In this episode of The New Stack Agents, Andrew Lee, co-founder of Shortwave and Firebase, discusses the evolution of his Gmail-centric email client into an AI-first platform. Initially launched in 2020 with traditional improvements like better threading and search, Shortwave pivoted to agentic AI after the rise of large language models (LLMs). Early features like summarization and translation garnered hype but lacked deep utility. However, as models improved in 2023—especially Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 3.5—Shortwave leaned heavily into tool-calling agents that could execute complex, multi-step tasks autonomously. Lee notes Anthropic’s lead in this area, especially in chaining tools intelligently, unlike earlier models from OpenAI. Still, challenges remain with managing large numbers of tools without breaking model reasoning. Looking ahead, Lee envisions AI that can take proactive actions—like responding to emails—and dynamically generate interfaces tailored to tasks in real-time. This shift could fundamentally reshape how productivity apps work, with Shortwave aiming to be at the forefront of that transformation.Learn more from The New Stack about the latest insights of the power AI at scale:Why Streaming Is the Power Grid for AI-Native Data PlatformsCompanies Must Embrace BeSpoke AI Designed for IT WorkflowsJoin our community of newsletter subscribers to stay on top of the news and at the top of your game.
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Cracking the Complexity: Teleport CEO Pushes Identity-First Security
In this on-the-road episode of The New Stack Makers, Editor in Chief Heather Joslyn speaks with Ev Kontsevoy, CEO and co-founder of Teleport, from the floor of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe in London. The discussion centers on infrastructure security and the growing need for robust identity management. Citing alarming cybersecurity statistics—such as the $5 million average cost of a breach and rising attack frequency—Kontsevoy stresses that complexity is the root challenge in securing infrastructure. Today’s environments involve countless layers and technologies, each with its own identity and access controls, increasing the risk of human error and breaches. Kontsevoy argues for treating all entities—humans, laptops, servers, AI agents—as identities managed under a unified framework. Teleport provides a zero trust access platform that enforces strong, cryptographically-backed identity across systems. He also highlights Teleport’s version 17 release, which boosts support for non-human identities and integrates deeply with AWS. Looking ahead, Teleport is exploring support for emerging AI agent protocols like MCP to extend its identity-first approach. Learn more from The New Stack about the latest insights about Teleport: Removing the Complexity to Securely Access the Infrastructure Why AI Can’t Protect You from AI-Generated Attacks Join our community of newsletter subscribers to stay on top of the news and at the top of your game.
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No SSH? What is Talos, this Linux Distro for Kubernetes?
Container-based Linux distributions are gaining traction, especially for edge deployments that demand lightweight and secure operating systems. Talos Linux, developed by Sidero Labs, is purpose-built for Kubernetes with security-first features like a fully immutable file system and disabled SSH access. In a demo, Sidero CTO Andrew Rynhard and Head of Product Justin Garrison explained Talos’s design philosophy, highlighting its minimalism and focus on automation. Inspired by CoreOS, Talos removes traditional tools like systemd and Bash, replacing them with machineD, a custom process manager written in Go.Talos emphasizes API-driven management rather than SSH, making Kubernetes cluster operations more scalable and consistent. Its design supports cloud, bare metal, Docker, and edge devices like Raspberry Pi. Kernel immutability is reinforced by ephemeral signing keys. Through Sidero's Omni SaaS, Talos nodes connect securely via WireGuard. The operating system handles all certificates and network connectivity internally, streamlining security and deployment. As Garrison notes, Talos delivers a portable API for “big iron, small iron—no matter what.”Learn more from The New Stack about Sidero Labs: Is Cluster API Really the Future of Kubernetes Deployment? Choosing a Linux Distribution Join our community of newsletter subscribers to stay on top of the news and at the top of your game. https://thenewstack.io/newsletter/
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Aptori Is Building an Agentic AI Security Engineer
AI agents hold the promise of continuously testing, scanning, and fixing code for security vulnerabilities, but we're still progressing toward that vision. Startups like Aptori are helping bridge the gap by building AI-powered security engineers for enterprises. Aptori maps an organization’s codebase, APIs, and cloud infrastructure in real time to understand data flows and authorization logic, allowing it to detect and eventually remediate security issues. At Google Cloud Next, Aptori CEO Sumeet Singh discussed how earlier tools merely alerted developers to issues—often overwhelming them—but newer models like Gemini 2.5 Flash and Claude Sonnet 4 are improving automated code fixes, making them more practical. Singh and co-founder Travis Newhouse previously built AppFormix, which automated OpenStack cloud operations before being acquired by Juniper Networks. Their experiences with slow release cycles due to security bottlenecks inspired Aptori’s focus. While the goal is autonomous agents, Singh emphasizes the need for transparency and deterministic elements in AI tools to ensure trust and reliability in enterprise security workflows.Learn more from The New Stack about the latest insights in AI application security: AI Is Changing Cybersecurity Fast and Most Analysts Aren’t ReadyAI Security Agents Combat AI-Generated Code RisksDevelopers Are Embracing AI To Streamline Threat Detection and Stay AheadJoin our community of newsletter subscribers to stay on top of the news and at the top of your game.
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The AI Code Generation Problem Nobody's Talking About
In this episode ofThe New Stack Makers, Nitric CEO Steve Demchuk discusses how the frustration of building frontend apps within rigid FinTech environments led to the creation of the Nitric framework — a tool designed to eliminate the friction between developers and cloud infrastructure. Unlike traditional Infrastructure as Code (IaC), where developers must manage both app logic and infrastructure definitions separately, Nitric introduces “Infrastructure from Code.” This approach allows developers to focus solely on application logic while the platform infers and automates infrastructure needs using SDKs and CLI tools across multiple languages and cloud providers.Demchuk emphasizes that Nitric doesn't remove platform team control but enforces it consistently. Guardrails defined by platform teams guide infrastructure provisioning, ensuring security and compliance — even as developers use AI tools to rapidly generate code. The result is a streamlined workflow where developers move faster, AI enhances productivity, and platform teams retain oversight. This episode offers engineering leaders insight into a paradigm shift in how cloud infrastructure is managed in the AI era.Learn more from The New Stack about the latest insights about Nitric: Building a Serverless Meme Generator With Nitric and OpenAIWhy Most Companies Are Struggling With Infrastructure as Code Join our community of newsletter subscribers to stay on top of the news and at the top of your game.
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