Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Beyond Coding
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How New Staff Engineers Build Judgment Without Years of Experience | 26 août 2026 | 00:49:46 | |
How do new staff engineers build judgment without the years of experience that used to come with the role? Mallika Rao, engineering leader in big tech, explains why the data-structures-and-algorithms foundation everyone was trained on is no longer enough on its own, and where the complexity has actually shifted now that AI writes the implementation. In this video, we cover:
If you've just made staff, or you're about to, this conversation gives you a frame for what the level actually demands now and how to grow into it faster than the old apprenticeship allowed. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - How AI Is Changing Senior Engineering Careers 00:00:41 - Why "How Does AI Affect Engineers" Is the Wrong Question 00:03:26 - What Judgment Actually Is: Rehearsing Multiple Futures 00:05:24 - Why Data Structures and Algorithms Are No Longer Enough 00:07:22 - Learning Judgment From Incident Reports Like the 2017 S3 Outage 00:11:13 - The New Staff Engineer's Core Challenge: Cognitive Coordination 00:14:48 - What Managers, Universities, and Shakespeare Each Owe You 00:17:55 - Code Review Load, Meeting Notes, and the Surprise Ask for More Meetings 00:23:59 - Trust as Architecture: Why Evals Started as a Spreadsheet 00:27:09 - Tiger Teams vs Big Teams: Product Managers Reviewing Code 00:32:39 - Why Some Engineers Can't Keep Up With Agents 00:35:46 - Local AI Champions and Splitting Planning From Execution 00:38:38 - Go Deep or Go Broad? Search in a World of Agents 00:44:12 - Taste vs Judgment: Thinking in 50 Layers Guest: Mallika Rao, engineering leader in big tech. Rehearshing the Future framework If by Rudyard Kipling | |||
| How Amazon Turns Real Failures Into Better AI Models | 19 août 2026 | 00:41:53 | |
How does Amazon build its agentic AI? Michael Giannangeli, Head of Product for Amazon Nova and Agentic AI, breaks down evals, RL gyms, and model routing. He also explains why the bottleneck in software has shifted away from engineering hours and what takes its place. In this video, we cover:
For engineers and product people building with AI agents who want to see how a frontier lab actually closes its feedback loops. Recorded at the AI4 conference 2026. Timestamps: Guest: Michael Giannangeli - Head of Product, Agentic AI & Amazon Nova at Amazon #AmazonNova #AgenticAI #AIEngineering | |||
| Wes Bos: How Developers Stand Out When AI Writes the Code | 12 août 2026 | 00:24:57 | |
AI is changing what developers build, but code alone is no longer enough to prove what you can do. Wes Bos explains why engineers need to solve problems beyond syntax, how agent workflows are reshaping software development, and what still requires human thinking. In this conversation:
For developers navigating AI-assisted coding, this episode explores the skills and signals that still help you stand out. This podcast was recorded at JSNation, the key web dev conference. OUTLINE | |||
| Career Advice Every Software Engineer Needs Right Now | 05 août 2026 | 00:55:17 | |
Answering engineer questions on AI pressure, career growth, product thinking and impact. Including the production incident I'm glad happened, and the mindset I refuse to accept when things break. In this video, we cover: - Whether managers are really demanding more output because of AI - Balancing fundamentals with AI coding tools and agents early in your career - Specialist vs generalist and when to lean into each - Visibility, personal branding and who gets credit for your work - Product thinking, evaluating impact and what I got wrong about content being king For software engineers at any level who want honest answers on career strategy in the agent era, from someone doing both engineering and product. Timestamps: | |||
| DX Expert: What The Best Engineers Solve After The Code Review Bottleneck | 29 juil. 2026 | 01:22:08 | |
How do you prove AI is shipping more features? Amos Haviv leads the Developer Workflow teams at Booking.com, supporting 4000 engineers operating 8000 repos. Everybody is burning through their AI budget right now and almost nobody can answer what it bought them. Amos can, because his team spent four years building an event system to debug their own SDLC before AI upped the urgency. In this video, we cover:
For platform engineers, engineering leaders, and anyone being asked to prove ROI on AI tooling this quarter. Timestamps: Mentioned in the episode: Views expressed are Amos's own and do not represent Booking.com. #AI #SoftwareEngineering #DeveloperExperience | |||
| AWS Veteran: The New Software Development Life Cycle | 22 juil. 2026 | 01:53:17 | |
"I need to stop using Opus. This doesn't work." That was Heitor Lessa's conclusion after a refactor cost him 200 million tokens, and it forced him to rebuild the entire agent workflow now available for 1400 engineers. Heitor spent 11 years at AWS, built Lambda Powertools to 230 billion API calls a week, and in this episode he walks through the full SDLC workflow on screen, from discovery to merge check. In this episode, we cover:
If you're an engineer figuring out how to work with agents at team scale without losing trust in your codebase, this is the workflow to steal. This is also the first Beyond Coding episode with visuals on screen, so let me know what you think of the format. Timestamps: #softwareengineering #aiagents #aws | |||
| Vercel VP: What Senior Engineers do Differently | 15 juil. 2026 | 00:28:15 | |
What senior engineers do differently has less to do with output than most career ladders suggest, and Lindsey Simon, VP of Engineering at Vercel, has watched the distinction sharpen as everyone in the valley becomes a "member of technical staff." From why new grads with hackathon years might out-prepare engineers with six years on the job, to what happens when PR throughput stops being your lever, this is a conversation about what earns seniority now. In this episode, we cover:
