Ram Iyengar

Chief Evangelist

Cloud Foundry Foundation

The successes (and mistakes™) of my past ~nearly years in DevRel, spanning startups, large enterprises, open source, and other environments, give me a unique perspective. This diverse experience has allowed me to develop strong opinions and challenge the common belief that a deep technical background is essential for success in DevRel. I’ve built and managed DevRel teams, hiring, firing, and mentoring people along the way. This hands-on experience means I can share real-world examples of DevRel professionals who’ve thrived in unconventional ways.

Can DevRel Be Your First Role?

There are many debates around DevRel ― metrics, pay, org placement, how much travel, how much to write, etc. I have rather fluid opinions about these. There is one thing, which I am quite opinionated about, and that is what kind of experience a person must possess in order to succeed in a DevRel job.


This session promises to be a provocative exploration of whether a number of years of experience is required for breaking into DevRel. Is deep technical background truly essential for building thriving developer communities? In this talk I aim to challenge conventional wisdom, exploring whether individuals without an extensive coding background can successfully launch their careers in Developer Relations. We will delve into the essential skills for DevRel success, examining the balance between technical acumen and interpersonal abilities, and discussing the potential benefits and drawbacks of hiring in experienced and non-engineer DevRel professionals.

Other DevRelCon Bengaluru speakers

Karan MV

Scaling DevRel internationally: An overview

Director, International Developer Relations

GitHub

Siddhant Agarwal

Engaging India’s Developer Ecosystem: Strategies for Global DevRel Teams

Developer Relations Lead - APAC

Neo4j

Megha Arora

Driving Business Impact with Gen AI in Developer Relations

Founder and CEO

DevRelSquad

Juhi Singh

How DevRel Contributes to Business Success

Developer Advocate

Kong

Cherish Santoshi

Localizing DevRel: How India’s Unique Ecosystem Demands Distinct Strategies

Board Member

DevNetwork

Jyoti Bisht

From Snooze to Woo-Hoo: Gamifying Documentation to Keep Developers Awake

DevRel Engineer

Harness

Animesh Pathak

SEO for DevRel, and the Impact It Creates on the Business

DevRel Engineer

Keploy

Harshita Jain

Navigating DevRel with a Game Developer’s Playbook

Software Development Engineer - 1

Mobile Premier League

Atsushi Nakatsugawa

Sponsor Talk

CEO

MOONGIFT

Harshil Agrawal

Panel: DevRel for Startups: GTM, Growth and Beyond

Developer Educator

Cloudflare

Kunal Kushwaha

Panel: The Role of DevRel in Business Impact

Field CTO

Civo

Atulpriya Sharma

Panel: Developer Journey Mapping: Personalization and Feedback Loops

Sr. Developer Advocate

InfraCloud Technologies

Abhishek Mishra

Panel: Developer Advocacy: The Foundations and Beyond

DevRel Engineer

Tune AI

Siddharth Dayalwal

Panel: Career Growth and Mental Health in DevRel

Developer Community Specialist

Storyblok

Saurav Jain

Panel: DevRel for Startups: GTM, Growth and Beyond

Developer Community Manager

Apify

Vedant Khairnar

Panel: DevRel and Open Source: Growth Strategies and Digital Public Goods

Senior Developer Advocate

CodeForGovTech (Samagra Governance)

Pritesh Kiri

Panel: Building Communities that Last

Developer Advocate

ToolJet

Shivay Lamba

Panel: The Role of DevRel in Business Impact

Developer Relations Engineer

Couchbase

Saif Ali Shaik

Panel: Developer Advocacy: The Foundations and Beyond

Lead Developer Advocate

Scalekit

Khalid Khan

Panel: DevRel for Startups: GTM, Growth and Beyond

Technical Program Manger

OLA

Ankireddy Polu

Panel: Technical Insights into DevRel: Building Tools and Platforms

Director of Engineering

Contentstack

Subhra Sekhar Garai

Panel: Building Communities that Last

Founder

Hashag

Pratik Pathak

Panel: DevRel and Open Source: Growth Strategies and Digital Public Goods

Microsoft Certified Trainer

Microsoft

Amitesh Mani Tiwari

Panel: Technical Insights into DevRel: Building Tools and Platforms

Software Engineer(iOS Team)

Angelone

Utkarsh Umre

Panel: Building Communities that Last

Open source contributor/member

Glasskube

Joinal Ahmed

Panel: DevRel in the age of AI

AI & Cloud Architect

Navatech Group

Saqib Subhan

Panel: DevRel in the age of AI

Sr Manager - Database Administration

Contentstack

Aadyaa Srivastava

Panel: Technical Insights into DevRel: Building Tools and Platforms

Data Analytics

Google

The global DevRelCon series is brought to you by Hoopy.

Talk to us about developer relations training, strategy, research, and execution support for your team.

hoopy.io

[email protected]