Sign in

Kelsey Hightower

@kelseyhightower.com
106K followers 103 following 2.1K posts

Minimalist

PostsRepliesMedia
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 4m
Whoever is running this account deserves a raise.
0251
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 8m
The things I want to accomplish are the things worth accomplishing without using a computer.
1261
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 2h
I've tried to jump on the latest AI bandwagon but kept falling off because I don't want the problems this wave of AI is attempting to solve.
0370
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 2h
My lack of interest in AI stems from how I've structured my life around freedom and intentionality. I'm in the fortunate position that allows me to move slow and optimize for experience not productivity.
6915
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 29/09/2026
I've been playing with @duckdb.org and I gotta say the docs are amazing. The built-in web shell is a really nice touch. You can play with DuckDB right inside your web browser. This might be my SQLite replacement. duckdb.org/docs/current
41012
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Dan Ciruli @danciruli.cloud · 28/09/2026
USB-C is the best technology in so long. I bring ONE type of adaptor on business trips now (to charge my computer, my phone, my tablet, my earbuds, my watch, my headphones). I'm sitting in a meeting right now using my Mac and am borrowing the cord from a ThinkPad user. Standards win.
820719
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 28/09/2026
I hope we keep writing docs for people who want to understand and build things without using AI.
1430950
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 28/09/2026
People who lack soft skills are going to have a hard time.
7908
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 18/12/2024
I'm about to rebrand all my cron jobs to AI agents and raise a $100,000,000 seed round.
34968125
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Please try to reclaim your precious precious attention, at all costs. Do puzzles. Take walks without a phone. Dear god, try to read, almost anything that isn’t a manifesto will really do. You are going to need your brain.
52518653
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 24/09/2026
We removed the compilers from the servers to make them more secure. Now we're racing to put the compilers back with tools that can generate their own code and use them.
67212
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 24/09/2026
Seems the AI Labs are running a free pen testing service.
810214
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
AP Stylebook warns against anthropomorphizing AI systems: “Avoid language that gives them human characteristics… Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.”
APStylebook @APStylebook
X.com
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics. This is called anthropomorphizing, when we ascribe human traits, emotions or behaviors to non-human things, such as animals or inanimate objects.
Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.
1970102256
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 23/09/2026
I'll be speaking at the @wearedevelopers.bsky.social event in San Jose this week. I'm doubling down on my belief that people shouldn't be burning AI tokens when a more efficient option is available. www.wearedevelopers.com/world-congre...
wearedevelopers.com
ZTA: Zero Token Architecture · WeAreDevelopers World Congress North America
Infer once; run everywhere. While burning tokens is being celebrated as a sign of productivity, it’s irresponsible to ignore the fundamentals around efficiency, and pragmatic engineering. This t…
3612
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Dan Ciruli @danciruli.cloud · 17/09/2026
