Angie Jones is a veteran innovator, educator, and inventor with over twenty years of industry experience and twenty-seven digital technology patents both domestically and internationally.
As the VP of Developer Relations at Block, she facilitates developer training and enablement, delivering tools for developer users and open source contributors. However, her educational work doesn’t end with her day job. She is also a contributor to multiple books examining the intersection of technology and career, including DevOps: Implementing Cultural Change, and 97 Things Every Java Programmer Should Know, and is an active speaker in the global developer conference circuit.
With the release of Block’s new open source AI agent “goose”, Angie drives conversations around AI’s role in developer productivity, ethical practices, and the application of intelligent tooling. We had the chance to talk with her about the evolution of DevRel, what makes a great leader, emergent data governance practices, women who are crushing it right now in the industry, and more:
Developer Advocacy is Mainstream
A decade ago, Developer Relations (DevRel) wasn’t the established field it is today. It was often called Developer Evangelism, and fewer companies saw the value in having engineers speak directly to other engineers.
“Developer Relations was more of a niche space. It’s become much more mainstream these days with pretty much every developer-focused company realizing that the best way to reach developers is with their peers.”
That shift has opened up more opportunities for engineers who enjoy teaching, community-building, and breaking down complex technical concepts. But because DevRel straddles multiple functions, its place within an organization remains up for debate—should it sit within Engineering, Product, Marketing, or even its own department? There’s no single answer, but its cross-functional nature makes it a crucial bridge between technical teams and the developers they serve.
Leadership Is Not an Extension of Engineering Excellence
Most engineers assume that excelling as an IC is enough to prepare them for leadership, but Angie warns that this is a common misconception.
She’s seen firsthand how technical skills don’t always equate to strong leadership abilities—we’ve all worked under leaders who made us wonder how they got there. When she was promoted into leadership, Angie was determined not to become one of those leaders:
“This required humility. Acknowledging that while I was an expert in one area, I was a novice in another.”
Instead of assuming leadership would come naturally, she took a deliberate approach to learning—taking courses, reading books, and working with executive coaches to build leadership skills the right way.
Goose: An Open Source AI Assistant That Works for You
At Block, Angie is working on a tool called goose, an open-source AI agent that runs locally on your machine. Unlike many AI assistants that are locked into specific platforms, goose is designed to be fully customizable:
“You can use your LLM of choice and integrate it with any API through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).”
That flexibility means goose can be tailored to fit developers’ workflows. Angie gives an example of what this looks like in action:
“Goose, take this Figma file and build out all of the components for it. Check them into a new GitHub repo called @org/design-components and send a message to the #design channel in Slack informing them of the changes.”
And just like that, it’s done— no manual intervention required.
The Future of Data Governance
As AI adoption accelerates, data governance has become a top priority for companies. Strong governance requires clear policies, security measures, and accountability. Angie points out that organizations are already making moves in this space:
“Cisco recently launched a product called AI Defense to help organizations enhance their data governance frameworks and ensure that AI deployments align with established data policies and compliance requirements.”
According to Angie, in the next five years, we can expect more structured frameworks around AI data usage, especially as businesses navigate privacy concerns and regulatory compliance.
Bias in AI Career Tools: Helping or Hurting?
AI-powered resume screeners and promotion predictors are becoming more common in hiring, but are they helping or hurting underrepresented groups? Angie’s own experience with AI bias was eye-opening:
“I use ChatGPT every day. It knows me pretty well. I asked it to draw a picture of what it thinks my current life looks like, and it drew me as a white male (with a man bun).”
When she called it out, the AI responded:
“No, I don’t picture you that way at all, but it sounds like the illustration might’ve leaned into the tech stereotype aesthetic a little too much.”
This illustrates a bigger problem— AI often reflects human biases at scale. However, there are emerging solutions, such as identity masking, which removes names, race, and gender markers so that only skills are evaluated.
“In scenarios like this, minorities are given a fairer shot.”
It’s a step toward a more equitable hiring process, but it also surfaces the need for constant vigilance in AI development to prevent harmful biases.
Women at the Forefront of AI Innovation
While AI is reshaping nearly every industry, women are playing a leading role in its development. Angie highlights several technologists:
“I’m so proud to see women are already at the forefront of AI innovation. I see amazing women leading AI research, training, and development such as Mira Murati, Timnit Gebru, Joelle Pineau, Meredith Whittaker, and even Block’s own VP of Data & AI, Jackie Brosamer.”
These women are influencing not just the technical advancements in AI but also the ethical considerations that come with it.
Connect with Angie
Angie Jones is an undeniable pillar of the online JavaScript community, and it isn’t hard to connect with her!
You can find Angie on X (Twitter), Linkedin, or on her personal site (where you can also access her free Linkedin Courses).
Learn more about goose by Block.
