This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/looking-back-on-2025-a-retrospective.
I began writing retrospectives in 2023, on the year that had passed. Let's continue the tradition, but with a wider scope than before.
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This story was written by: @nfrankel. Learn more about this writer by checking @nfrankel's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com.

The world is spiraling deeper and deeper into chaos. The U.S. has abandoned its ally Ukraine. The DevRel state is intrinsically bound to the world state. Despite the bleak context, I still have a couple of personal wins.

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/transforming-from-solo-unicorns-one-person-states.
Phones extended our hands; AI extends intent. How agents, DID, and treasury-as-code turn Personal OS into Founder OS, and into Civic OS
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This story was written by: @raysvitla. Learn more about this writer by checking @raysvitla's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com.

Sam Altman says a single founder will soon build a billion-dollar company. Altman asks: How soon until a single person boots a state?

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/adaptive-action-pruning-scaling-databases-with-intelligent-action-masking.
IA2 outpaces SWIRL and Lan et al. in training efficiency using TD3-TD-SWAR and adaptive action masking for faster SQL index selection.
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This story was written by: @instancing. Learn more about this writer by checking @instancing's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com.

IA2 outpaces SWIRL and Lan et al. in training efficiency using TD3-TD-SWAR and adaptive action masking for faster SQL index selection.

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/navigating-technology-advancements-mid-way-through-your-career.
A mid-career perspective on keeping up with rapid technology change, for both tech professionals and non-tech workers now expected to adapt and learn new tools.
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This story was written by: @saqib25k. Learn more about this writer by checking @saqib25k's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com.

Technology is evolving faster than many careers do. This article reflects on what it feels like to adapt mid-career, and how people in tech and non-tech roles can keep learning without losing confidence or identity.

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/how-orbs-is-bringing-professional-perpetuals-trading-to-monad-without-custom-infrastructure.
Orbs integrates Perpetual Hub Ultra with Atlantis on Monad, enabling onchain perpetual futures through modular Layer-3 infrastructure.
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This story was written by: @ishanpandey. Learn more about this writer by checking @ishanpandey's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com.

Orbs integrates Perpetual Hub Ultra with Atlantis on Monad, enabling onchain perpetual futures through modular Layer-3 infrastructure.

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/sachin-gupta-redefining-modern-audit-through-technology-and-analytics.
Sachin Gupta blends audit expertise with analytics, automation, and cloud tools to enhance efficiency, compliance, and risk detection.
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This story was written by: @sanya_kapoor. Learn more about this writer by checking @sanya_kapoor's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com.

Sachin Gupta modernizes auditing by blending accounting expertise with data analytics, automation, and cloud tools. His innovations—including automated testing templates, multi-ERP integration, and formula-driven analytics—reduced audit hours by 20–30%, uncovered $1M+ in misstatements, and enhanced compliance, efficiency, and risk detection for multi-industry clients.

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/how-strategic-technical-leadership-is-reshaping-retirement-services-technology.
How Viswanath Mucheli Chenchu modernized retirement plan platforms, boosting adoption, security, and operational efficiency.
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This story was written by: @sanya_kapoor. Learn more about this writer by checking @sanya_kapoor's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com.

Viswanath Mucheli Chenchu led the end-to-end modernization of a retirement plan administration platform, launching an enterprise-scale solution that streamlined self-employed 401(k) management. His technical leadership integrated secure APIs, improved observability, boosted customer adoption by 27%, and reduced support volume by 15%, setting new benchmarks for fintech digital transformation.

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/the-gold-standard-is-back-but-making-it-work-digitally-is-harder-than-it-sounds.
I have spent years watching the gold industry evolve and grow. But the push to digitize gold ownership is one of the most significant shifts I have seen.
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This story was written by: @marcusbriggs. Learn more about this writer by checking @marcusbriggs's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com.

Digital gold promises instant transfers, global accessibility, and security. But between that promise and reality sits a maze of infrastructure problems, verification nightmares, and integration challenges that would make any software architect wince.