Language on the Erlang/BEAM VM. Comes with an actor model and built-in messaging/processes, which panelists cite as a natural fit for distributed systems. Nathan counters that needing Elixir to build distributed systems means you don't actually understand how they work. Panelists note Elixir is process-oriented and not a universal language — many non-messaging use cases are harder in Elixir than in more general-purpose languages.