Devrel Meets AI: A New Look at Developer Advocacy

Ask any developer relations (DevRel) leader what makes a great developer advocate, and you’ll hear some of the usual answers:

• community engagement
• public speaking
• technical content creation.

But I believe the best developer advocates are developers who advocate - they understand the journey because they are living it daily. AI is changing every step of a developer’s journey. What used to be influenced by community engagement, public speaking, and technical content creation is now being quickly replaced with AI powered tools that are evolving faster than anyone ever imagined.

So what does that mean for developer relations? Well let’s start from the top – what makes for a strong developer advocate?

What Makes a Strong Developer Advocate?

Too often, DevRel gets mistaken for marketing-lite—a role centered around flashy events, social media engagement, and top of marketing funnel awareness tactics. But DevRel isn’t really that.

My experiences at Microsoft and Twilio helped me realize great developer advocacy puts developer outcomes first. It is about helping developers succeed at the thing they’ve set out to do. Whether that was by educating while inspiring, or removing developer friction, that goal remains the same. By helping them, advocates build an effective relationship which can be useful for those companies they work for.

A strong developer advocate writes code, solves problems, and shares lessons across multiple platforms and channels.

The Business Case for Strategic DevRel

So how does this tie to DevRel strategy? The strongest DevRel strategies align with the developer experience (DX), ensuring advocacy is not speaking about developers, but advocating for them in ways that genuinely improve their workflow.

Across Microsoft, Twilio, and Okta, I’ve seen different ways in which strategic DevRel transforms products. When developer advocacy is backed by technical expertise, companies win in several ways:

• 📈 Higher product adoption – Developers trust advocates who understand their needs and remove friction
• 🎯 Stronger DX – DevRel guides product teams by actively using the tools developers will rely on and creating a feedback loop that ultimately helps developers.
• 🌱 Community that drives innovation – Developer-first engagement leads to real use cases, organic growth, and feedback loops that improve products.

The best DevRel strategies create space for all of this to happen. The best DevRel leaders aren’t just amplifiers of content. They’re connectors, problem-solvers, and strategic thinkers driving scalable engagement.

AI in DevRel: Enhancing Developer Experiences with a Human Touch

There’s no doubt about it. AI is transforming how developers build. In a world where AI is influencing how developers learn, should DevRel leaders and advocates worry? Not at all. See AI enhances DevRel, but it can’t replace empathy.

• 🤖 AI can automate onboarding and documentation, but *human empathy drives engagement.*
• ⚡ AI-powered code assistants help developers build, but *humans understand context beyond the autocomplete.*
• 🤝 AI enables smarter developer insights, but only *people can build authentic community trust.*

My current approach is to use AI as a tool, not a replacement. That means identifying ways it helps amplify developer experiences with our product without sacrificing authenticity. It helps me identify patterns of experiences faster, quickly create and publish content, and connect with more developers.

Final Thoughts: DevRel Needs More Builders, Less Broadcasters

Developer advocacy isn’t about talking about developers; it’s about building with developers.

Whether through livestreaming, open-source project contributions, or technical content, the best DevRel professionals champion real solutions for real developers.

Thanks for reading! Corey