Jun 2, 2025
As the Vice President of Strategy at Xebia Microsoft Services, Rocky leads the vision and direction of the company’s software development solutions and services. He brings extensive expertise in framework design and implementation, distributed systems architecture, and cloud and container technologies, helping clients achieve their business goals and deliver value to their customers.
He is also the creator of CSLA .NET, an open-source development framework that enables developers to build scalable, maintainable, and secure object-oriented applications. As an accomplished author, he has written multiple books on the subject and frequently shares his insights at major conferences worldwide. He is honored to be a member of the Microsoft Regional Director and MVP programs and serves as co-chair of Visual Studio Live! as well as chair of the Cloud & Containers Live conferences. His passion lies in advancing the software industry and empowering developers to create better software.
Topics of Discussion:
[3:30] Rockford shares his first job experience at an independent software vendor (ISV) building software to dispatch and manage the delivery of ready-mix concrete trucks.
[8:30] The evolution of software and its connection to real-world processes.
[9:53] The impact of technology advancements, such as miniaturization and material science, on modern software applications.
[12:40] The influence of AI on software architecture and decision making.
[19:15] Rockford about the importance of open-source libraries and personal projects in software development.
[21:35] How does one become aware of what’s available these days?
[23:14] Rockford suggests using RSS readers, curated feeds, and platforms like Feedly and Mastodon to stay informed about industry developments.
[27:06] The upside to blogging and microblogging.
[28:25] Importance of sharing knowledge and expertise.
[29:19] Expertise through teaching and sharing.
[32:19] Impact of Large Language Models (LLMs) on Coding.
[38:22] Infrastructure challenges with AI.
[40:21] Legacy software modernization.
[40:52] Career advice for leaders and recognizing it as its own career path.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Programming with Palermo — New Video Podcast! Email us at programming@palermo.net.
Clear Measure, Inc. (Sponsor)
.NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer’s Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo
Azure & DevOps Podcast: Rocky Lhotka: CSLA - Episode 210
Morning Dew — Alvin Ashcroft
Drive by Daniel Pink
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