If you're wondering whether your years of experience still compound, or you're early-career and tired of the "woe is the juniors" narrative, this one reframes both. This podcast was recorded at TechLead Conference, a conference for engineering leaders on adopting AI. TIMESTAMPS Guest - Lindsey Simon, VP of Engineering at Vercel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseysimon #softwareengineering #ai #careergrowth | |||
| Cracked Solo Dev: Why the Fastest Engineers Are Falling Behind | 09 juil. 2026 | 00:40:05 | |
The fastest engineers are falling behind, and Kitze was one of them. He built his reputation on raw coding speed, then realized his coding wasn't competing with anyone's coding anymore, it was competing with their setups. Wake-up call for developers: Kitze now runs 140 projects solo with agent loops, and in this episode he breaks down what separates the engineers pulling ahead from the ones getting left behind. In this episode, we cover:
For individual contributors, tech leads, and principal engineers who don't plan on falling behind This podcast was recorded at React Summit, the biggest React conference worldwide. TIMESTAMPS: | |||
| AI Cloud CTO: Why These Engineering Skills Get You Hired No Matter What | 01 juil. 2026 | 00:58:44 | |
Danila Shtan runs engineering at Nebius, one of the biggest AI clouds in the world, and he told me exactly which engineers he hires on the spot. There are only hundreds of people on the planet with the skill he wants most, and it is not the one you are grinding on. We get into which engineering skills are actually scarce and well paid today, and which ones are quietly on the way out. In this episode we cover:
If you are an engineer trying to work out where the value sits now that agents write the easy code, this is a straight answer from the person building the infrastructure underneath all of it. Timestamps: #AIEngineering #TechCareers #SoftwareEngineering | |||
| Tech Career Expert: Why Applying to Jobs No Longer Works | 24 juin 2026 | 00:46:39 | |
120,000 tech workers have been laid off in 2026, yet there are 60,000 open roles. Engineers applying are sending out 100 applications for zero replies. Former Reddit, Uber and Disney Plus recruiter Keki Mwaba breaks down why the market broke, why every resume now looks identical, and what gets you hired when yours looks like everyone else's. In this video, we cover:
If you're a software engineer trying to stand out in the most competitive tech market in years, this is the playbook. Timestamps: Guest: Keki Mwaba, career and recruitment expert: #techjobs #softwareengineering #careeradvice | |||
| AI Frontrunners: Why Coding is Solved But Engineering is Not | 17 juin 2026 | 00:51:46 | |
Jeroen Gordijn and Jeroen Dee: two frontrunners who stopped writing code months ago and say software development is already solved. Typing code is no longer necessary, but what matters more now? If you're an engineer that loves coding, you're in a tougher spot than you might realize. In this video, we cover: - Why writing code is "solved" but engineering isn't - Spec-driven development and how to get it started in your team - The "Dark Factory" and why code review is a huge bottleneck - Model vs harness: what matters more, and why - The unhealthy side of agentic coding If you write software for a living and you're trying to work out what your job becomes next, start here. Timestamps: Guests: Jeroen Gordijn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeroengordijn Jeroen Dee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeroendee #AgenticEngineering #SoftwareEngineering #Agents | |||
| AI Architect: Why The Best Software Engineers Are Solving Code Review Bottlenecks Now | 10 juin 2026 | 00:40:29 | |
AI generates 10x more code, but your senior engineers still review it by hand and it's burning them out. Even Google admits code review is now the bottleneck nobody knows how to solve. Florian Buetow, AI engineer at Xebia, has been running experiments to eliminate the human from the review loop entirely, and what he found changes where engineers should focus their effort. In this episode, we cover:
Whether you're an individual developer drowning in AI-generated PRs or driving AI adoption across a large engineering org, you'll leave with concrete experiments to run. More from Florian: Timestamps: #softwareengineering #aicoding #codereview | |||
| Google AI Lead: The New Rules of Software Engineering | 03 juin 2026 | 00:23:45 | |
Are you ready to adapt to the rapidly evolving rules of software development? In this deep dive, Logan Kilpatrick, Director and Engineer at Google DeepMind, breaks down how AI agents, advanced model-product symbiosis, and tools like Gemini 3.5 Flash are fundamentally shifting the engineering bottleneck. Learn how to maintain your competitive advantage by moving beyond the keyboard to focus on problem-solving, architectural taste, and system understanding. In this video, we cover:
This episode is for software engineers, tech leads, and computer science students looking to future-proof their careers and reset their ambitions in the era of autonomous engineering agents. Timestamps: #SoftwareEngineering #AIAgents #GoogleDeepMind | |||
| Addy Osmani: Top Tier Software Engineers vs. AI Agents. The Mindset You Need | 28 mai 2026 | 00:17:56 | |
As AI agents transform software engineering, how do you leverage them without losing your coding skills or risking production disasters? In this episode, Google Cloud AI Director Addy Osmani breaks down the shift from babysitting basic models to mastering advanced agent harnesses. In this episode, we cover:
This episode is a must-watch for software engineers and tech leaders looking to integrate AI agents into their workflows safely and effectively. You’ll walk away with actionable frameworks to boost your development velocity without letting your own technical edge rot. Guest:Addy Osmani is a Director at Google Cloud AI, famous for his work on Google Chrome and focused on AI agents in software engineering. Timestamps:00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:45 - The Reality of "Babysitting" Your AI Agent Setup 00:01:16 - How to Stop Babysitting and Build Secure AI Agents 00:02:36 - The Dangerous Mistakes of Uncontrolled AI Experiments 00:03:39 - Rising Abstractions: From Code to Agent Harnesses 00:05:18 - Why You Should Delegate Technical Tasks to AI 00:07:05 - How to Choose the Best AI Agent Harness 00:08:31 - How to Manage Your Developer Innovation Budget 00:10:17 - Are We Losing Pair Programming to AI Agents? 00:12:14 - Cognitive Surrender: The Hidden Threat of Generated Code 00:13:40 - The Verification Bottleneck: How to Trust AI Code 00:15:59 - How to Safely Scale Your Personal AI Bandwidth #AIAgents #SoftwareEngineering #DeveloperProductivity | |||
