Between Mountains and AI: a recap of 2025
I look back to what this year was. I clearly see a continuation of what was 2024: a struggle for professional stability and challenges, while rethinking about the way that we Engineers should work from now and on.
That makes me wonder, when I hear individuals talking and discussing the new horizon of Software Engineering with AI, not just inside my job, but as well in my (beloved) XalapaCode community. And speaking of which, it was a huge year for us, from events to their organizations, gathering more people than we ever thought, and also preparing tech talks and sharing a bit of what we are seeing right now, in a world that is moving so fast.
I also had some personal experiences and new adventures, and to be honest, without it, it would be a quite tough year.
With all that being said, here are some highlights, of a productive, yet challenging.
It takes so much to find a good job these days
Several people, ultra qualified, fighting for a job to make their ends, many with a family to maintain. The market is rough these days, and such scenario, is quite discouraging: and how was it, at the beginning of 2025.
While living abroad, you got no choice. There's much more than a rent to pay, economically and emotionally speaking. One is fighting for acceptance and approval, of the skills that we craft, the quality we can deliver. The "AI phantom" came strong, yet not delivering what it was promising, but sufficient to shake the foundations of questions like "How many engineers I need for X product ?", all over the industry.
Took me a couple of months and multiple interview processes, to finally find Yext. I have no words right now to describe how difficult the whole process was, but finally, a formidable company with a variety of products, from brand visibility to compliant text and voice solutions for financial firms, like Yext Relate.
We had some nice off-sites between Mexico City and Scottsdale, AZ. It was pretty fun and refreshing, having in-person sessions with coworkers and managers.
Offsite in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Trekking, Climbing: Trails and Mountains that I love
Just as the life itself, are mountains. Sometimes, the conditions are not favorable, and you might find yourself in the position of giving up. There might be a better time for doing it, or maybe not.
Matlalcueye, "La Malinche", could be difficult to climb in the winter. Rainy days, make the soil so slippery, and some storms might happen as well.
For the first attempt in January, me and my fellows couldn't finish the climbing (which is quite steep).
In June, came another opportunity to reach the summit, and then I realized that the first time I tried to, I just made halfway: the trekking and climbing that was ahead, was much more than I could imagine.
The sightseeing is not bad, but I wish it could be a sunny day, then watching the world down there, from the summit.
In some occasions, dogs climb mountains too.
Also in Estado de México, Parque Los Dinamos, was a great experience:
Just as the 2nd time climbing on Sierra Negra:
Where it has a beautiful view to Citlatépetl:
10 years of XalapaCode
In 2018, when I was looking for folks that were into Technology, Cloud Computing, Software Engineering, Open Source, etc. in Xalapa, I thought there were no one, until my first gathering with these nice people.
Ii went though the pandemic and different structures, making events with a lot of support and money from our own pockets, and this year, from organization to tech talks, we reached our 10th anniversary. The event was quite fun, with SWAGs, Tech Talks, food and good memories from past years.
This year, wasn't different. To organize events, material, food and snacks, reviewing proposals of tech talks and facilitating discussions. I think it's fair to say that our events were very strong, and the number of attendees has been quite expressive. Students and other engineers are enjoying our meetings, indeed.
I guess we shared the same feeling of pride for all that we have been doing here. Something we care a lot and makes us all happy.
Have I made enough Shellscripts?
It's been years, here and there, doing short ones and some a bit more complex. It's a world that I know pretty well, yet I always learn one trick or another. Ritchie, Kerninghan, Thompson: all Unix philosophy and the POSIX standard, are great things we have. And thanks to you as well, Linus (of course).
Great to be part of the FLISOL 2025 at Universidad Veracruzana, among my buddies from XalapaCode. To talk about Shellscript, is a passion that will never fade away for me.
Not a Silver Bullet, but under supervision, A.I. can deliver
I still have my concerns in regards to this tool, from political to environmental aspects (we should all have), but sincerely, I have seen great power under proper supervision and experience. It can assist in Software Engineering and Business Architecture, but it cannot fully do it (should it, someday?)
