Guerilla InnerSource in enterprises, during the AI hype

Many developers want to foster collaboration, knowledge sharing, and developer productivity—especially when those developers are their own colleagues. But do their companies really care? Despite the endless DevOps and developer productivity slidedecks, not everyone has a strategy beyond "let's form another task force" or "let's have another weekly meeting" from management. Can a single engineer actually introduce InnerSource and change how work gets done in a big enterprise? Maybe! Can they burnout in the process? Well, let's talk...

We'll discuss introducing an open collaboration culture, also known as InnerSource, into rigid corporate structures that aren't willing to change. The ongoing AI hype can be a great leverage—an excuse to form internal guilds, secure funding, and get executive attention for collaboration and productivity initiatives. How to get started without a budget or official blessing from higher ups? How to find allies and not burn too many bridges? And how to show impact when everyone's obsessed with KPIs?

Transcript

1. Guerilla InnerSource in Enterprises …during the AI hype Oleg Nenashev, Independent
2. Are you happy about your [former] org culture?
4. Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions to promote a product or service culture investopedia.com/terms/g/ guerrilla-marketing.asp
5. Today • Books • Beavers • Gorillas and Guerillas • InnerSource Vestibulum DevOps congue Inner Source Vestibulum congue Agile Developer Vestibulum Experience & congue Productivity
6. Outline • DevOps & InnerSource 101 • Initiating the changes in your company, and why AI? • What to do next? Disclaimer: I don’t represent any employer or a client; I’m not talking about any my past or current companies or clients; Any resemblance is entirely coincidental speakerdeck.com/onenashev
7. Dr. Oleg Nenashev Dr. Nenashev / Mr. Jenkins Serial Community Builder Developer Tools Developer / Maintainer Tools & DevRel consultant @oleg_nenashev oleg-nenashev Neuchâtel, Switzerland
8. My Open Communities Time * Once a contributor, [almost] always a contributor
9. > whoami –suisse-romande Silicon Chalet Ambassador Cloud Native Suisse Romande API Neuchâtel (RIP, Silicon Neuchalet?)
10. Have you adopted DevOps?
11. About You Do you REGULARLY improve… • Your own productivity?
12. About You Do you REGULARLY improve… • Your own productivity? • Your team’s productivity?
13. About You Do you REGULARLY improve… • Your own productivity? • Your team’s productivity? • Your company’s productivity?
15. Have you read it?
16. Have you read it? A senior developer joins a rebellious movement to revolutionize software development culture at Parts Unlimited, fighting bureaucracy while racing to innovate, deliver products and save the company - AI Summary
17. The Rebellion DevOps / DevEx Collaboration Community * same, but HR friendly
18. My Open [and not so] Communities • Automation Guilds • Internal Services & Shared Documentation • Cross-University collaborations • Industry and Academia Partnerships Time * Once a contributor, [almost] always a contributor
19. Open Source Collaboration Principles
20. Popular Synonyms in Organizations • Slack Channel • Guild • Community of Practice (CoP) • Interest Group • <Something> Council • // Your Options?
21. Internal Community is a foundation for InnerSource
22. Vestibulum congue DevOps Inner Source Vestibulum congue Agile Developer Vestibulum Experience & congue Productivity
23. InnerSource is a software development strategy in which companies adopt an open source approach and culture to collaborate more effectively. https://about.gitlab.com/topics/versi on-control/what-is-innersource/
24. InnerSource is a software development strategy in which companies adopt an open source approach and culture to collaborate more effectively. https://about.gitlab.com/topics/versi on-control/what-is-innersource/
25. My definition InnerSource is a <...> which companies adopt an open source approach to collaborate more effectively. • Strategy • Culture • Practices • Tools
26. InnerSource Commons https://innersourcecommons.org/
27. Adopted From presentation bu Yuki Hattori: https://speakerdeck.com/yuhattori/innersource-for-developer-experience-and-competitive-advantages
28. You do not have to start from scratch InnerSource innersourcecommons.org
29. InnerSource Patterns patterns.innersourcecommons.org
30. Learning Paths innersourcecommons.org/learn/learning-path/
31. THAT’S ALL GREAT, BUT
32. Stereotypical “Enterprise Companies” • Resistance to change • Complicated Processes and Red Tape • Top-to-bottom decision making • Company Politics • Little exec support for REAL innovation https://barbaraburgess.com/2018/5-ne arly-free-guerrilla-marketing-tactics/
33. Adopted From presentation bu Yuki Hattori: https://speakerdeck.com/yuhattor/adopting-innersource-to-maximize-developer-experience-devex https://speakerdeck.com/yuhattor/adopting-innersource-to-maximize-developer-experience-devex
34. Choose Your Hero! VS Community Beaver Guerilla Gorilla
35. https://oleg-nenashev.github.io/oleg-nenashev/
36. Chop Wood, Carry Water Community Beaver 36
37. BUT • Uphill battles • Have no budget? • Mostly spare time? • Red Tape everywhere? Community Beaver
38. * It is not about going against the company goals / values
39. May The Rebellion begin? https://btr.michaelkwan.com/2010/08/19/ grammar-101-gorilla-or-guerrilla/
