Podcast #16 - Beppe Catanese - Adyen Payments

A Journey Through Developer Relations
Beppe's career journey is a compelling story of technical expertise meeting community engagement. Having worked in the UK and the Netherlands, his transition into developer relations at Adyen was a natural progression. His experience in open-source communities was crucial in shaping his approach to developer relations, making him a valuable asset in his current role.

The Impact of Tooling on APIs
One of the key highlights from our conversation was Beppe’s insights on tooling and its transformative impact on API usage. According to Beppe, tooling has revolutionized how developers interact with APIs, thanks to automation and scaling capabilities. Tools for code scaffolding, frameworks, and integration have significantly accelerated the development process, making building and managing APIs easier than ever.

Adyen’s Approach to Developer Experience
Adyen’s approach to enhancing developer experience is both meticulous and innovative. Beppe shared how Adyen focuses on API governance, leveraging OpenAPI to ensure high standards. The company employs an API review group and style guides to maintain consistency. Additionally, Adyen auto-generates SDKs from OpenAPI specs and contributes to the open-source community by sharing some of these SDKs.

Navigating OpenAPI Definition Changes
Managing changes in OpenAPI definitions is a complex task, but Adyen’s strategy is well-thought-out. Beppe explained their use of both design-first and code-first approaches, incorporating tools like Stoplight for design and code annotations for spec generation. This dual strategy, along with rigorous validation, helps ensure that their API definitions remain accurate and aligned.

Measuring Developer Experience
Adyen employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative metrics to assess the effectiveness of its developer experience initiatives. Beppe highlighted its use of NPS scores, SDK adoption rates, usage volume, time to first API call, and support ticket analysis to gauge and refine its developer experience.

Contributing to OpenAPI Generator
Beppe’s involvement with the OpenAPI Generator is particularly noteworthy. His contributions stemmed from addressing specific needs at Adyen, leading to valuable fixes that benefit the wider community. This experience underscores the importance of individual contributions in driving progress within the open-source ecosystem.

The Vision for OpenAPI Workflows
Lastly, we discussed the exciting developments surrounding OpenAPI Workflows. This initiative aims to create a machine-readable specification for complex workflows involving multiple API operations. Beppe is optimistic about how it will improve documentation, enable selective SDK generation, and introduce runtime testing. The working group is making significant progress, promising a bright future for API management.

Conclusion
Our conversation with Beppe Catanese provided deep insights into the world of developer relations and experience. From the impact of tooling to Adyen’s strategic approaches and the future of OpenAPI workflows, Beppe’s expertise sheds light on the dynamic and ever-evolving field of API development. Be sure to listen to the full podcast episode for more detailed insights and expert perspectives.

In our latest podcast episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Beppe Catanese, a seasoned professional in developer relations and experience at Adyen. Beppe’s extensive computer science and web development background, coupled with his active involvement in open-source communities, provides a rich perspective on the evolving landscape of API development and developer experience.