Werner Vogels predicts the future (Interview)

The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

Amazon CTO, Werner Vogels, stops by to help us explore his tech predictions for 2026 and beyond. Will companionship be redefined by consumer robots? Will quantum-safe become the only safe worth talking about? Is this the dawn of the renaissance developer? We’re infinitely curious why Werner came to this particular set of conclusions. Are you?

Join the discussion

Changelog++ members save 6 minutes on this episode because they made the ads disappear. Join today!

Sponsors:

• Tiger Data – Postgres for Developers, devices, and agents The data platform trusted by hundreds of thousands from IoT to Web3 to AI and more.
• Namespace – Speed up your development and testing workflows using your existing tools. (Much) faster GitHub actions, Docker builds, and more. At an unbeatable price.
• Notion – Notion is a place where any team can write, plan, organize, and rediscover the joy of play. It’s a workspace designed not just for making progress, but getting inspired. Notion is for everyone — whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or freelance designer, starting a new startup or a student juggling classes and clubs.
• NordLayer – Protect your business with NordLayer, the toggle-ready network security platform built for modern teams. VPN, access control, and threat protection—no hardware or complex setup required. Get 28% off NordLayer yearly plans this Black Friday with code changelog-28 at nordlayer.com/thechangelog

Featuring:

• Werner Vogels – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Bluesky, X
• Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
• Jerod Santo – GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X

Show Notes:

• NoSQL Smackdown! (#18)
• Tech predictions for 2026 and beyond
• Jim Gray (computer scientist)
• Leave us a state of the “log” voicemail!

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!

Luvut

1. Welcome to The Changelog (00:00:00)

2. Sponsor: Tiger Data (00:01:11)

https://www.tigerdata.com

3. Start the show! (00:02:50)

4. Being Amazon CTO (00:04:00)

5. Why predict the future (00:10:19)

6. Companionship redefined (00:14:53)

7. Sponsor: Namespace (00:27:12)

https://namespace.so

8. Quantum-safe (00:28:54)

9. Much ado about quantum (00:39:08)

10. Props to S3 (00:43:08)

11. Remain curious (00:47:21)

12. Sponsor: Notion (01:00:29)

http://notion.com/changelog

13. Sponsor: NordLayer (01:02:01)

https://nordlayer.com/thechangelog

14. The renaissance dev (01:03:32)

15. On code review (01:19:45)

16. Take it slow (01:23:47)

17. Bonus prediction (01:26:27)

18. Wrapping up (01:28:15)

19. Closing thoughts (sotl!) (01:29:00)

https://changelog.fm/sotl