In this episode, Michael and Ben speak with Mark Fussell, CEO of Diagrid, about Dapr, a runtime for building distributed applications. Mark shares insights on the challenges of microservices development, the importance of durable workflows, and the actor model. The conversation also touches on API design, the future of AI in software engineering, and how Dapr can accelerate development processes. Mark emphasizes the need for best practices in the rapidly evolving AI landscape and how Dapr aims to provide a robust solution for developers.