| What World Class Software Engineers Do That You Don't | 20 mai 2026 | 00:32:51 | |
After 250 episodes of Beyond Coding, a pattern shows up again and again: the engineers who thrive aren't the ones chasing the newest tool or the cleanest code. They're the ones who learn fast, keep things simple, and understand the business they're building for. This special pulls the sharpest moments from recent guests into one conversation about what actually makes a great software engineer in 2026. We cover:
For software engineers who want to think clearer, build better, and grow into the kind of engineer companies can't replace. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:17 - Why You Should Increase Your Breadth, Not Just Focus 00:02:16 - The Only Skill That Survives Every Tech Cycle 00:04:14 - Buzzwords Are Just Old Ideas in New Clothes 00:05:26 - What Clients Say vs What They Actually Want 00:06:45 - The Bad Architects Are Easier to Spot 00:08:50 - Why Good Engineers Use Boring Technology 00:11:40 - Stop Building for 100x Scale on Day One 00:13:13 - The Dogma of Clean Code Is Hurting You 00:15:15 - Simple Is Complicated Enough at Scale 00:16:28 - Design Only for the Next Order of Magnitude 00:18:19 - How to Talk Tech with Non-Technical Stakeholders 00:19:30 - The $50,000-Per-Hour Container Terminal Lesson 00:22:11 - Architects Are No Longer Cartographers, They're Scouts 00:25:18 - Start with a Question, Not an Answer 00:26:49 - Junior to Senior in the Age of AI Agents 00:27:29 - Don't Be a Fool with a Tool 00:29:43 - From Explicit to Implicit Knowledge Economy 00:30:38 - Use AI to Validate, Not to Generate #softwareengineering #engineeringcareer #softwarearchitecture | |||
| What Separates Cracked Software Engineers From Everyone Else | 06 mai 2026 | 00:38:57 | |
Reddit Reacts is back. I'm taking the most controversial takes on software engineering from Reddit and giving you my unfiltered perspective on what's happening, from juniors leveraging AI tools, to the culling of engineers who refuse to adapt, to whether you should take a gap year after a layoff. In this episode, we cover:
If you're an engineer trying to figure out where this industry is going and how to stay competitive, this one is for you. Mentioned in the episode:ADP List - free mentorship from senior engineers
00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:54 - How to Become Technically Cracked in 2026 00:05:35 - Will Juniors Who Only Code with AI Get Stuck? 00:09:26 - Will Senior Engineers Stop Writing Code By Hand? 00:11:11 - I Vibe Coded for 6 Months and It's a Disaster 00:15:04 - Why Leaders Demand Screen Sharing on Incident Calls 00:17:34 - "I Don't Do Anything and Still Get Promoted" 00:20:33 - Have the Best Engineers Stopped Applying? 00:25:39 - The Future of Software Engineering in the AI Era 00:32:15 - Are Most Programmers Actually Bad? 00:34:58 - Should You Take a Gap Year After a Layoff? #softwareengineering #aicoding #techcareers | |||
| DevOps Expert: How Elite Software Engineers Are Using Agents to Get Sh*t Done | 29 avr. 2026 | 00:47:29 | |
Most engineers are using AI coding tools without understanding what they actually are and it's costing them. Microsoft Certified Trainer Rob Bos has trained thousands of engineers on AI tooling, and he sees the same gaps in fundamentals show up again and again, regardless of seniority. This is what you need to know:
Whether you're skeptical of AI tools or already living in agent mode, these are the fundamentals that separate engineers who get real value from those who get burned by the hype. Connect with Rob: References:Token tracker: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=RobBos.copilot-token-tracker Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:43 - The #1 Thing Engineers Get Wrong About AI 00:02:09 - How Much LLM Theory Do You Actually Need? 00:03:58 - Why Pair Programming Is Still the Best Way to Learn AI 00:05:26 - Why Rob Skips Tab Completion and Lives in Agent Mode 00:07:03 - The "AI Doesn't Increase Productivity" Debate 00:08:29 - Why Your Real Job Was Never Writing Code 00:09:14 - The 2-Hours-of-Coding Problem No One Talks About 00:11:02 - More Code = More Pressure on Your Review Process 00:12:21 - Why AI Magnifies Existing Technical Debt 00:13:39 - The Customer Who Couldn't Start AI With Developers Yet 00:15:11 - The Future Engineer: Reviewer, Not Writer 00:17:00 - Convincing the AI Skeptic Who Tried It Years Ago 00:19:17 - LLMs Explained Without Visuals (Attention & Semantics) 00:22:41 - Why Prompt Engineering Actually Matters 00:24:20 - From Zero to Hero: The 6-Month Learning Curve 00:26:18 - Is This Confrontational for 20-Year Veterans? 00:29:30 - Becoming a Better Engineer by Thinking in Systems 00:31:26 - Will AI Stop Working as Innovation Slows? 00:34:26 - The Lost Art of Pair Programming with AI 00:35:44 - Tribalism in AI Tools (And Why It's Pointless) 00:37:33 - Tool Agnostic: Start With the Foundations 00:39:40 - Is the IDE Still Relevant? 00:40:50 - The Bluescreen Story That Changed His Mind 00:41:47 - The Hidden Environmental Cost of AI Coding 00:44:15 - 36 Million Tokens in 30 Days: What Does It Mean? 00:45:47 - Running LLMs at the Edge to Cut the Footprint 00:46:48 - Why You Should Be Allowed to Wait Five Minutes Longer 00:47:05 - Outro #githubcopilot #aicoding #softwareengineering | |||
| OSS Expert: Why World Class Engineers Get Jobs on Easy Mode | 22 avr. 2026 | 00:37:49 | |
Most engineers approach open source the wrong way. They write code, open a PR, and wonder why it never gets merged. Bruno Schaatsbergen, Terraform core contributor and ex-HashiCorp engineer, breaks down the real craft behind contributions that actually land, and why AI is quietly breaking the ecosystem we all depend on. In this episode, we cover:
