The Road to 1 Billion Developers

Phew. July is already over?! It's been one of the biggest months of my life, both personally and professionally—and yet, it's somehow gone by in the blink of an eye.

As I look back on this month—the late night calls, the early morning train rides, and the hours... and hours... and hours... at the airport—I am filled with nothing but profound gratitude for the opportunity to work on projects big and small with my teammates at GitHub . And in particular, I want to reflect on an opportunity that was truly the honor of a lifetime: delivering a main stage keynote at WeAreDevelopers 2024 World Congress.

In front of an audience of thousands of developers from across the globe (and with a surprise appearance from Thomas Dohmke ), I got to share GitHub's winning aspiration to create a world of 1 billion developers. Why we believe in it, how we'll get there, and who we're bringing along (see: all of you!).

Some of you may have been in the room that day. But for those of you who weren't, I wanted to share my remarks as prepared for delivery, so you can get a glimpse into what we're building.

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery: We Are Developer World Congress

July 18, 2024

The Road to 1 Billion

Hello Berlin!  Hello, We Are Developers!

I gotta say: I have an amazing boss. But have you ever worked for someone that gave you a goal and you’re like WTF?! Have they lost their mind?!

That was probably everyone’s reaction when Thomas first revealed our new winning aspiration at GitHub: To empower 1 billion developers.

At first when it was announced there was silence and then there was skepticism, and now I can tell you it’s nothing but excitement both internally at GitHub and across the entire open source ecosystem.  

Imagine a world—imagine this conference—if there were 1 billion developers on this planet.  

We would only be limited by our imagination.  

And I can tell you, if you’ve watched Thomas’ recent TED Talk you know his imagination is fueled by LEGOs.  And it’s also fueled by…

The Marvel Universe.

How many of you are familiar with Ironman, and more importantly Jarvis? Just A Rather Very Intelligent System: Ironman’s AI butler and personal assistant that took care of running all of the Stark’s buildings and his Ironman suit.

So imagine this world where we get to 1 billion developers because every human—has their own personal Jarvis—to handle and build what they need when they need it.

A world where the open source community is bigger, more collaborative, more inclusive, and more connected than any time in history. 

Where all sorts of barriers are broken. Where my 13 year old daughter and my 72 year old mom can work together to design an app that allows my mother to provide real time support in perpetuity for their shared passion of gardening.

A world where a German-speaking contributor… works with a Hindi-speaking maintainer… to create a project that’s used in Nigeria… for a Brazilian-owned startup—effortlessly. With no language barriers.

Where marginalized and under-resourced communities all over the world are not only invested in, but mobilized. To create the future that they want to see for themselves.

A reinvigorated open source community. A developer community that is an exponential force multiplier…for good.  

That’s the world we’re building.

It’s a beautiful thing. 

But 1 billion, almost 10% of the world’s current population… That’s a big number. It’s hard to even make sense of that, let alone scale for it.

Seriously, if this goal doesn’t scare you a bit, or cause your heart to beat a little faster, let me know. Because that means our aspiration isn’t high enough. 

The reason why we have moved from skepticism to excitement is because we get to reach for this goal our way, the GitHub way, the open source way. The one that’s built on trust and collaboration and most importantly: with all of you. Yes, it starts in this room…with developers and there’s no better time in our history to do it… in this age of AI.

The Age of AI 

Actually, we already started. Two years ago on this very same stage, Thomas demoed GitHub Copilot for the first time.The autocomplete tool that understands developer intent—keeping us in the flow for longer, delivering developer happiness one suggestion at a time. GitHub Copilot quickly became the most widely adopted developer tool on earth. And we didn’t stop there.

A year later, we launched Copilot Chat, revolutionizing the use of natural language in computer programming. With Chat, you can enter your preferred natural language text—whether that be German, Hindi, English, Spanish, or Portuguese—into a text box and it generates the code that you requested or the explanation back in the preferred language of your choice. No longer will English have to be the dominant language of developers.

And with these tools, we are well on our way to making code universally accessible… by all. The rippling impact of these innovations is impossible to overstate. Almost overnight, it is easier than any time in human history… to sit down with nothing but your device and your own human language… and build code. This is arguably the greatest breakthrough in computer programming since the creation of the internet itself.

OK, Thomas had Marvel, but here’s one of my favorites. Remember that movie, Ratatouille, from almost 20 years ago.  It was about that rat in Paris that has BIG dreams of becoming a chef? That movie was a reminder that anyone, even a Parisian rat…can cook. 

Well, let me put my own little spin on one of the best movies ever…with a little help from Copilot… we are entering a world where ANYONE can code!

