Beyond the Hype: A Pragmatic Look at How Developers Actually Use AI

PyCon 2026 Long Beach, AI Track. May 15, 2026.

AI tooling is evolving faster than most teams can evaluate it, leaving developers caught between real productivity gains, constant change, and growing fatigue. Five practitioners — spanning open-source, data science, developer relations, and production engineering — share what actually works, what they've abandoned, and how they decide what's worth learning next. Attendees will leave with workflow patterns worth stealing, a sharper sense of which tools deserve their attention, and honest advice for developers at any career stage.

Panelists
Catherine Nelson: Author, Data Scientist, Stealth
Jelle Zijlstra: Python Core Team, OpenAI
Jodie Burchell: Data Scientist and ML Expert, JetBrains
Laís Carvalho: Growth Marketing and Developer Relations at Pydantic
Maike Scherer: Lead Data Scientist, American Airlines

Moderator
Carol WIlling

Transcript

1. hello@domain.com A pragmatic look at how developers use AI tools Beyond the Hype Catherine Nelson | Jelle Zijlstra | Jodie Burchell | Laís Carvalho | Maike Scherer Moderator: Carol Willing
2. Meet the panelists Catherine Nelson: Author, Data Scientist, Stealth Jelle Zijlstra: Python Core Team, OpenAI Jodie Burchell: Data Scientist and ML Expert, JetBrains Laís Carvalho: Growth Marketing and Developer Relations at Pydantic Maike Scherer: Lead Data Scientist, American Airlines
3. 1 2 3 AI tools S E G M E N T 1 Pragmatic workflows S E G M E N T 2 Dealing with change S E G M E N T 3 Focus and fatigue 4 S E G M E N T 4 Recommendations
4. Thank You Catherine Nelson | Jelle Zijlstra | Jodie Burchell | Laís Carvalho | Maike Scherer Moderator: Carol Willing