changing the way software gets built, from Azure and Kubernetes deployments to GitHub workflows, CI/CD and even hardware projects. They talk about why building faster still depends on security, testing, evidence and human judgement. They cover steering agents and weighing alternatives, using deterministic automation to save tokens, and the move from vibe coding to the full software lifecycle.

They also get hands-on with Linux and Omarchy, Dan's open-source Agent Buddy desk companion, firmware experiments and repurposing everyday devices. Dan closes with a challenge: use AI as a learning tool, and act on your ideas.

Chapters
00:00 Welcome to Code to Cloud
02:08 Dan Wahlin's work across Azure and GitHub
03:57 GitHub's expanding developer ecosystem
04:25 AI-generated code, security and secrets
06:40 AI agents for Azure and Kubernetes deployments
08:44 CI/CD, YAML and managed identities
10:56 From vibe coding to the software lifecycle
14:01 Stacked PRs and code reviews
15:57 Steering agents and evaluating alternatives
18:06 Experience, evidence and guardrails
20:10 Validation, verification and testing
24:16 CI pipelines, quality and token costs
25:33 Deterministic automation and saving tokens
28:14 Omarchy, Linux and agent-driven development
31:23 Agent Buddy and firmware experiments
34:11 Hacking and repurposing everyday devices
37:43 AI as a learning tool: turning ideas into products
40:24 Final thoughts: act on your ideas
43:50 Outro

Guest: Dan Wahlin
GitHub: https://github.com/DanWahlin
Agent Buddy: https://github.com/DanWahlin/agent-buddy
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danwahlin/
X: https://x.com/DanWahlin

Host: Kevin Evans
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinevans01/
GitHub: https://github.com/kevinevans1

Code to Cloud
Website: https://codetocloud.io
Blog: https://codetocloud.io/blog/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Code-To-Cloud
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/code-to-cloud
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codetocloud
GitHub: https://github.com/codetocloudorg
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1iOZfFVamUk7CJPOvtU00v
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/code-to-cloud/id1788423999

How does a nonprofit with an $11,000 annual budget and no paid staff use AI to work smarter? Kevin Evans talks with Sarah Wimberley, enterprise architect and founder of Ulster Technologies, about how nonprofits adopt AI and manage their data. They cover how her team uses AI to audit its website every quarter, why tangled systems are a bigger problem than on-prem vs cloud, and her top three recommendations for any nonprofit.

Website: www.codetocloud.io

Sarah on LinkedIn:  / sarahfwimberley  

Sarah on Instagram: Ulster Tech

Like, share and subscribe, and send us your feedback. #CodeToCloud #Nonprofit #AI #EnterpriseArchitecture #datastrategy

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