"If you are not using it and don't understand it, you are losing big time because you reinvent that wheel of durable execution yourself, and it's hard," reasons Maxim Fateev, Co-Founder and CTO of Temporal Technologies. 

In a recent episode of the Tech Transformed podcast, Fateev explored the concept of durable execution. This approach not only improves software reliability but is also becoming essential for the next generation of AI agents and orchestration.

What is Durable Execution?

Durable execution, a concept trademarked by Temporal Technologies, changes how developers build reliable applications. "The idea is simple–we preserve the full state of code execution all the time," he explained. 

Imagine a function that makes a series of API calls. If the process running that function crashes, even days later, "we can bring that function back in exactly the same state, still blocked on the same API call with all the variables and state there, and deliver the response. Then it will continue to the next line of code."

From a programming point of view, the function actually “never crashed. It just seamlessly waited for three days, blocked on that API call, and then continued execution," says Fateev.

This ability to provide "crashless execution" changes how developers approach building reliable software. It allows functions to run for long periods, even a year, without interruption or data loss.

Temporal's Role in OpenAI's Image Generation 

Alluding to Temporal’s use case, Fateev referenced their contribution to OpenAI’s image generation code. He stated, "Every time you generate the image using OpenAI, it uses Temporal behind the scenes." 

"Image generation is orchestration. It's not just like one API call. There are a lot of API calls which need to happen to generate an image, and Temporal’s tech guarantees execution." 

While a strong tool for AI, durable execution has many uses beyond that. Fateev notes that Temporal has also been used for "driving large-scale operations with an added productivity advantage, and it’s also for a startup with two people with a small-scale solution.”

From infrastructure automation, like HashiCorp Cloud, and data handling to key business tasks such as customer onboarding and instant payments, including UPI in India and similar systems in Brazil, Temporal shows its worth in various industries. 

"Every Snapchat story is an important workflow,” Fateev tells Dua. Leading AI companies like Replit, Abridge, and OpenAI are using Temporal to power their workflows.” The main idea stays the same: "Nearly every time you need to run any business logic reliably, it works well."

Takeaways

• Durable execution is a new paradigm that enhances software reliability.
• It can significantly increase developer productivity by 5X to 10X.
• The concept allows for crashless execution of business applications.
• AI agents face reliability challenges that durable execution can address.
• Temporal's architecture ensures data is encrypted and secure.
• Open-source solutions provide a...