A true titan of IT who’s been shaping the DevOps world for over a decade and a half, all while quoting Deming like it’s his personal gospel. John’s a 45-year IT veteran who’s been a cornerstone of the DevOps movement since its scrappy beginnings, co-authoring The DevOps Handbook with the likes of Gene Kim, Jez Humble, & Patrick Debois, a tome so influential it’s basically the Bible for anyone trying to bridge the gap between devs and ops.
John’s obsession with W. Edwards Deming’s principles—systems thinking, continuous improvement, and blaming the process, not the person—has been the soundtrack to his DevOps crusade. He’s preached this gospel at countless DevOpsDays events, from Atlanta to Amsterdam, and even turned it into a roast-worthy catchphrase: ‘It’s the system, stupid!’
Meanwhile, in the last few years, he’s pivoted to the Age of AI, diving headfirst into how generative AI and large language models can turbocharge DevOps and DevSecOps, demonstrating he’s still lightyears ahead of the curve.
Now, as we gather for DevOpsDays Atlanta 2025—rebranded as DemingDaysAtlanta in his honor—it’s time to give John the send-up he deserves. Expect laughs, left-handed compliments, and maybe a few jabs at his relentless Deming fandom and his newfound AI evangelism.