Celebrating One Year Working on Axelar: Building the Interoperability Future
Tags: webdev, devrel, blockchain, news
Published: 2024-04-11 14:42:16

gm builders!

It's been a while since I published my last piece of content here. I'm back—not to dwell on the gap but to share my excitement for what lies ahead. Above all, I'm celebrating a year as a Developer Advocate working on Axelar with the best engineers and teams in web3. Woohoo 🥳

![Idris speaking at Web3 Afrika event](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1711968713969/136a7ba9-a122-42b5-bd6b-330b30fdb246.jpeg)

As I sit down to pen this reflection, I'm reminded of the countless stories where individuals embark on journeys filled with unknowns, armed with nothing but a heart full of dreams and a relentless drive to explore. This narrative resonates universally, mirroring the essence of human curiosity and our innate desire to push beyond the familiar confines of our world.

Exactly one year ago, I found myself at the threshold of such an adventure with Axelar. Much like the protagonist of a story who steps into a new realm, I was filled with a blend of excitement and uncertainty.

In this blog post, I invite you to join me on a retrospective voyage through my first year at Axelar. It's a story of growth, learning, and the relentless pursuit of building bridges in the digital world.

## The Motivation

In the early days, we had [Bitcoin](https://bitcoin.org/en/), [Vitalik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitalik_Buterin) and his team take significant steps to enrich the developer ecosystem by [enabling applications to leverage the blockchain through smart contracts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9dpjN3Mwps). This sparked immense excitement in the "crypto" space, particularly among builders and the curious. It means that whether you were actively involved in the space or not, you couldn't ignore the buzz about NFTs, haha.

Fast forward to late 2021, I became really curious about what powers NFTs. At that time, the space saw an unprecedented boom, and it was everywhere. However, as a backend developer, I used my curiosity to focus on learning about the technology rather than the "hype." Discovering blockchain and its amazing features that could be leveraged made me dive deep into the "Rabbit Hole," and the rest was history.

***But there was a problem; wait, what?***

![There was a problem](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1712053448125/ad1e1349-61df-4b43-b457-8cb53c4a972a.png)

Yes, I'll discuss the problem in one of the sections of this post; keep reading.

Back to my motivations, Axelar wasn't just another company; it promised a quest toward building the future of interoperability—a concept as vast and uncharted as the deepest oceans or the farthest galaxies in our collective imagination.

This journey at Axelar became my canvas, on which I've painted days of rigorous challenges, moments of unprecedented innovation, and the unyielding pursuit of something truly groundbreaking. It's a tale not unlike those of explorers of old, who set sail to discover new worlds or scientists on the cusp of breakthroughs that could redefine the boundaries of what we believe is possible.

## First-Year Milestone

![Idris Olubisi speaking at Osmocon conference in Paris](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1711983138672/8448a28c-daa1-44fc-8aee-217be9e4b855.jpeg)

The list is looooooooooooong!

One of my greatest achievements so far has been collaborating with incredibly talented, brilliant, and passionate engineers and leaders under the guidance of my manager, Stephen Fluin, and the DevRel Team. We've made significant improvements to the current system, focusing on developer experience, supporting developers and partners, and fostering community and leadership, among many other areas. It's already been a year, but it still feels like day one. ;)

During this period, I've learned a great deal about Axelar. I've assisted partners with integration, enabling them to launch on the mainnet. I've delivered [numerous talks and workshops](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaZ7cT8J_HZbyPjlfLgFCCpA_rAbKaaqg) internationally and locally, created [boilerplate projects](https://github.com/axelarnetwork/foundry-axelar-gmp-example) for building and testing cross-chain transactions locally or on testnets using [Foundry](https://book.getfoundry.sh/), hosted and judged several hackathons, enhanced [developer documentation](https://docs.axelar.dev/) to support developer success, and worked with top industry leaders, projects, and products.

Additionally, I've built strong relationships, increased developer engagement, gathered feedback to enhance our products, and contributed significantly to developing our developer community, among many other activities.

> 💡It's just day 0, with many more exciting updates to come.

## Building the Interoperability Future

![Visualize a humorous scenario highlighting the evolution from isolated technological systems to a future of seamless interoperability without using text on the image. Picture a series of panels or a single scene that progresses from left to right. On the left, depict an individual struggling to connect two ancient, bulky computers with a mess of cables and adapters. In the center, transition to a slightly more modern setup where the individual looks slightly less frustrated but still faces compatibility issues, represented by mismatched devices trying to connect. On the right, show the future of interoperability: the same individual now effortlessly interacts with a diverse array of sleek, modern devices that are all seamlessly connected through glowing, ethereal links. The devices float in harmony, symbolizing the ease and connectivity of the interoperability future. The entire scene should be imbued with a playful tone, using visual cues to convey the transition from frustration to effortless connectivity, all without the need for textual explanation.](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1712054075511/f2b4c972-0c96-4b3d-a8eb-66e7ede3d63e.png)

In the previous step, I mentioned there was a problem, and I promised to discuss it. The issue is well-known in the blockchain space, where all blockchain ecosystems, including both EVM and non-EVM chains, operate in isolation. These are great solutions that many products use, but there isn't a way to connect these ecosystems together in a decentralized manner without compromising security, decentralization, or the developer experience.

Guess what? We have an answer, and that's [Axelar](https://axelar.network/), connecting over 60+ chains, improving developer experience, security through decentralization, and much more.

That's not all; developing with [Axelar Virtual Machine](https://axelar.network/blog/axelar-virtual-machine-future-of-interoperability) elevates the whole process of connectivity, supporting Interchain Maestro and Interchain Amplifier.

What does this mean for the future of interoperability?

With the Interchain Amplifier, developers can deploy and manage their multi-chain dApp instances using the Interchain Token Service, which went live on the mainnet in January. Additionally, [the Interchain Amplifier](https://docs.axelar.dev/dev/amplifier/introduction), recently launched, offers a permissionless model and service. This allows anyone to easily create a connection to the Axelar network and all its interconnected chains.

## Why I'm Excited

Everything, YES, everything. One of my greatest aspirations in life and as a professional is always to make an impact and provide solutions to help humanity.

> *Tiny changes, Remarkable Results* - *JamesClear*

If you're also working on Axelar and reading this, thank you for being amazing and for all the support so far.

To the tech community, tech Twitter, [Developer DAO](http://developerdao.com), and all the builders, a big thank you for your support. It means a lot to me.

Gracias!