Join me and Kelsey Hightower as we talk to Luca from PlatformEngineering.org about how AI is changing the role of Platform Engineers! Later this morning, 10am PDT. Pass this on to your friends, colleagues, neighbors and passersby! Registration Page: platformengineering.org/events/enter...
platformengineering.org
The global home for Platform Engineers
Join the #1 platform engineering community. Learn from leading DevOps and cloud native experts. Connect with fellow platform practitioners.
151
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 21/09/2024
At this point I'm willing to pay more money for appliances with zero smart features and physical controls for everything.
2760281
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Anil Dash @anildash.com · 09/09/2026
There are a lot of people who think their parents got their brains destroyed by Fox News, but somehow they’re not getting their brains destroyed by staying on Twitter.
333585708
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 08/09/2026
🚨 OCTOBER 17 — NO KINGS: VOTE EARLY! With our democracy at stake, we're showing up again to promote unprecedented voter participation in the midterms. Our goal is to translate the historic protest power of No Kings mobilizations into a massive wave of voter turnout.
NO KINGS
NO THRONES. NO CROWNS.
VOTE EARLY
OCTOBER 17
NOKINGS.ORG
311009556
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Leah Greenberg ❌👑 @leahgreenberg.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
We broke records for the biggest mobilizations in American history Now it’s time to break the record for the largest early vote turnout in history
5491160
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 06/09/2026
Have humans reached full potential? If the answer is no, what kind of investment would it take to move us forward?
14313
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
räy. 🇵🇷🇧🇸 @rayelrey.latinsky.app · 04/09/2026
I just voted for @jamellebouie.net, @jcsalterego.bsky.social and @kelseyhightower.com in the 38 Most Influential Bluesky Posters of 2026. You get ten votes too. Cast yours: bsky38.com
bsky38.com
38 Most Influential Bluesky Posters of 2026
Vote for the 38 most influential Bluesky posters of 2026.
061
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 03/09/2026
Never too early to check your voter registration. www.vote.org/am-i-registe...
35618
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Anil Dash @anildash.com · 03/09/2026
Somehow, the orange site is discussing something I wrote without the top comment being a racist riff on my name? This is progress!
7942
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 31/08/2026
Most of my life has been surrounded by this level of kindness. People I have never met take the time to say nice things and practice kindness. It's one of the reasons I still have faith in humanity.
2762
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 31/08/2026
Just when I think I'm done reading the comments. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
I’ve met him only once, back in KubeCon Europe ‘23. I will never forget how the room was absolutely packed to the brim and people still wanted to keep coming in. And his keynote, which was originally scheduled to last for 45 minutes, which he carried on to almost double that time…. with no slides. No screen, just him, sitting down at the edge of the stage, like an old friend sharing stories over a few drinks. Talking not about the glamor of Kubernetes and how it can save businesses but quite the contrary - about the ugly side of it. The incidents. The times when things went wrong. And how he dealt with them. And then, he went around the room asking the same from all of us - to share, to dig in, to overcome our shyness and be present in that moment when, truly, we all forgot for over an hour that we were in KubeCon, that he was the speaker, that it was a keynote, and instead connected us all there and then.