If you've ever wanted to contribute to open source but didn't know where to start, this episode gives you a clear perspective from someone who's been on both sides. Connect with Bruno: OUTILNE 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:04 - How Open Source Shaped My Entire Career 00:02:14 - Why I Take Pride in Every PR I Write 00:03:16 - Open Source vs Personal Projects: The Real Difference 00:04:18 - Why Your PRs Get Ignored (And How to Fix It) 00:05:41 - Know Your Audience: The Counterintuitive PR Hack 00:06:35 - Dealing With Imposter Syndrome as a Contributor 00:07:10 - Read Code Like a Writer Reads Books 00:09:31 - My First Contribution (And How It Changed My Career) 00:10:51 - Should You Contribute to Open Source Early in Your Career? 00:12:46 - The Dark Side: When Contributions Become Noise 00:13:44 - Killed With Kindness: The AI Slop Problem 00:16:17 - How Maintainers Are Fighting AI Slop 00:18:02 - How I Actually Use AI Agents in My Workflow 00:19:11 - Don't Outsource Your Thinking to AI 00:20:11 - Who's Liable for AI-Generated Code? 00:21:16 - Earned Rights: Why Trust Matters in Open Source 00:22:52 - How to Approach People at Tech Conferences 00:24:52 - Open Source Is Not a Democracy 00:26:04 - Why Open Source Beats a Tailored Resume 00:27:12 - Never Contribute With the Goal of Getting Hired 00:28:38 - The Real Reason Consistency Pays Off 00:29:30 - Admitting I'm a University Dropout 00:30:42 - Why I Haven't Contributed in Weeks (And That's Okay) 00:32:07 - The Trap of Chasing Contributor Rankings 00:34:32 - Open Source Lets You Work With Anyone in the World 00:35:52 - Final Advice: Don't Let AI Steal Your Identity | |||
| Veteran Architect: How To Design And Build Systems That Survive | 15 avr. 2026 | 00:53:36 | |
What separates software that survives from software nobody wants to touch? Nico Krijnen has spent 30 years building systems, coaching teams, and learning why some projects thrive while others quietly become the legacy code everyone avoids. In this episode, he shares why the real work starts after you ship, what actually turns a system into legacy, and why the knowledge in your team's heads matters more than the code itself. In this episode, we cover:
Whether you're a senior engineer rethinking how you build or earlier in your career trying to understand what really matters, this episode will change how you think about software that lasts. Connect with Nico: https://realworldarchitect.dev TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:17 - Why He Keeps Choosing Engineering Over Management 00:04:01 - Three Seniors Solved in Three Weeks What Management Couldn't 00:05:14 - The Signals You Miss When You're Not in the Team 00:06:26 - The #1 Skill Behind Every Successful Project 00:08:04 - Why Production Is the Starting Line, Not the Finish 00:10:13 - The Habit Most Teams Skip After Deploying 00:11:28 - Why the Best Teams Mix Designers and Engineers 00:14:36 - Finding the Right People for the Job at Hand 00:17:01 - What Juniors Bring That Seniors Can't 00:20:57 - How to Handle Ideas You Disagree With as a Senior 00:24:21 - A Simple Technique to Surface Everyone's Best Ideas 00:27:09 - What Makes a System Survive Long-Term 00:30:53 - What Actually Makes a System "Legacy" 00:35:01 - The Knowledge That Keeps Software Alive 00:36:06 - Peter Naur's Theory Building: Why Documentation Isn't Enough 00:40:06 - How Knowledge Loss Is Killing Your Codebase 00:42:42 - The Hidden Risk of AI Tools for Team Knowledge 00:48:14 - Why You Should Assume Everything You Build Is Wrong 00:51:31 - Make Hard Things Easy to Change #SoftwareEngineering #SystemDesign #TechPodcast | |||
| Top Microsoft Advisor: "Coding Is Cheap, Software Is Expensive." You're Focused on the Wrong Thing | 08 avr. 2026 | 00:46:06 | |
Suzanne Daniels is a Top Microsoft Advisor who works with CTOs and engineering leaders across EMEA on developer productivity, GitHub, and AI adoption. Her take: the industry is obsessing over coding speed, but that was only ever level one. The real shift is in who defines the solution, not who writes the code. In this episode, we cover:
Whether you're early in career and struggling to land a role, or a senior engineer rethinking where your value lies, Suzanne breaks down what actually matters when the coding part becomes cheap. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:15 - Is AI Productivity the Whole Story? 00:03:26 - Why Outcomes Matter More Than Code Output 00:04:13 - The Real Value Was Never in the Coding 00:06:06 - The Product-Engineering Boundary Is Disappearing 00:07:37 - Why Junior Engineers Are Actually in High Demand 00:09:41 - Research Says Juniors Adopt AI Faster Than Seniors 00:11:31 - The Rise of Comb-Shaped Engineers 00:12:32 - The Energy Juniors Bring That Teams Need 00:14:06 - How Seniors Codify Knowledge for Agents and Humans 00:16:35 - Advice for Early Career Engineers Right Now 00:19:04 - Old Principles Getting a New Polish 00:21:13 - Coding Is Cheap, Software Is Expensive 00:22:52 - Will Agentic Development Change Your Programming Language? 00:24:53 - What Even Is an Application in the Agent Era? 00:28:34 - The Authenticity Paradox of AI-Written Content 00:30:12 - Why Your AI Output Needs a Human Value Add 00:32:12 - Is Open Source at Risk Because of AI? 00:35:09 - When Your Favorite Tool Doesn't Follow You to the Next Job 00:36:45 - Most AI Coding Tools Are 80% the Same 00:38:15 - What Engineering Leaders Should Enable Beyond Licensing 00:42:58 - Should You Leave If Your Company Won't Let You Experiment? 00:45:16 - Platform Engineering as the Foundation for AI Adoption Guest: Suzanne Daniels #SoftwareEngineering #AICoding #BeyondCoding | |||
| AI Expert: Most Software Engineers Aren't Ready for What's Coming | 01 avr. 2026 | 00:47:37 | |
The role of the software engineer is shifting from execution to orchestration, and it's happening faster than most of us realize. Dennis Vink, Principal Consultant at Xebia, breaks down how he approaches code modernization with AI, why fundamentals and system design matter more now than ever, and what the engineering role is actually becoming. In this episode, we cover:
Whether you're sitting on legacy code at work or wondering how your role as an engineer is evolving, this conversation will make you think about where you need to invest your time next. Timestamps: Projects we discussed: #SoftwareEngineering #SystemDesign #AIEngineering | |||
| Veteran CTO: How to Think About Your Software Engineering Career | 25 mars 2026 | 01:00:55 | |
