Systems | Development | Analytics | API | Testing

Here’s what you need to know: Bottom Line: Treat LLMs as untrusted clients. Secure database access with strict governance, API controls, and robust monitoring to mitigate risks without sacrificing productivity.

In today's digital landscape, APIs are the backbone of modern applications, and AI is the engine of innovation. As organizations increasingly rely on microservices and AI-powered features, the API gateway has become the critical control point for managing traffic. But as LLM/GenAI and MCP requests flow through these gateways, they bring a new wave of security challenges.

APIs and integrations are the foundation of the modern enterprise. Every organization needs to securely connect systems, move data, and automate workflows, all while maintaining control, visibility, and flexibility. Increasingly, those same APIs are also being consumed by AI-powered applications and agents that must interact safely with underlying business systems.

Advances in large language models (LLMs) and their widespread accessibility have transformed both what software can do and how we build it. The use of LLMs has quickly evolved from simple single-turn interactions to AI agents that reason, use tools, manage state, and operate autonomously.

Regression testing is a technical validation performed by QA teams to ensure that code changes haven't broken existing functionality. It asks the question: "Did we break anything that previously worked?" Regression tests run continuously throughout development, often automated within CI/CD pipelines, protecting the application's stability as it evolves. User Acceptance Testing (UAT), on the other hand, is a business validation performed by actual users or stakeholders. It asks.

Modern applications fail in the smallest places – a login field that accepts 257 characters instead of 256, an API that crashes when quantity becomes 0, or a payment system that allows transactions just $1 above the allowed limit. These are not complex logic failures. They are boundary failures.

In the blog post about Fine-Tuning OPcache Configuration I mentioned the thundering herd problem that affects OPcache during cache restarts. When OPcache is restarted, either automatically or manually, all current users will attempt to regenerate the cache entries. Under load this can lead to a burst in CPU usage and significantly slower requests.

Pleo operationalized Customer 360 data in HubSpot without sacrificing governance or accuracy.

How to build an interoperable storage layer on a data lake without ever learning iceberg.

Agentic AI is moving quickly from experiments to real work. In 2026, it shows up inside the workflows that drive outcomes: decisions, operations, and accountability. In the season 7 premiere of the Data Chief podcast, host Cindi Howson sat down with three leaders who work at the intersection of AI ambition and enterprise execution: Paul Baier (GAI Insights), Jennifer Belissent (Snowflake), and Rory Blundell (Gravitee).