GOTO - The Brightest Minds in Tech
The GOTO podcast seeks out the brightest and boldest ideas from language creators and the world's leading experts in software development in the form of interviews and conference talks. Tune in to get the inspiration you need to bring in new technologies or gain extra evidence to support your software development plan.
GOTO - The Brightest Minds in Tech
Kafka for Architects • Ekaterina Gorshkova & Viktor Gamov
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This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club.
http://gotopia.tech/bookclub
Ekaterina Gorshkova - Apache Kafka Engineer at SOFTEC & Author of "Kafka for Architects"
Viktor Gamov - Principal Developer Advocate at Confluent & Co-Author of "Kafka in Action"
Check out more here:
https://gotopia.tech/episodes/440
RESOURCES
Ekaterina
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-gorshkova-978bb6
https://medium.com/@katyagorshkova
Viktor
https://bsky.app/profile/gamussa.dev
https://x.com/gAmUssA
https://github.com/gamussa
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikgamov
https://gamov.io
Links
45% off discount code (expires on 25 May 2026): GOTOKGKafka
Affiliate link: https://hubs.la/Q044HgTv
https://current.confluent.io/london
DESCRIPTION
Apache Kafka has evolved far beyond a simple message broker — it has become a foundational layer for modern enterprise software. In this GOTO Book Club episode, Ekaterina Gorshkova, author of "Kafka for Architects", shares how her decade-long journey with Kafka — starting in a Czech bank's integration team in 2015 — shaped her understanding of what it really takes to design Kafka-based systems at scale. The conversation covers core architectural decisions, real-world patterns for enterprise integration, the role of Kafka Streams, and how to avoid the classic pitfalls of building systems that "only three engineers understand".
The episode also looks forward: Ekaterina and host Viktor Gamov explore how Kafka is increasingly becoming the connective tissue for AI-driven systems, acting as an orchestration layer between intelligent agents, real-time data, and business workflows. Her book's central argument is that while AI and tooling change fast, the fundamental knowledge of how to design robust, event-driven systems is durable and career-proof. Kafka for Architects is framed not just as a technical manual, but as a roadmap for architects who want to get Kafka right from day one — requirements, design, testing, and all.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Ekaterina Gorshkova • Kafka for Architects • https://amzn.to/42mDarU
Dylan Scott, Viktor Gamov & Dave Klein • Kafka in Action • https://amzn.to/4vJ3Kcj
Viktor Gamov, Tartakovsky, Rasputnis & Fain • Enterprise Web Development • https://amzn.to/3CezL0R
Shapira, Palino, Sivaram & Petty • Kafka: The Definitive Guide • https://amzn.to/3RPtdLP
Bill Bejeck • Kafka Streams in Action • https://amzn.to/3CGJiiM
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