Most senior engineers don't realize they're stuck until it's too late. The longer you stay, the more people around you have already decided who you are and what you're for. Ian Miell, CTO at Container Solutions, breaks down why this happens and how understanding the system around you is the first step to growing beyond it. In this episode, we cover:
If you're a senior engineer trying to grow beyond your current ceiling, this one is worth your time. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:42 - How to Pitch to Senior Leadership and Get Buy-In 00:03:26 - Why You Should Feel Uncomfortable 30% of the Time 00:06:33 - How to Break Through a Seniority Ceiling 00:08:24 - The Burden of Context: Why Being the Go-To Person Traps You 00:10:16 - How Ian Became CTO Without Trying To 00:13:40 - Why a CTO's Job Is Mostly Coaching Now 00:18:20 - Understanding Incentives: The Key to Navigating Any Org 00:23:08 - Startups vs. Large Companies: Completely Different Rules 00:25:00 - Why AI Makes Distribution the Real Problem, Not Building 00:28:16 - The Hidden Maintenance Risk of Vibe-Coded Software 00:30:13 - Security and Compliance: More Nuanced Than Engineers Think 00:36:54 - Where "Architecture Follows the Money" Came From 00:42:36 - The Wrong Number of Customers: A Systems Thinking Story 00:47:23 - Why Engineers Think Individually Instead of Systemically 00:51:53 - How to Start Thinking in Systems 00:57:50 - How to Create Cross-Pollination in Consulting Teams 00:59:39 - What CTOs Actually Look for When Hiring 01:00:34 - Outro #softwareengineering #systemsthinking #careergrowth | |||
| Top Tier Architect: Software Engineering Is About Battling Complexity | 18 mars 2026 | 00:52:14 | |
Most architects stop coding... and that's exactly where they lose their edge. Dennis Doomen has been a hands-on coding architect for 30 years, and his take is blunt: if you're not in the code, you can't make good architectural decisions. Period. In this episode, we get into the real causes of codebase rot, why dogmatic pattern-following destroys teams, how Dennis uses AI tools to build open source projects without compromising his standards, and why documentation and decision records might be the most underrated investment a software team can make. This one is for software engineers and architects who want to stay sharp, stay relevant, and build systems that actually last. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:05 - Why Dennis Refuses to Stop Coding (After 30 Years) 00:02:54 - The Only Way to Be an Effective Software Architect 00:04:43 - What Happens When Teams Copy Patterns Without Understanding Them 00:06:23 - Software Engineering Is About Battling Complexity 00:08:20 - When to Break Consistency to Reduce Complexity 00:09:24 - The Problem with Overzealous SOLID Principles 00:11:06 - The Future Where We Don't Care About Code Anymore 00:12:07 - How Dennis Built an Open Source Library with GitHub Copilot 00:14:18 - Accepting AI-Generated Code That Doesn't Meet Your Standards 00:16:39 - How to Use AI Without Losing Code Quality 00:17:41 - The Execution Is Accelerating — What Actually Matters Now 00:20:19 - Why Tests Are Your Safety Net in an AI-First World 00:23:44 - Lessons Learned from Letting AI Run Unsupervised 00:26:46 - Should Teams Standardize Which AI Tool They Use? 00:27:32 - Junior Devs and AI: Learning Skills vs. Speed 00:29:21 - How to Stay Curious and Critical in an AI-Assisted Team 00:33:43 - How to Build a Software Engineer from Scratch Today 00:34:38 - Dennis's Emoji-Based Pull Request Review System 00:36:45 - What AI Still Can't Do: Holistic Architectural Thinking 00:38:38 - Why Your Git History Is More Valuable Than You Think 00:40:44 - Decision Records: The Architecture Investment That Pays Off 00:43:16 - When Documentation Saved Dennis from a Bad Management Decision 00:44:47 - The Tailwind Layoffs and the Open Source Business Model Crisis 00:46:27 - Guidelines for Consuming Open Source Responsibly 00:49:51 - Why You Should Open Source Your Own Projects Guest: Dennis Doomen - Microsoft MVP, open source creator (FluentAssertions and more), and coding architect at Aviva Solutions. #softwaredevelopment #softwarearchitecture #softwareengineering | |||
| Uber Engineering Manager: Why Clarity Beats Seniority | 11 mars 2026 | 00:44:46 | |
Sendil Nellaiyapen, Engineering Manager at Uber, has built systems that scale to millions of users. In this episode he shares what most engineers get wrong about both system design and the move into engineering management In this episode, we cover:
Whether you're a senior engineer weighing the move into management, or already leading teams and looking to sharpen your system design thinking, this one's for you. OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:05 - The Ingredients for Building Systems at Scale 00:02:23 - When to Compromise on Your Foundation 00:03:42 - Scaling from 2,000 to 5 Million Users 00:06:37 - Why Clarity Beats Seniority Every Time 00:08:27 - The Danger of Muscle Memory in Engineering 00:10:25 - MVP Mindset: What You Can and Can't Compromise 00:13:22 - How High-Performing Teams Handle Growing Complexity 00:15:04 - Who Owns the Assumptions? Shared Team Responsibility 00:17:04 - Building Open Frameworks Instead of Closed Rules 00:19:53 - Latency Is Overrated (Here's Why) 00:22:52 - Recipes for Disaster: The Biggest System Design Pitfalls 00:24:17 - The Scala Horror Story: When Elegance Kills Velocity 00:26:52 - How to Handle Opinionated Engineers on Your Team 00:29:03 - Setting Guardrails: The Manager's Design Responsibility 00:32:01 - The Hardest Trade-Off Going from IC to Engineering Manager 00:34:35 - Should Great Engineers Stay IC or Go into Management? 00:37:11 - BFS vs DFS Engineers: Which Type Makes a Better Manager? 00:39:05 - The Real Cost of Becoming a Manager (And Why It's Worth It) 00:41:52 - Outro #systemdesign #engineeringmanager #softwareengineering | |||
| Lead Software Engineer: Why You Can Write the Code in a Day but Ship in a Month | 04 mars 2026 | 00:39:56 | |
Are you over-engineering for a future that might never come? In this episode, we explore why "future-proofing" often leads to wasted time and sunk costs, and how shifting your mindset from opinions to hypotheses can drastically improve your Developer Experience (DevEx). In this episode, we cover:
