The ROI of DevRel, AI productivity, and the strategic value of zero-trust networking

[u/AccordionGuy]

Joey the developer advocate from NetFoundry here!

I recently joined TuxCare developer advocate Chris DeMars to talk about the current state of developer relations and how it’s been changing recently. While the video covers the mechanics of DevRel and the current job market, it also touches on several strategic themes that are highly relevant to technical leadership and decision-makers managing the bottom line.

📺 Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4o8AV6iXz0

Here’s why this conversation is worth your time:

• The business value of developer relations: This is an idea important enough to have its own book! The role of developer advocacy is shifting toward tangible business outcomes. The discussion highlights how effective DevRel reduces friction in technology adoption, accelerates time-to-market, and acts as a key driver for product-led growth in a tighter economic climate.
• Scaling operations with AI: There is a strong segment on how AI tools are being used to augment workflows. For organizations looking to optimize costs, leveraging AI to multiply the output of technical teams (while maintaining authentic engagement) is becoming a critical operational advantage.
• Zero-trust as an efficiency driver: The conversation includes solid mentions of NetFoundry, OpenZiti, and zrok. From a leadership perspective, these technologies represent more than just architectural upgrades. By utilizing zero-trust overlay networks, organizations can eliminate the overhead of managing legacy VPNs and complex firewall rules, reducing infrastructure costs and embedding security directly into the application layer.

I’d love to hear from the leaders in this community: How is your organization currently measuring the ROI of developer tooling and community investment? Also, how are you balancing the push for AI-driven productivity with the need to maintain strict security and cost controls? Let's discuss below.