The state of DX and Community is one of my favourite topics to discuss… You can tell I’m fun at parties! 😉

There have been many waves of “it’s so over” and “we are so back” in this space. Right now, I feel we are firmly in the “we are so back” era.

Here is why. Every AI model and tool is starting to look exactly the same, even non-AI tools are starting to look the same (I love you Linear 🫶). With features or whole businesses able to be cloned in seconds, it begs the question: what can you do to stand out?

The most durable differentiator left is community.

As I said before, and will probably say for the rest of time, it is always about the people.

Community team photo at last week's offsite
Offsite in Arizona 🇺🇸

In this landscape, developers choose your product because they trust the humans advocating for it. They use it because the people behind it are kind and have good judgment.

Quite frankly, they use it because they like you. There are countless examples where I see someone I truly respect and like tweet about something I’ve never heard of before, and the next thing I know, I’m trying it out. It’s wild how far that goes.

We are realising that community again, and the sense of belonging it creates in today’s world, is the only real moat.

Nobody cares what you built if:

  1. They don’t know who you are.
  2. They don't believe you actually care about them.

The answer to all this noise is human connection.

#Finding the unicorn

I recently hired Maya to my Community team at Vercel. Although she’s only been here for 90 days and this is her first official DX/Community gig, she’s hit the ground running and truly made her mark.

Maya at Skills Night in London
Maya at Skills Night in London

As I was drafting my feedback for her, I realised why I struggle to hire for this type of role. It really is a unicorn you have to find in a sea of noise or grifters.

But watching her work helped me clearly see the pattern. The reason people like Maya thrive in today’s world is that they are authentic, eager, and operate with these core traits:

#0. Care a lot

This is the "Level 0" requirement.

You can't train someone to be deeply invested in another person's success. If they don't care about the user, the product, and the craft, the rest of the list doesn't matter.

You can’t coach heart.

#1. The "Builder Mentality"

Note: I’ve been seeing this phrasing in job descriptions recently, and I love it.

  • They don’t just discuss ideas, they are biased to build and ship. They understand the product lifecycle: build it, make it work, iterate, and scale.
  • When roadblocks appear, they don't stall. They are resourceful enough to navigate around obstacles to get the job done. They will always find a way.
  • Instead of complaining about how things are, they focus their energy on improving whatever is within their circle of influence and they are constantly trying to expand it.
  • They thrive in ambiguity. When there is no playbook or roadmap, they are the ones who start writing it.
  • They have a history of tangible output. Even better when it’s in public (another PSA: carve out your online spaces outside of social media).
Maya shipping her rebrand.

#2. Technical curiosity

  • They have the foundational hard skills required to execute. Now with AI, there is no excuse.
  • They are inherently curious and fast learners. In a space where paradigms shift weekly (like the current AI landscape), they enjoy diving into uncharted territory and becoming experts alongside their peers.
  • In a fast-paced environment, they can pivot their technical approach as the project or market demands.
Jacob dogfooding our own tools.

#3. High-empathy collaboration

  • They are genuinely kind and care about their colleagues, not just the outputs produced.
  • They understand that software is a team sport and focus on fostering a supportive environment where everyone can succeed. It’s never “this is my thing”.
  • They have an intuitive grasp of the developer experience and care deeply about making tools (or experiences) that people actually enjoy using.
Anshuman leading with team spirit.

#4. The Community/Advocacy Spark

  • They can take highly complex, bleeding-edge tech and make it accessible, exciting, and practical for the everyday developer. Whether through organised meetups or online advocacy, they know how to get people genuinely hyped about that thing.
  • They thrive on the “learn one, do one, teach one” philosophy. They love elevating the entire team and the community’s skill level through shared knowledge.
  • They understand that community isn’t just vanity metrics. True community is about who else in the space you elevated because of your work. It is about building people up, giving them career opportunities, and making them feel like they are on the rocket ship with you.
  • A great hire doesn't just want to be the smartest person in the room. They want to highlight the community, actively help them level up, and create that vital sense of belonging we are all looking for.
Amy consistently spotlighting the community.

As I’m writing this, I realise this is also the list I will continue to compare myself to. It's the standard I want to keep myself up to.

In the world of DX, the moment you stop building and stop caring is the moment you forget the ROI of human connection.

That connection is exactly what makes this work so special, and your only real moat.

As I said in my talk, “Is there space for AI in Communities?”:

Use AI for speed and scale, but build with heart.

I hope this helps if you’re hiring!