If you are a software engineer or tech lead tired of the "Sacred Cloud Committee" and slow processes, this deep dive into DevEx is for you. Connect with Bas de Groot: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bas-de-groot-635013100 Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:00 - The Danger of "Future-Proofing" Your Architecture 00:03:18 - Why You Should Use Hypotheses Over Opinions 00:05:32 - "Shift Left Until There's Only Sh*t Left" 00:08:19 - At What Size Do You Need a DevEx Team? 00:11:02 - How to Measure Developer Friction Effectively 00:15:43 - Using Data to Fix Slow CI/CD Pipelines 00:17:26 - Why Surveys Beat DORA Metrics for Context 00:19:52 - The "Sacred Cloud Committee" Blocking Deployments 00:24:51 - How to Get Buy-In for DevEx Initiatives 00:28:56 - The Role of Hands-On Coding in DevEx 00:31:47 - Will AI Agents Fix Bad Processes? 00:34:44 - You Are Still Responsible for AI-Generated Code #developerexperience #softwarearchitecture #techlead | |||
| How Senior Software Engineers Balance Speed and Quality (Scale-Up Lessons) | 25 févr. 2026 | 00:47:09 | |
The difference between a junior and a senior engineer isn't coding speed, it's knowing when to say "no." "The best code you can write is the code you don't write." In this episode, I sit down with Alessandro Mautone (Senior Software Engineer at Aquablu, ex-WeTransfer) to discuss the reality of engineering at a scale-up: how do you maintain technical excellence when the business demands speed? We break down why delivering features "fast" pays your salary, but how to negotiate deadlines so you don't drown in technical debt later. If you want to move from writing code to owning product decisions, this conversation is for you. In this episode, we cover: - How to push back on features and negotiate deadlines without upsetting stakeholders - Why chasing "perfect code" can hurt a company in growth mode - The Generalist vs. Specialist career path: Which one is right for you? - The potential pitfalls of using AI for unit tests without proper oversight Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:06 - Balancing Technical Excellence With Delivery Speed 00:04:11 - Why Delivering Features Pays Your Salary 00:06:51 - The Importance of Ownership and "Skin in the Game" 00:08:59 - Leaving WeTransfer: When Company Direction Shifts 00:11:49 - The Generalist vs. Specialist Career Path Debate 00:16:46 - How to Attract Top Engineering Talent to Your Team 00:18:50 - Is LeetCode the Right Way to Hire for Scale-Ups? 00:23:16 - Learning to "Say No" is a Sign of Seniority 00:25:17 - Negotiating Scope Without Burning Bridges 00:26:02 - When AI Generates Bad Unit Tests 00:28:14 - Never Compromise on Tests, Even in "Code Red" 00:33:59 - Communicating Technical Concepts to Non-Tech Stakeholders 00:35:35 - The Never-Ending Battle Against Complexity 00:37:26 - When to Build for the Future vs. Ship Now 00:42:30 - A Real-World Example of Refactoring for Simplicity 00:46:48 - The Skill That Will Be Make or Break for Engineers #SoftwareEngineering #ScaleUp #TechnicalDebt | |||
| How to Think About Software Engineering (CTO's Perspective) | 18 févr. 2026 | 00:46:38 | |
We are at a unique point in history where there is finally an alternative to human coding. If AI can write the code effectively, what is left for the software engineer? In this episode, Joris Conijn (AWS CTO at Xebia) argues that the era of "just coding" is over. We discuss why senior developers are safe (for now), why juniors are at risk of never learning the fundamentals, and how "Shadow AI" is forcing companies to change their security strategies. Most importantly, we break down the difference between a "Programmer" and a "Software Engineer" with the introduction of agentic tools. If you want to future-proof your career and move from writing lines of code to designing systems, this conversation is for you. In this episode, we cover:
Connect with Joris Conijn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jorisconijn TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:11 - What Keeps a CTO Excited About Tech? 00:02:58 - Stop Being the "Department of No" in Security 00:05:28 - The Real Risk of Banning AI at Work 00:06:32 - When Developers Hold the Organization Hostage 00:08:14 - The Hidden Dangers of Instant AI Code Fixes 00:09:50 - Will Future Devs Understand Object Oriented Programming? 00:11:36 - Using AI to Accelerate Learning vs Copy-Pasting 00:13:17 - Why Testing Matters More When AI Writes Code 00:16:42 - Automating the Boring Parts of the SDLC 00:19:06 - How to Turn Meeting Transcripts into User Stories 00:21:36 - The Critical Skill of Making Implicit Knowledge Explicit 00:23:10 - Why You Should Stop Obsessing Over Story Points 00:27:46 - The "A-Team" Approach to High-Trust Development 00:29:54 - Running Parallel Workflows with AI Agents 00:33:34 - Pro Tip: Check Your AI Agents into Git 00:35:52 - Balancing Autonomy and Governance in Large Teams 00:39:19 - There Is Finally an Alternative to Human Coders 00:41:07 - Programmer vs Software Engineer: What is the Difference? 00:44:45 - How to Teach Software Engineering in the AI Era #SoftwareEngineering #SystemDesign #AIAgents | |||
| How to Build the Best Platforms for Software Engineers | 11 févr. 2026 | 00:43:40 | |
Is your internal developer platform actually improving velocity, or is it a bottleneck? We discuss why platform teams building "cool" abstractions is a red flag, and you should aim to create the best platform for software engineers. In this episode, we cover:
Connect with Adnan Alshar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adnanmalshar92 Connect with Jelmer de Jong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jelmerdejong-xebia 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:54 - Is DevOps Dead? The Truth About Platform Engineering 00:03:07 - Why Developers Are Drowning in Complexity Today 00:04:37 - Why Having No Platform Is Better Than a Bad Platform 00:07:20 - Treating Software Engineers as Customers of the Platform 00:11:26 - The Exact Moment You Should Start Building a Platform 00:14:18 - Who Should Be on Your First Platform Team? 00:17:33 - Turning Your Angriest Developers Into Platform Evangelists 00:18:57 - Key Metrics: How to Measure Platform Engineering Success 00:21:01 - Why 60% of Companies Don't Measure Platform Success 00:23:35 - Why No Metrics Is the Biggest Red Flag 00:25:23 - The Disconnect Between Executives and AI Readiness 00:31:34 - Integrating AI Tools and Large Language Models Securely 00:34:22 - Shadow IT: The Symptom of a Broken Platform 00:38:03 - How to Scale Without Becoming a Bottleneck 00:41:45 - Don’t Forget the Business Side of Platform Engineering #PlatformEngineering #DevOps #DeveloperProductivity | |||
