EP. 230 Driving Innovation with MongoDB and Google Cloud

Peter Ulnder, MongoDB's Chief Marketing Officer, and Steve Norbin from Google Cloud discuss their partnership focused on enhancing developer experiences and innovation. They highlight the integration of MongoDB with Google's services like Vertex AI and Gemini code assist, which streamline developer tasks and improve application modernization. This collaboration enables developers to leverage MongoDB's capabilities within Google's ecosystem, fostering a seamless user experience. They emphasize the importance of making developers' lives easier and encourage continued innovation through their integrated tools, inviting developers to engage and explore these advancements.

• MongoDB TV Live is being broadcast from New York City at the Javits Center during MongoDB Local.
• The host introduces Peter Ulnder, the Chief Marketing Officer at MongoDB, and his special guest, Steve Norbin from Google.

"And we're back. Welcome back to MongoDB TV Live here in New York City at the Javits Center, MongoDB Local. We have another amazing guest. We have Peter Ulnder here, the chief marketing officer at MongoDB."

• The podcast sets the stage for a discussion on partnerships and collaborations between MongoDB and Google.

• Steve Norbin is responsible for the ISV ecosystem at Google Cloud, managing partnerships with tech and business application companies, data providers, and overseeing the marketplace business and migration programs.

"Steven Norbin. I look after the ISV ecosystem, so I run all of the partnerships with tech and business application companies, data providers at Google Cloud as well as the marketplace business. And I also look after our migration programs."

• The introduction highlights Steve's role in fostering collaborations and his significance in the partnership between Google and MongoDB.

• From the beginning, MongoDB recognized the need for partnerships to assist customers in transforming and modernizing their application estates.
• MongoDB collaborates with companies like Google to provide a wide range of technology services, including compute, networking, storage, analytics, and AI, to meet the diverse needs of customers.

"From the very beginning of MongoDB, we knew that if we were going to help our customers transform and modernize their application estate, we weren't going to be able to do it on our own."

• The collaboration aims to meet customers' demands for various tools and services necessary for application transformation and modernization.

"We have hundreds of different technology services from compute, networking, storage, analytics, AI. But, you know, customers have a large appetite when they're transforming and they need lots of different tools to help them do that."

• This partnership is essential for both companies to effectively address the comprehensive needs of their customers in the digital transformation journey.

• The partnership between MongoDB and Google Cloud focuses on enhancing developer experiences by integrating their products.
• MongoDB's journey to the cloud began eight years ago, transitioning from on-premises solutions to the Atlas cloud solution.
• The move to the cloud was not just about transferring existing services but leveraging cloud capabilities to meet customer demands securely and efficiently.
• Collaboration with Google Cloud allows MongoDB to integrate cutting-edge technology, such as GenAI, to enhance its offerings.

"One of my favorite things about the partnership with Mongo is we share a love and affinity to help make developers' lives easier."

• The partnership is driven by a shared goal of simplifying and improving the tools available to developers.

"Eight years ago, we made the journey into the cloud, going from on-prem enterprise advanced to the Atlas solution."

• MongoDB's transition to the cloud was a strategic move to harness the advantages of cloud technology.

"We recognized that the advantage of moving into the hyperscalers gave access to all of the other technology, services, and capabilities that customers needed to scale securely, safely and meet their customer demands."

• The cloud offers access to a broader range of technologies and services, essential for secure and scalable customer solutions.

"Working with Google, I mean, this is a multi-year engagement we've had with Google Cloud."

• The collaboration between MongoDB and Google Cloud is a long-term partnership aimed at continuous innovation and improvement.

"We're able to take advantage of all of the innovation they're doing. On the GenAI front, both with Vertex, with Gemini just this week, is some of the things we're talking about."

• By partnering with Google Cloud, MongoDB can integrate advanced technologies such as GenAI to enhance its platform capabilities.

• The podcast emphasizes the importance of focusing on developers to drive progress and innovation.
• Making developers' lives easier is crucial for gaining market share and making a significant impact.
• Tools and platforms that enhance developers' efficiency and effectiveness are vital.

"I love that mindset is we're not just talking about customers here, we're talking about developers. And when we focus on the developers, making developers' lives easier, that is really where you gain the ground share and really make a difference."

• This quote highlights the shift in focus from end-users to developers, emphasizing the strategic importance of empowering developers to enhance overall technological advancement.

• Google is investing heavily in tools and ecosystems that support developers, such as Vertex and Gemini.
• These tools are designed to enable developers to work more efficiently and innovate rapidly.
• Collaboration with other tech companies is crucial for providing comprehensive support to developers.

"When you think about what Google is doing with Vertex, code assists they're doing with Gemini, the investments they're making in the ecosystem, all of these things are about enabling developers to move faster, really cool things."

• The quote underscores Google's commitment to creating a supportive ecosystem for developers through innovative tools and strategic investments.

• Google's AI innovations, such as the Gemini code assist, are designed to support developers directly within their working environment.
• These tools leverage large language models (LLMs) to assist developers in writing code more effectively.
• Partnerships with other companies, like Mongo, enhance the functionality and reach of these AI tools.

"We have a platform called the Gemini code assist. So developers who are using Google cloud services right in their console, they have an LLM that they can interact with to help them write their code."

• This quote highlights the integration of AI into developers' workflows, illustrating how Google's tools are designed to provide immediate, practical assistance in code development.

• MongoDB is integrating its knowledge base and tools with Google's platforms to enhance developer experience.
• The integration allows developers to use natural language queries to interact with MongoDB Atlas, simplifying complex query writing.
• MongoDB is also creating extensions for Vertex AI, enabling it to be used as a data source, facilitating seamless customer experiences.

"So that when developers want to know while they're using Google how to write this query in MongoDB Atlas, for example, they can write a natural language query to do that."

• This quote highlights the integration of MongoDB with Google tools, allowing developers to use natural language for query writing, which simplifies the process.

"We have more than 130 of them in our model garden and tweak and tune them for their own purposes."

• This statement emphasizes the flexibility and customization options available to developers using Vertex AI, with MongoDB as a data source.

• MongoDB is positioned as a memory component for AI applications, enhancing data storage and retrieval capabilities.
• This use case demonstrates MongoDB's role in supporting AI development and deployment.

"Yeah, that's one of the main use cases, using MongoDB as the memory for the AI application."

• The quote confirms MongoDB's application as a memory storage solution in AI, highlighting its utility in AI workflows.

• MongoDB encourages developers to engage actively with its tools to drive innovation.
• The company emphasizes its commitment to improving developer satisfaction and fostering a collaborative innovation environment.

"Just keep, keep pushing us to do better for you and we share a passion to make developers happy."

• This quote reflects MongoDB's dedication to continuous improvement based on developer feedback and its focus on developer happiness.

"Come, come join us on the playground. All of these tools and capabilities, I mean, it's just, that's what's going to spark the innovation and the opportunity."

• The invitation to developers to explore MongoDB's tools underscores the potential for innovation and the collaborative spirit encouraged by MongoDB.

• Innovation is portrayed as a collaborative endeavor, requiring collective participation from developers and stakeholders.
• The conversation concludes with a motivational note on the importance of group activities in sparking innovation.

"Innovation, it's a group activity. Do it."

• This succinct statement encapsulates the theme of collective effort in innovation, urging developers to participate actively.