But How Do We Get There?

While AI tools are an essential part of the road ahead… They aren’t the panacea for everything.

Yes, tools break down barriers to entry and shrink the amount of time spent on mundane work.

But we named it Copilot for a reason. It’s meant to augment. Not replace.  We still need you, many more of  you—the human developers—in the driver’s seat.  

It’s your force of will and creativity—boosted by AI capabilities—that will get us there.

And where, exactly, is there?

Learn, Collaborate, Accelerate

There is our one billion developer aspiration.

So today, let’s get on the Autobahn. Buckle your seatbelts and get in the passenger seat with me as we navigate three essential lanes: Learning, Collaboration, and Acceleration, on the road to 1 billion developers.

1. Learning

Let’s start with learning. 

As Winston Churchill once said: I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. I wonder if I’m the only computer science student that used to think the same thing.

Well, with AI, we have the power to change this mindset—for me and so many others. This is the area where personally I see the most profound opportunity—and the most exciting development, every single day. From students just getting started… to contributors on the path to becoming maintainers of their own projects… or open source veterans like many of you, who are ready to continue their skilling journeys.

AI is already revolutionizing the way that we teach and learn how to program. Students taking the same class are no longer confined to completing their assignment in the language of the professor’s choice. Today, students in the same large lecture can code in the language of their choice—dozens of different languages.

Professors are no longer teaching syntax or having to teach languages that may become obsolete in a few months. Raise your hand if you’re still using the C++ that I learned in undergrad? Just me?

The world moves quickly, and our students have to keep up. Today, students are learning the skill sets that we know are more important: how to be systems thinkers, not syntax tinkerers.

I relish the day that we can all say: DEATH TO THE MISSING SEMICOLON! Sorry, just having flashbacks!

And as we all know, you don’t have to go to college to learn to code or be a developer.  In fact, our learning journey has to start much earlier than university studies, or boot camp, or a second career.

We have to reimagine education altogether, where even a kid in Kindergarten becomes a coder.  Let’s face it, these kids are already well-versed in how to use an iPad, a smartphone, and even games like Minecraft! It’s our assertion that every child is born with the innate skills to become a developer. Children are exposed to technological innovations early on—and that redefines how they communicate, collaborate and create. 

Many around the world are already ahead of the curve on this; 30 countries are mandating that children as young as six or seven can start learning the basics of programming.

In fact, both of Thomas’ kids use Copilot rather than bugging dad to help them with their Python code—no pun intended.

Dad is no longer the assistant for their homework, Copilot is. 

Girls like my daughter, who was one of only two girls in her programming class, don't have to be scared to raise their hand in school—they have a buddy to help them with difficult questions.

But your dad shouldn’t have to be the CEO of GitHub—or your mom the Chief of Staff—for you to engage with AI tools that make coding more accessible.

Every child should have the education and access to the tools they need to participate in software development if they so choose.

Again, just imagine what’s possible…the creativity….the innovation…when every child has that knowledge at their disposal from the very beginning.

When every child can think like a developer.

2. Collaboration

So lane 1: We have to reimagine learning.

But lane 2: We have to maximize collaboration. 

There’s a famous proverb that says: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” We Are Developers World Congress—I want to go far…GitHub wants to go far….in collaboration with all of you! 

We have an opportunity to do that, as we maximize collaboration in the Age of AI. Collaboration is the engine that will drive us on the road to 1 billion developers. Not just collaboration between humans and machines. But collaboration from human to human. Project to Project. Organization to organization. Industry to industry.

This is the foundation of our open source principles.

A global network of developers, creating the world’s software across borders and oceans. Today, we are approaching a world where the only skill you’ll need to create software is the power of your own human language.

Suddenly, in addition to Python and Rust, you can build in French, Russian, Italian, Mandarin… the list is endless. It’s any human language on earth.

Let me make sure you got that: Children in Cairo, Santiago, Rauh-baht, and Taipei will no longer have to learn English before they can start programming.

Children right here in Berlin will no longer have to learn English before they can start programming. 

Folks, this is THAT moment of our lifetime! And it’s not just about geographic diversity. 

It’s about a whole swath of people who can participate in open source communities for the first time.

As I always say: Normal Ass People, with normal ass jobs, without computer science degrees will no longer have to learn complex jargon to understand documentation or write their own.

But in order to welcome them in, we have to firm our open source community—and the digital public infrastructure that supports you.

Because without all of you creating the projects that the next generation of developers will be excited to join… and creating the community that keeps them coming back: This whole vision falls apart.