I still chase that feeling when attending keynotes, none have come par to it.
61454
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 27/08/2026
I love this framing, but in reality we treat developers of our internal platforms like users, and not customers, because most enterprise developers cannot behave as customers, and are forced to use whatever the platform engineering team gives them.
2508
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 27/08/2026
Some people have reduced their own value to what can be accomplished with a computer, and consider anything that can match their limited capabilities to be as human as they are.
18215
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 27/08/2026
People don't hire AI agents, nor do people hire mouse and keyboards. AI agents are software tools; not people.
2015124
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 26/08/2026
CBC Kitchener-Waterloo wrote up my interview with them from last week about my book! See link for interview and short video :)
cbc.ca
Do you ever wonder what our universe is made of? Waterloo astrophysicist's new book gives some insight | CBC News
What is the universe made of, and how do we know? Those are the questions Katie Mack, a Waterloo astrophysicist and researcher at Perimeter Institute seeks to answer in her new book, "How to Build a U...
952778
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
P(aul) Frazee @pfrazee.com · 24/08/2026
Telling everybody we just got the Nobel Prize
704734457
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Jason Lengstorf @jason.energy · 19/08/2026
if you’ve never seen @kelseyhightower.com speak, he’s one of the best in the game at weaving deep knowledge into a captivating story I’ve got a 30% off code for @wearedevelopers.bsky.social event in San Jose if you want to go see Kelsey and a bunch of other great speakers Sep 23–25:
ti.to
I am joining the world's leading developer event in US!
Join us for WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2026: North America, the world's leading event for developers and AI-innovators! The event brings together brilliant speakers with a fant...
0204
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Kevin Stewart @kstewart.me · 16/08/2026
Finally starting to catch up on The Full Stack. @kelseyhightower.com and @jason.energy have produced an incredibly interesting and compelling show. My builder 🔥 is stoked! Also, so great to see @ashley.dev as one of the guest judges. Miss ya, girl!
1272
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Dan Ciruli @danciruli.cloud · 15/08/2026
It was a long talk with @kelseyhightower.com that got me to move from Mastodon and to delete my (then dormant) X account. He convinced me that AT and Bluesky were the right combination of technology and stewardship. My opinion: ANYONE posting on X is supporting Musk (by donating content).
1797
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 26/01/2026
Twitter died a long time ago and X isn't worth it. Before I made the jump, my ego was holding me back. I was too concerned with vanity metrics. I finally realized if you're posting stuff people want to follow, then they'll follow you, even when you leave. www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/k...
siliconrepublic.com
Open-source champion Kelsey Hightower on the promise of Bluesky
Ann O’Dea spoke to US software engineer and open-source champion Kelsey Hightower about the promise of the AT protocol.
191787238
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Justin Garrison @justingarrison.com · 13/08/2026
@kelseyhightower.com’s wish list
1434
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Chisomo Chiweza @chisomochiweza.com · 09/08/2026
This was my favourite episode. It was heart-warming to see some teams grow and as a programmer, I've picked up a bunch of lessons abut building great products too!
072
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 09/08/2026
Came across a dev saying they couldn’t do their job without LLMs now just like they wouldn’t have been able to do their job without being able to copy and paste from Stack Overflow 5 years ago
There’s a lot to unpack here
1830035
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 07/08/2026
What is the US national debt? $39,829,652,708,623 fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-fin...
The national debt ($39.83 T) is the total amount of outstanding borrowing by the U.S. Federal Government accumulated over the nation’s history.
5197
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Ryan @blog.kilasuit.org · 07/08/2026
I'm tired. Not retired.
39914
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 06/08/2026
I'm retired. Not tired.
2862
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 06/08/2026
It's been years since I led a morning standup and advised teams on how to ship the best products possible. Thanks to @awscloud.bsky.social and @codetv.dev I got the chance to do it again, but this time for the whole world to see. Check me out as I host The Full Stack. www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5I2...
3484
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Jason Lengstorf @jason.energy · 06/08/2026
could you build an HTML form from memory? no AI, no internet, no IDE, no browser checks — just you and a plain text editor? only 5 TEAMS LEFT on The Full Stack. this week is UX Week and the challenges are a doozy. see how your favorite team handles going back to the fundamentals 12pm PT today!
youtube.com
Devs learn why "it works" isn't good enough · The Full Stack
YouTube video by CodeTV
7343
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 31/07/2026
Based on industry predictions, I'll be in the small percentage of people who won't have a personal AI agent working on their behalf.
1516413
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Aaron Astle @aaronastle.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I love this Kelsey. It takes a little more effort to be present and mindful of the experiences as you live them. But so worth it.
0231
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 24/07/2026
I'm starting to think the reason I don't post more positive stuff online is because most of my positive experiences happen offline.
21829
Reposted by Kelsey Hightower
Mekka Okereke @mekka.mekka-tech.com · 24/07/2026
Oh, we're putting tariffs on countries that don't do enough to stop slave labor? Can we tariff ourselves? Because the US has the largest slave labor population in the world! Again, periodic reminder that our slave labor population is larger than the workforce of Norway. Not a typo.
6599204
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 24/07/2026
"Bluesky’s Atmosphere Protocol has the chance to become the base for a whole generation of applications. But it's developing in surprising and disappointing ways." - Building on ATProto by @luke.kanies.com lukekanies.com/writing/buil...
lukekanies.com
Luke Kanies | Building on ATProto
38911
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 24/07/2026
🔥
1766
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 24/07/2026
I understand why some people want this for enterprise software, which tends to be a soulless expression of moving bits and bytes around, but I hope there will be room for software where only human creativity and emotional intelligence can bring it to life.
58510
Kelsey Hightower @kelseyhightower.com · 24/07/2026
I know some people are working really hard to take humans out of the software development loop, but I hope that day never comes.
1425724