40. May The Rebellion begin? • Change the company culture • … using unconventional methods • … without violating the policies • … without being fired (nice2have) Guerilla Gorilla
41. Take a(!) high road https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=M4g1H_-2o-A
42. Guerilla InnerSource in Enterprises
43. * parody content
44. Do you track Developer Productivity?
45. JetBrains Developer Ecosystem Survey https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/devecosystem-2024/
46. JetBrains Developer Ecosystem Survey www.jetbrains.com/lp/devecosystem-2024/
47. https://thenewstack.io/developer-productivity-whos-tracking-it-not-many/
48. Most companies can’t connect Developer Productivity & Culture Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/trojan-h-st-g4IINbx#/t/trojan_horse
49. What if 2026…?
51. Reports on AI Adoption / RoI • DORA: https://dora.dev/research/ai/ • Reports by DX: https://getdx.com/resources/ • Lead Dev Summary https://leaddev.com/the-ai-impact-report-2025 TL;DR? Good Summary by Laura Tacho: https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/measurin g-the-impact-of-ai-on-software
52. AI helps with Onboarding https://getdx.com/blog/ai-cuts-developer-onboarding-time-in-half/
53. DORA Report, Impact of Generative AI https://dora.dev/research/ai/
54. Some Keywords already go down… https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/hype-cycle-for-artificial-intelligence
55. AI-assisted development, not Generative AI Laura Tacho, DX / Atlassian: https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/measuring-the-impact-of-ai-on-software
56. DORA Report, Impact of Generative AI https://dora.dev/research/ai/
57. Adoption Obstacles https://leaddev.com/the-ai-impact-report-2025
58. Advanced Organisations, with ±60% AI adoption Laura Tacho, DX / Atlassian: https://getdx.com/podcast/ai-impact-leaddev-conference/
59. Non-AI factors still outweigh AI benefits DX - Digital Transformation Report, Q1 2026
60. AI is great, but … “In a world where you can be anything, be the person who cancels meetings” https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/bym8f 1/that_5_minutes_meeting_with_a_developer/
62. Your Recipe Is AI-Assisted Productivity Developer Experience & Productivity Better Culture (InnerSource / DevOps)
64. https://twitter.com/gAmUssA/statu s/1397255447720177665?t=n4n3 otyTvtRfltH5if8GFQ&s=19
65. You do not have to start from scratch InnerSource innersourcecommons.org
66. One does not build a community alone, you’ll need allies & champions 66
67. Establish Channels 67
68. Build a tribe (or a guild) https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-gorilla-king-gorilla-family-dynamics/735/
69. Onboard new members Processes and tools are a universal topic across a company
70. Mentor / Influence Juniors and Newcomers Source: www.standard.co.uk/business/markets/reddit-s-armchair-traders-invest-350-000-in-gorillas-b924894.html
71. Build relations… with your kind or not https://www.fotocommunity.de/photo/gorillas-hand shake-lobo-loco/14173404
72. There are no enemies, just different cultures https://www.cultofmac.com/318994/king-kong-ain t-got-nothing-on-this-drone-fighting-chimp/
73. Share learnings, internally and publicly TED Talk Gorilla https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ted-talk-gorilla
74. Showing the Value “One of the most difficult to do in DevRel is to prove that the investment is worthwhile (If it were easy, the book would not exist)” - Mary Thengvall Mr. Denis Nenashev, used with permission :)
75. Show the Value. Keywords • Developer Productivity • Shift Left • Efficiency & Reuse • Time to Market / MTTR • DORA Metrics improvement • Marketing / DevRel / Product Led Growth • ...
76. • Do not go alone • Find other champions • Help them • Give credit publicly https://imgflip.com/meme/40288152/Hot-Gorilla
77. THE END?
78. TL;DR: My talk 1. DevOps collaboration culture is The Rebellion from the book 2. InnerSource culture is a core part of it 3. There are some tips how to adopt it
79. 1. Choose your Hero Balance the Approaches VS
80. Building an Internal Community • Culture Change is slow but possible. DevEx / DevOps is a good entry point • Do not go alone • Show value tho ug or df foo • Think InnerSource ht • Developer Productivity is a cross-functional effort
81. Internal communities are great for YOU • Side projects!!! • Leadership practice • Learning new things together • Building Network • Influence in the company 81
82. Nobody is …
83. One small step… 1. Read “The Unicorn Project” 2. Check out InnerSource Commons and the resources 3. Join a productivity / DevX group in your org a. OR - Start a new one
84. Do not burn out! https://theconversation.com/the-amazon-is-burning-4-e ssential-reads-on-brazils-vanishing-rainforest-122288
85. Change the company or change company https://www.koko.org/kokopix-photo-blog/3245/is-th at-captain-ndume-at-the-wheel/
86. Resources • innersourcecommons.org • todogroup.org • dora.dev/research • getdx.com/resources • leaddev.com
87. Log the Takeaways 1. Balance the approaches to improve developer productivity 2. Build your community, adopt InnerSource 3. Leverage AI adoption… or “adoption” 4. Do not burn out 5. Not every company can be changed 87 Source: https://talesfromthewilds.blogspot.com/2012/11 /beaver-logging-and-lone-american-pipit.html
88. QUESTIONS? Contacts: E-mail: o.v.nenashev@gmail.com GitHub: oleg-nenashev Twitter: @oleg_nenashev #OpenToWork 88
89. BACKUP