| Career Advice I'd Give Every Software Engineer Right Now | 04 févr. 2026 | 01:01:08 | |
Engineering hasn't become easier, writing code has just become faster. Time to stop fighting symptoms and start thinking in systems. In this Q&A, I break down the career advice I'd give to any engineer, from mastering architecture to knowing when to quit a high-paying job. In this episode, we cover:
Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:58 - How to innovate in stubborn legacy companies 00:04:49 - The "Golden Handcuffs": Money vs. Mental Health 00:07:27 - Stop solving symptoms: Systems Thinking explained 00:13:10 - Transitioning from Senior Engineer to Solutions Architect 00:15:08 - Communicating technical risks to non-technical bosses 00:17:48 - Proving leadership before you have the title 00:22:25 - My strategy for dealing with Imposter Syndrome 00:26:12 - Creating a "Zettelkasten" to retain technical knowledge 00:29:12 - The mindset that makes me stress-proof at work 00:33:10 - Learning to code with a product/design background 00:38:40 - Working with international remote teams 00:40:35 - Career Pivot: Software Engineering to Cyber Security 00:43:20 - Solopreneur opportunities in the "Education Gold Rush" 00:51:50 - Future Predictions: Vibe Coding vs. Vibe Engineering #SoftwareEngineering #CareerAdvice #SystemsThinking | |||
| The Skills That Matter When AI Writes Your Code | 28 janv. 2026 | 00:41:51 | |
The software engineering landscape is shifting rapidly. Coding is becoming "cheap" because of tools like Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Cursor etc. Interviews are evolving to focus on system design over syntax. In this Q&A, I break down exactly which skills matter now, how to negotiate the salary you deserve, and how to deal with difficult personalities on your team. In this episode:
Whether you are looking for your first job with no experience or you are a mid-level dev trying to break into a Staff Engineer role, this session is packed with actionable career advice. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:06 - Handling Brilliant Jerks: Toxic Culture vs. High Performance 00:04:13 - How Juniors Can Use AI to Outperform Seniors 00:07:10 - The Future of Coding Interviews: System Design and AI 00:11:20 - The Real Difference Between Good and Great Developers 00:13:00 - One Mistake Mid-Level Developers Make That Stalls Growth 00:15:58 - Salary Negotiation Tactics: How I Got Two Raises in One Year 00:23:44 - Questions You Should Ask to Crush Your Tech Interview 00:27:42 - What Actually Moves the Needle: Side Projects vs. Experience 00:31:05 - Don't Wait for a Perfect Portfolio to Start Applying 00:32:25 - Finding Jobs: Why LinkedIn and Meetups Beat Job Boards 00:35:16 - Should Frontend Developers Worry About Learning Backend Skills? 00:37:39 - Do Tech Certifications Actually Help You Get Hired? 00:39:07 - Mastering Soft Skills: Training Budgets vs. Real Experience #softwareengineering #careeradvice #techinterviews | |||
| Google & AWS Veteran: How To Become a Top Tier Software Architect | 21 janv. 2026 | 01:04:54 | |
"Architects shouldn't try to be the smartest people in the room, they should make everybody else smarter." In this episode, Gregor Hohpe (ex-Google & AWS, author of "The Software Architect Elevator") breaks down exactly how to transition from software engineer to architect. He shares the mental models used at Big Tech to handle complexity, visualize systems, and navigate office politics without losing your technical edge. We cover: - Why "lowering risk" is the architect's real value proposition - The "Phantom Sketch Artist" technique to visualize unclear requirements - How to gain "political capital" to push back on bad decisions - Why simple architectures are often the hardest to build If you want to move beyond just writing code and start designing systems that scale, this conversation is for you.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ghohpe 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:15 - How to Spot Bad Architects vs. Great Amplifiers 00:03:44 - Why Architects Are Actually Risk Managers in Disguise 00:06:13 - The Truth About Complexity and Simplicity at Scale 00:09:55 - How to Resolve Technical Disagreements Without Arguments 00:13:57 - Why You Should Use Pen and Paper for Architecture 00:17:24 - Mastering the Left-Right Brain Ping Pong Technique 00:20:42 - The "Architect Elevator": Connecting Code to Strategy 00:23:06 - The Rubber Duck Test: Are You a Good Architect? 00:25:41 - The "Phantom Sketch Artist" Method for System Design 00:30:37 - Stop Being a Cartographer, Start Being a Scout 00:34:47 - How to Keep Your Technical Skills Sharp as an Architect 00:44:37 - Navigating Office Politics using the "Court Jester" Strategy 00:48:08 - How to Earn and Spend Political Capital Wisely 00:53:17 - Why the "Big Ball of Mud" Might Be a Good Architecture 00:57:08 - How Executives Spot Gaps in Your Technical Logic 01:00:00 - Why Using AI for Architecture is a Dangerous Trap #SoftwareArchitecture #SystemDesign #SeniorDeveloper | |||
| Own Your Engineering Career (No One Else Will) | 14 janv. 2026 | 00:43:35 | |
Are you waiting for a promotion that never comes? In this episode, we break down why relying on your manager to define your growth is a career-limiting mistake and how you can take full ownership of your professional path. In this episode, we cover:
