Engineering teams frequently adopt microservices as systems expand, but this can result in a disjointed ecosystem with varied data access patterns, repeated business logic, and inconsistent developer experiences. A unified data graph with a consistent execution layer can mitigate these issues by centralizing schemas, streamlining functionality composition, and reducing operational overhead while maintaining performance and reliability.
Viaduct is Airbnb’s open-source, data-centric service mesh and GraphQL platform built around a cohesive central schema. It has been instrumental in scaling Airbnb’s engineering efforts.
Adam Miskiewicz, a Principal Software Engineer at Airbnb, contributed to Viaduct. He joins the podcast with Gregor Vand to discuss Viaduct’s inception at Airbnb, the architectural principles it embodies, the challenges of scaling GraphQL to handle millions of queries per second, and the rationale behind open-sourcing the platform. They also explore the future of backend development in an AI-driven landscape and how unified data layers could shape the next wave of engineering systems.
Gregor Vand is a security-focused technologist with experience as a CTO in cybersecurity, cyber insurance, and software engineering. Based in Singapore, he can be found on vand.hk or LinkedIn.
[Please click here to see the transcript of this episode.](http://softwareengineeringdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/SED1897-Airbnb.txt)
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