Ardan Labs Podcast

This podcast features intimate conversations with engineers who are in the forefront of building or teaching technology. Join us as we learn how our guests got started in tech, the type and level of education they've obtained, their work history, and personal stories about their journey. We publish the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and the Web biweekly on Wednesdays at 12pm US Eastern Time. Subscribe and STAY TUNED!

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Ardan Labs Podcast

Adaptability, Google, and MCP with Jonathan Amsterdam

September 10, 2025 • Jonathan Amsterdam

In this episode of the Ardan Labs Podcast, Bill Kennedy interviews Jonathan Amsterdam from the Go team at Google about his journey from academia and finance to software engineering, his work on Go and API design, and the importance of adaptability, community, and building impactful software.

00:00 Introduction

00:30 What is Jonathan Doing Today?

02:00 First Memories of a Computer

09:30 Entering University

14:00 Early Coding / Academics

20:50 Interest in AI / ML

27:00 Career Beginnings

33:00 Transitioning to Java and Teaching

41:00 Distributed Software

45:00 Ambitions / Finding Stability

55:00 Experiences at Google

1:07:20 Joining the Go Team

1:17:00 Go and MCP

1:24:00 API Design and Philosophy

1:30:20 Contact Info

Connect with Jonathan:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-amsterdam-b901b21/

Mentioned in this Episode:

Go-sdk: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/go-sdk

Want more from Ardan Labs? You can learn Go, Kubernetes, Docker & more through our video training, live events, or through our blog!

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