AIOps: Prove It an Open Letter to Vendors Selling AI for SREs

SREs are not known for being eager, optimistic early adopters of shiny new technologies. We are much more likely to subject you to lengthy monologuing about all of the ways said technologies are overhyped, under-delivered, and prone to spectacular, catastrophic systems failures. Which brings us to the topic of AI.

It’s easy to be cynical when there’s this much hype and easy money flying around, but generative AI is not a fad; it’s here to stay. Which means that even operators and cynics — no, especially operators and cynics — need to get off the sidelines and engage with it. How should responsible, forward-looking SREs evaluate the truth claims being made in the market without being reflexively antagonistic? How can we help our orgs steer into change, leveraging AI technologies to help our teams ship better software, faster? And for the vendors out there using AI to try and help solve traditional SRE domain problems, how should they demonstrate that they are engaging with these problems in good faith, that they are more than just hype and snake oil?