Casey West
About Casey West, a technologist defining the engineering playbook for the era of agentic AI and autonomous systems.
As a Lead Developer Advocate at Google Cloud, my work is centered on pioneering the engineering practices for the autonomous systems that are reshaping our industry. I focus on what it takes to build and govern these new applications—from the foundational code and decoupled architectures to the forward-thinking engineering cultures that make them thrive.
With a career spanning over 25 years in internet infrastructure, application platforms, and information security, I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of technology and the people who build it. This journey has led me from early open-source contributions with Perl—some of which still ship with macOS today—to pioneering roles at Pivotal, WhiteHat Security, and Socialtext. My experience has solidified my belief that the most resilient systems are built by empowered, productive, and happy teams. I’ve come to see myself as a “paranoid, UX-oriented, problem-solving Internet plumber,” dedicated to crafting solutions that are not just scalable and maintainable, but also a pleasure to use and operate.
Today, my focus is on the principles outlined in The Agentic Manifesto—a new operating model for a world of non-deterministic, autonomous AI. I’m passionate about sharing what it takes to engineer in this new paradigm: from building scalable, polyglot tool ecosystems with standardized protocols to fostering the development practices that prioritize emergent behavior, continuous tuning, and automated governance.
As an international speaker and writer, I frequently share my insights on modern architecture, DevOps, and the cultural shifts required for this new wave of technology. You can find me exploring these topics at conferences like KubeCon, OSCON, and QCon, or right here on this blog.
Beyond my professional life, I live in Pittsburgh with my wife and family.
For a detailed look at my professional background, my resume is available here.