In this episode of the Modern Web Podcast, Rob Ocel and Danny Thompson talk with Philipp Krenn, Head of Developer Advocacy at Elastic, about how Elasticsearch has evolved from a search engine into a foundation for observability, security, and AI-powered systems. Philipp explains how Elastic approaches information retrieval beyond just vector search, using tools like LLMs for smarter querying, log parsing, and context-aware data access.

They also discuss how Elastic balances innovation with stability through regular releases and a focus on long-term reliability. For teams building with AI, Elastic offers a way to handle search, monitoring, and logging in one platform, making it easier to ship faster without adding complexity.

Key points from this episode:

• Elasticsearch has expanded beyond search to support observability and security by treating all of them as information retrieval problems.

• Elastic integrates with AI tools like LLMs to improve search relevance, automate log parsing, and enable features like query rewriting and retrieval-augmented generation.

• Vector search is just one feature in a larger toolkit for finding relevant data, and Elastic supports hybrid and traditional search approaches.

• Elastic maintains a steady release cadence with a focus on stability, making it a reliable choice for both fast-moving AI projects and long-term production systems.

Philipp Krenn on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippkrenn/

Rob Ocel on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robocel/

Danny Thompson on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dthompsondev/

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