APIs as Graphs not Endpoints, building a company on open source foundations, why VPs of Engineering face impossible trade-offs | Apollo GraphQL CEO Matt DeBergalis

### About the episode: Join Nataraj as he interviews Matt DeBergalis, CEO of Apollo GraphQL, about the evolution of GraphQL from an open-source project to a product company. Matt shares insights on building and scaling APIs, the challenges of transitioning open-source tech into a viable business, and how AI is reshaping API development. Discover how Apollo is helping companies of all sizes leverage GraphQL to build agentic experiences and modernize their API strategies. ### What you’ll learn - Understand the journey of GraphQL from open source to a product-driven company. - Explore the challenges of adopting and scaling GraphQL in enterprise environments. - Discover how GraphQL simplifies complex data combinations with its declarative language. - Learn how Apollo GraphQL helps companies accelerate the development of robust APIs. - Examine the role of GraphQL in building modern agentic experiences powered by AI. - Understand how to balance short-term shipping pressures with long-term architectural considerations. - Identify when GraphQL makes sense for a company based on its API size and consumption needs. - Discover how AI is driving increased API consumption and transforming user interfaces. ### About the Guest and Host: Guest Name: Matt DeBergalis is the Co-founder and CEO of Apollo GraphQL, previously CTO and Co-founder at Meteor Development Group. Connect with Guest: → LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debergalis/ → Website: https://www.apollographql.com/ Nataraj: Host of the Startup Project podcast, Senior PM at Azure & Investor. → LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natarajsindam/ → Twitter: https://x.com/natarajsindam → Substack: ⁠https://startupproject.substack.com/⁠ → Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://thestartupproject.io⁠⁠⁠ ### In this episode, we cover (00:01) Introduction to Matt DeBergalis and Apollo GraphQL (00:37) Matt's journey and the origins of Apollo GraphQL (03:24) The transition from open source to a company (05:02) GraphQL as a client-focused API technology (07:22) Meta's approach to open source technologies (10:11) Challenges of converting open source to a business (13:11) Balancing shipping speed with architectural considerations (15:52) The risk of adopting the wrong technology (19:13) The evolution of full-stack development (23:57) When does adopting GraphQL make sense? (26:45) Apollo's customer scale and focus (31:48) Acquiring customers and marketing to developers (33:52) Matt's transition from CTO to CEO (37:02) Apollo's sales motion and target audience (40:24) Matt's thoughts on AI and its impact (47:12) How AI is changing business metrics Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review/comment on YouTube Apple Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. #GraphQL #ApolloGraphQL #API #OpenSource #Enterprise #AI #AgenticAI #APIDevelopment #Startup #Technology #SoftwareDevelopment #GraphQLAdoption #Kubernetes #React #FullStack #DataAnalytics #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #TechStrategy #Podcast