I look to so many of you in the audience, including many of our GitHub Stars, to embody that collaboration day by day.

Think of the incredible influence of Mastodon, a German-founded company that takes an open-source approach to the social media space.

Or the rocketship rise of Formbricks, one of our inaugural GitHub Accelerator companies, based here in Germany, which started as the largest open source survey stack on planet earth.

These are just two examples among countless others. Of collaboration embodied—collaboration scaled to a global level.

3. Acceleration

And speaking of the Accelerator, this brings me to lane 3: Accelerate. 

Just like it’s not enough to drive super slow on the Autobahn, it’s just not enough to learn and collaborate in our silos on our own, in the slowest way possible.

As developers…each of us has to level up…and speed up. 

We have to scale our impact out.

Accelerate our efforts.

Push them into overdrive, constructing the actual roads, bridges, and tunnels that will lead to 1 billion developers.

Part of this applies to everyday maintainers, who can leverage tools like Copilot to heighten productivity and prevent maintainer burnout.

Seriously, maintainer burnout is real y’all. In fact, nearly half of all maintainers who considered quitting their projects in the last year did so because they were feeling burned out.

When experienced maintainers drop out, get stressed, and leave their projects altogether, the entire ecosystem suffers. Cutting-edge work gets lost… conventional wisdom doesn’t get passed down… and ripple effects of strained morale drive more potential collaborators out, too.

At this moment—and even well before this moment—is where AI tools can step in.

We’ve been keeping track of how Copilot impacts developer happiness and productivity. And the results are really striking:

Developers are a full 55% faster while using GitHub Copilot.

75% say it allows them to focus on more satisfying tasks.

And according to our early research, developers with the least experience coding see the greatest productivity gains. 

But individual developers are just the beginning.

We need to accelerate the whole ecosystem that supports all of you. 

Because you can’t carry us forward on your own.

Just like in Formula 1 racing, where you need a pit crew to stabilize the car, change the tires, make adjustments to the aerodynamics, and safely release the car: 

You need a pit crew, powered by AI, on the side of the road to 1 billion, keeping tabs on the many needs of the community—from fielding incoming bug reports, evaluating PRs, keeping up with discussion boards, not to mention listening to everyone complain! I mean, offer helpful suggestions…

We need the pit crew to help redirect us when the going gets tough.

That’s why I’m excited about projects like the German government’s Sovereign Tech Fund:

A $10M-per-year public fund to support the maintenance of critical open source infrastructure like libraries, programming languages and developer tools.

I just had the opportunity to listen to a keynote last week at the United Nations from Adrianna, co-founder of the Sovereign Tech Fund. This is life changing investment in projects across the German open source ecosystem. And we need even more programs like this, around the world—at even larger scales—to keep us all on the path ahead.

The Road to 1 Billion Starts Here

This is what it’s all about.

Coming together around big, big audacious goals.

Learning, collaborating, and accelerating to make software development more inclusive, accessible, and productive than any time in history.

We’re going somewhere we’ve never been before.

We’re going to a world where anyone—truly anyone—can create the software of their dreams.

But as one of my mentors, Doreen Kelly, likes to say: “Well done, but we’re not done yet.” We are doing amazing stuff. But we can’t do it alone.

And we need all the help we can get, from every person, in every corner. Nonprofits, private companies, open source devs, policymakers. We need to open source this billion developer goal—and bring everyone along for the ride.

So no matter who you are, where you are, or where you work and create, we need you.  

Follow along with us on this aspiration to 1 billion. Learn more about what others are doing and get ideas on how you can do your part. Then we invite you to share your stories, lessons learned, communities you’ve impacted, the lives in which you’ve made a difference.

A billion developers. It’s not about sheer numbers for the sake of numbers. It’s about every life that will change with the joy, opportunity, and creativity of software.

This is not a moment, it’s a movement. And every great movement starts with a vision and is only accomplished through people. Daring and amazing people, like all of you.

Join us… Let’s build from here. Thank you!

# # #

If you read this far, let me know what you think in the comments! And finally, a few quick thank yous to everyone who made this possible:

• to Thomas Dohmke for setting this remarkable vision for the future;
• Sead Ahmetovic , Naida Vikalo , Lena Silberbauer , and everyone on the WeAreDevelopers team for organizing such an amazing conference;
• Pau Picó and the Unicorns in Tech team for nourishing my soul with such a warm fireside chat;
• Prashanth Chandrasekar , Alejandro Saucedo , and Jakob von Lindern for being the best final panel team ever;
• and, finally, my incredible family for coming along for the ride (even though they ditched me to go see Taylor Swift).

Here's to the road ahead!