Many situations that I went through, creating several Unit Tests for endpoints and codes of all sorts, for professional and personal projects. LLMs can help you to create great amounts of code, but some proposals could be so off, and can easily lead you to a never ending spin of malfunctioning services (you have to live with it). Trust at your own risk and you will see: it's a matter of experience in Software Engineering and seasoning in programming languages, to detect gaps and "hallucinations". With that in mind, you'll able to deliver incredible results. Without it, there could be dragons and notable headaches (oh, I remember...).
It saved me hours (if not days) of code, but I had to invest necessary efforts in order to polish proposals.
We can live without AI for coding, but not these days. These days, the market is ferocious in regards to AI, and all companies accepted this reality: truth be told that some of them, blindly.
Until the bubble bursts, I can say that, was an interesting year, having Copilot beside me, doing some amazing things (really), but yet causing some inevitable and remarkable headaches. I won't deny that I use it a lot for planning studies and presenting different scenarios of architecture, expecting insights and key information for a better decision making, but I cannot put my life on its "hands".
Maybe we might have a year more "sober" for AI, with some surprises (positives, I hope?).
Arizona: another side of Mexico
Fortunately, some nice folks from Yext, took us in a one day trip to Sedona, AZ.
Some beautiful landscapes, indeed. Things that you might only see in movies, in my opinion.
In Phoenix, I went to the Botanical Garden. A variety of Cactus species and ecosystems, showing a bit of the environment that you may see in the Sonoran Desert which starts in Sonora, Mexico, all the way up to Arizona.
More than scientific, I dare to say that the experience was "spiritual" in some way.
I always wanted to see a bit of the Sonoran Desert with my own eyes, and there I was, knowing about that ecosystems and the life forms that bravely endure the circumstances of the nature.
AWS Certification
It was about time, I admit. It's been years working with AWS and the certification, was a necessary acknowledgement for all that I've been working around this ecosystem.
For the next year, I have more serious plans in regards to the AWS certification path. Indeed.
I'm still learning Japanese and Russian
It's beyond my comprehension, why a couple of years ago, I decided to start studying these languages. Maybe because both are so different and cryptic, in comparison to our Latin alphabet; maybe because the way it sounds. Both languages are quite charming to me, and even though I don't have a strong streak, I managed to exercise more and more this year. Feeling more confident.
Writing and where novels may take me?
The million dollars question: I'm not sure. I guess that not even Dostoevsky or Agatha Christie knew. They just did it, putting love and imagination, under severe concentration, something which was quite abundant throughout this year.
Maybe in 2026, I'll come up with my own novel, fulfilling a dream, regardless of failure, or success.
Scuba Diving in the Gulf of Mexico
I wish I could had a GoPro there. A remarkable experience, more challenging than Skydiving. The ocean is so beautiful down there, 10m. Only you to maintain the equilibrium of internal and external pressure while descending.
It felt really good to experiment this, feeling so fragile and small down there, just as any lifeform in the corals.
Something changed on me. Who am I and how my consumption affects the environment.
It was a shocking, yet positive experience, that I will never forget.
As Harrison Ford once said: "Nature don't need us; we need the Nature.".
Final Words
I cannot complain, neither can deny the tough moments of intense workload, unpredictable professional scenarios, and keeping up as a Software Engineer and imigrant. It's a life to gain, with or without activities and experiences, and sometimes, it can be rough and demanding.
Professionally, was a great year, but adaptations for a new job, are the challenges that many or none, can't see. One just have to make it happen, in the place where you live, with the conditions that you have, with or without your loved ones around.
Adventures and experiences were a great part of this year, supporting on these necessary breaks between Monday to Friday, but not all the time we can spend precious resources on this (plans and more plans).
And finally, I'm happy and satisfied, but I'm a bit tired, to be honest.
2025 was one of a kind, productive, yet challenging. I need a beer, for celebrating, and relaxing.
