What was your path into Developer Relations?
My path wasn't traditional at all. I started as a pharmaceutical scientist, studying drug development and compounding. I worked for the United Nations and the International Pharmaceutical Federation for five years in The Hague, collaborating with governments worldwide on pharmaceutical services and developing master's programs.
I traveled to 47 countries as a public health consultant, advising policy makers and educational leaders. But I felt I lacked business skills to see the real applications of these policies, so I got my MBA at IE Business School with a summer semester at Berkeley.
After my MBA, I spent a year in consulting doing digital transformation with VCs and startups. Then Google approached me about machine learning and AI—which were niche fields back then. They said, "You understand how the brain works. Would you be interested in this field called machine learning?"
My experience building expert communities—working with high-level policymakers and stakeholders—translated perfectly to working with researcher and developer communities. That's how I found my way into Developer Relations.
How has your role evolved at Google over the past 6.5 years?
Three major things have changed dramatically:
First, the product portfolio exploded. I started on the TensorFlow Developer Relations team, and now I cover Gemini, Gem Open Models, robotics, GenMedia, and Google AI Studio—a prototyping environment for building with our models.
Second, the pace of development accelerated incredibly. We have to stay competitive in a market with so many players launching AI solutions. Teams must be flexible enough to adjust and innovate rapidly in response to market trends.
Third, the audience shifted. The only constant is change in AI. What we know today might change in two weeks. We're building a new industry, which is both exciting and scary. We're creating new baselines every single day.
What does a typical day look like for you, and what's your biggest challenge?
Honestly, I don't have a typical day. Everything changes so rapidly that we might agree on a strategy in the morning and have to pivot by afternoon when capabilities shift.
Developer Relations sits at the intersection of product, engineering, research, marketing, UX, and support. We're the connecting glue between all these organizations, handling both inbound and outbound strategies.
Some days focus more on development, others on go-to-market or community building. My team serves as "customer zero" for research teams, testing everything before release. We ensure the developer experience is polished with samples, tutorials, and examples.
The biggest challenges? Keeping everyone aligned when priorities differ across teams, managing limited data to make decisions, and maintaining focus with such a wide product portfolio. Plus, handling user escalations on social media in a scalable way while balancing different community voices.
What advice do you have for people considering Developer Relations?
There's no traditional path since Developer Relations touches so many surfaces. People join from various backgrounds—I came from pharmaceutical sciences, while others come from computer science, data science, or even journalism.
Key traits for success:
Passion for education—you'll be teaching developers how to use technologies
Strong technical background for high-level discussions
Flexibility for travel and meeting community members
Creativity for building demos and go-to-market strategies
Growth mindset since change is the only constant
You don't need to come from a specific profile. As long as you have these traits and a passion for problem-solving, you can make it work.
What's your favorite clothing brand?
For conferences, I love Valentino suits—there's nothing like a power suit. For day-to-day office wear, Maje and Sandro (French brands) offer professional, elegant pieces. I also rely on Zara—as a European, I have to love European brands! These four probably make up most of my wardrobe.
Will Developer Relations become less important with AI writing more code?
The role will evolve, not disappear. When we introduced calculators, math didn't go away—it changed. With AI and coding tools, software engineering will evolve, and so will Developer Relations.
We're seeing the advent of "vibe coding" where the barrier to entry is decreasing. More people are building applications without traditional coding. This means our focus might shift from developers to builders, students, or professionals in different industries using AI for specific applications.
The core function—advocating for the end user—won't go away. There will always be someone with a pain point we need to solve. Our day-to-day might change, content formats will evolve, but helping people use technology effectively will remain essential.