### 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
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