Laura Combs

🚨 Cincinnati Developers & Security Pros — Mark Your Calendars! 🚨 The next two OWASP Cincinnati chapter meetups are locked in: 🗓️ June 16 🎤 Featuring 😀 Ryan Ross Ryan will live demo real-world exploitations of the OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities. If these have ever felt abstract or theoretical, this session will make them real—and a little scary. You’ll walk away with a clear understanding of how attackers think and why these flaws matter. 👉 https://lnkd.in/gYYapgVP 🗓️ July 17 🎤 Featuring Chris Lindsey from OX Security Chris will show how AI-assisted coding can help you build a fully functional app—riddled with security flaws—in minutes. We’ll explore how to spot and fix what the AI gets wrong. 👉 https://lnkd.in/g3bsB5DY 🍕 As always, there will be food, great people, and sharp insights. Don’t miss out!

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I asked AI to generate an image of what it’s like chatting with me every day. It came back with: “This is fine. Everything is fine.” 😅 If you’ve ever shipped software in a real enterprise, you know the feeling: * the pipeline is green… except in QA * the “small change” touches 6 services and 2 vendors * the architecture diagram is clean… until you zoom in * someone’s “source of truth” is a spreadsheet from 2017 But here’s what I actually like about AI in the middle of that chaos: Not that it writes code. That it helps me keep momentum when the system is loud. It’s a second brain for the unglamorous work: * clarifying the end-state before we build the wrong thing perfectly * turning tribal knowledge into repeatable patterns * tightening contracts and boundaries * translating complexity into plain language so decisions can happen “This is fine” isn’t denial. Sometimes it’s the moment right before you turn the mess into a plan. #engineeringleadership #softwarearchitecture #platformengineering #devops #ai

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"It’s only NPE (non-prod environment), so it’s not urgent. I’ll look at it when I can." As a software developer, NPE is our production. Every new feature, bug fix, and business-critical change starts in non-prod. If NPEs are broken or unreliable, work gets delayed, timelines slip, and ultimately production does get impacted, just indirectly. So next time someone flags an issue in NPE, please consider this: Fixing NPE issues quickly keeps delivery moving and ensures production stays healthy.

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Watching a well-known developer tooling company publicly reckon with its business model this week made something very clear to me. Many organizations don’t realize how much revenue quietly depends on users landing on specific parts of their website. * A product Q&A section that influences a few percent of conversions. * A fitment or compatibility tool that reduces purchase hesitation. * A buying guide that nudges the decision. * A blog post that introduces the product before the user ever sees a PDP. None of these are usually mission-critical on their own. They’re often written off as “only” one or two percent. But they all share something important: they only work if the user reaches the page. And combined they likely represent a percentage of revenue you can't ignore. AI is increasingly answering those same questions before a customer ever sees your Q&A, your guide, your calculator, or your content. The demand for this information won't change, but the access and path will. Developers may be encountering this first, but they won’t be the last. Over the next 12–24 months, the organizations that fare better will be the ones that understand exactly where this dependency exists and what replaces it when the click goes away.

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From Web Forms to Vibe Coding. From 10+ resumes to one targeted introduction. A few weeks ago, a 400‑person Philly‑based company reached out with a very specific problem inside their .NET ecosystem. They weren’t looking for a list of candidates they needed someone who could step in, diagnose the issue, and take ownership of the solution. Because we stay close to the engineering community, we immediately thought of a .NET architect we've worked with on and off for more than five years. Within days, he was embedded with their team, reviewing their service architecture, mapping dependencies, and putting a plan together to stabilize and modernize the affected components. No resume stack. No interview loop. Just one introduction to the right technical SME who could get their system moving again. This is exactly why we’re seeing such a sharp increase in managed staffing and deliverable‑based engagements....especially across .NET Core, Azure, API modernization, and legacy‑to‑cloud transitions. Teams want partners who understand the technical environment and can deploy the right people quickly, not slow down the process with unnecessary overhead. We still support plenty of permanent and contract hiring, but the biggest growth has come from clients saying, “I need someone who can own this problem end‑to‑end.” If you’re looking for: • A deliverable‑based .NET solution • A managed staffing model with technical oversight • Or a fast way to resolve an architecture, performance, or modernization issue Feel free to reach out. I can get you connected with one of our technical SMEs. And if you’re an engineer or architect open to project‑based work, happy to talk with you as well. #dotnet #staffing #deliverables

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Incredible example of mission-driven tech in action. When 70 Iowa libraries needed a fast, flexible solution, the LocalHop team delivered - and empowered local staff along the way. A great read on resilience, collaboration, and people-first platforms👇 #CivicRecovery #LibraryTech #MissionInMotion #PublicImpact

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