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Hey there—I’m Jon McLaren, a Web Developer Advocate at HubSpot who likes to talk shop.

Right now, I spend most of my time figuring out what actually works (and what’s just hype) in AI-assisted software engineering—building modular agent skills, working with MCP servers, and designing hands-on developer experiences that help engineers build better software faster. My foundation is in front-end architecture, digital accessibility, and website performance, and I care deeply about the craft of building things that deliver real results for users and businesses.

A personal philosophy of mine is that we grow better together. Whether I’m writing about why sharing raw AI prompts misses the point, teaching developers how to write reusable agent skills, or building live gamified coding challenges for hundreds of conference attendees, my goal is to distill what I’m learning so we can all level up our careers.

Featured Writing & Work

• Why asking someone technical for their prompts results in... — Why raw prompts don’t transfer well between engineers, and how context and system design actually drive AI results.
• You Don't Need Better Agents, You Need Better Skills (HubSpot Developer Blog) — How modular, reusable agent skills and MCP tooling turn general-purpose coding agents into reliable engineering workflows.
• Building the Builder Bar (HubSpot Developer Blog) — Behind the scenes of architecting a hands-on, gamified AI developer activation at INBOUND.

People in tech whom I think are awesome and deserve some positive attention

Jen Simmons, Olia Gozha, Emma Bostian, Gonzalo Torreras, Kelly Vaughn, BJ Szyjakowski, Sidney Buckner, Ali Spittel, Judith Heumann, Chris Coyier, Sarah Drasner, Mark Ryba, Una Kravetz, Dave Rupert, Scott Tolinski, Wes Bos, Dharmesh Shah.

I have so many amazing coworkers at HubSpot, I don't want to play favorites in the workplace, but I encourage you to engage with us online. We don't bite... most of the time.

Organizations I think are awesome and deserve some positive attention

HubSpot, Spin Group, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Ukrainian Red Cross

The list is a mix of companies big and small, as well as charitable organizations. Over time I'll add more to this list, but I aim to keep the list small to focus attention.