Connect with Zanina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zaninakatira References: RACI - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_assignment_matrix Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:51 - Why hard skills get you hired but soft skills make you thrive 00:04:17 - How to connect your code to actual business results 00:06:44 - The art of storytelling for technical professionals 00:09:16 - Balancing execution speed with team collaboration 00:11:57 - The problem with forcing engineers into management roles 00:15:13 - Surviving when technology outgrows your current skillset 00:17:59 - Using the RACI method to clarify ownership and decisions 00:21:23 - What to do when your manager has no answers for your growth 00:24:40 - Why you should value scope of work over job titles 00:28:39 - How to pitch and negotiate impactful projects to leadership 00:33:00 - Expanding your perspective by networking outside your team 00:35:35 - Visualizing your ambition and defining what success looks like 00:39:16 - Overcoming the fear of asking for constructive feedback #careergrowth #softwareengineering #softskills | |||
| The AI Skills Software Engineers Need to Learn Now | 07 janv. 2026 | 00:44:22 | |
Software engineers often think adding AI is just a simple API call, but moving from a Proof of Concept to a stable production system requires a completely different mindset. Maria Vechtomova breaks down the harsh reality of MLOps, why rigorous evaluation is non-negotiable, and why autonomous agents are riskier than you think. In this episode, we cover:
Connect with Maria: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-vechtomova Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:25 - Why the AI Hype Was Actually Good for Monitoring 00:03:07 - Real-World AI Use Cases That Deliver Actual Value 00:05:16 - MLOps Basics Every Software Engineer Needs to Know 00:08:08 - The Hidden Complexity of Deploying Agents to Production 00:12:02 - Minimum Requirements for Moving from PoC to Production 00:15:41 - Step-by-Step Guide to Evaluating AI Features Before Launch 00:18:08 - How to Handle Data Labeling and Drift Detection 00:21:55 - Why You Likely Need Custom Tools for Monitoring 00:24:56 - Why Engineers Build AI Features They Don't Need 00:26:01 - How Software Engineers Can Learn Data Science Principles 00:31:36 - The Dangerous Security Risks of Autonomous Customer Service Agents 00:34:44 - Why Human-in-the-Loop is Essential for Avoiding Reputational Damage 00:36:18 - Boosting Developer Productivity with Opinionated AI Prompts 00:39:20 - Using Voice Notes and AI to Organize Your Life #MLOps #SoftwareEngineering #ArtificialIntelligence | |||
| Why Mediocre Engineers Get Promoted Over Great Ones (CEO Explains) | 31 déc. 2025 | 00:53:32 | |
Are your technical skills actually holding your career back? In this conversation with Anand Sahay, Global CEO of Xebia, we explore the controversial reality that "mediocre" engineers often climb the corporate ladder faster than technical wizards. And what you need to do to change that trajectory. In this episode, we cover:
This discussion is essential for software engineers, architects, and technical managers who want to break through the "tech ceiling" and understand how decisions are really made at the top. Connect with Anand: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ansahay Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:28 - How to Pitch to Executives (And Not Get Rejected) 00:03:42 - The #1 Trait of Elite Engineering Leaders 00:06:15 - Why AI Answers Destroy Your Credibility 00:10:11 - Why Mediocre Engineers Get Promoted Over Great Ones 00:14:15 - The Truth About the "Individual Contributor" Track 00:16:16 - The Arrogance Trap: Why Devs Fail at Business 00:22:08 - Stop Being a "One Man Army" (Unless You Do This) 00:25:32 - From Developer to CEO: The Uncommon Path 00:29:07 - Why Most Engineering Teams Are Structured Wrong 00:32:17 - How to Spot a Toxic Tech Culture 00:34:44 - Will AI Replace Senior Engineers? 00:38:40 - Maintaining Technical Intuition Without Coding Daily 00:41:53 - When to Approve "Bad" Ideas for Team Morale 00:48:41 - The "Hard Part First" Rule for Innovation #SoftwareEngineering #TechLeadership #CareerGrowth | |||
| How to Build Skills That Outlast Any Tool (From Data Analyst to AI Lead) | 24 déc. 2025 | 00:48:07 | |
Tools change and frameworks die, but your career doesn't have to. Marijn Markus joins the show to explain why "Don't be a fool with a tool" is the single most important piece of advice for modern software engineers and data professionals. In this episode, we cover:
This conversation is essential for engineers who want to move from memorizing syntax to mastering the skills that actually last. Connect with Marijn Markus: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marijnmarkus Timestamps: #SoftwareEngineering #CareerAdvice #Technology | |||
| Why Coding Skills Won’t Get You To Staff Engineer | 17 déc. 2025 | 00:56:43 | |
Are you just executing tickets, or are you driving business impact? In this episode, Praveen Murugesan (VP of Engineering at Samsara) breaks down why the best engineers don't just write code and why "coding skills" alone won't get you there. He explains the critical shift from "software engineer" to "product engineer," why you shouldn't wait for permission to solve problems, and how to de-risk high-stakes projects like a true owner. In this episode, we cover: The difference between a "Ticket Taker" and a Product Engineer Why Product Managers should NOT be doing project management How to grow to Staff Engineer without managing a large team The exact interview questions to ask to test a company’s culture A real story of an engineer telling a VP: "That's not an important problem" Connect with Praveen Murugesan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/praveenmurugesan Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:55 - Product Engineer vs. Software Engineer: What’s the Difference? 00:06:20 - Why Product Managers Should Not Do Project Management 00:11:06 - The Danger of "Flying Blind" Without Business Context 00:15:24 - Why Curiosity Is the Ultimate Leverage in the AI Era 00:25:06 - Why the Best Ideas Must Win Regardless of Hierarchy 00:27:43 - The #1 Interview Question to Test for Engineering Ownership 00:32:12 - How to Test a Company’s Culture Before You Join 00:36:04 - Why You Don't Need to Be Senior to Be a Product Engineer 00:40:46 - Managing High-Stakes Projects and De-risking Failure 00:43:56 - What I Learned From Breaking Production at Salesforce 00:48:29 - The Myth About Staff Engineering and Managing Teams 00:51:59 - The Engineer Who Told the VP: "That's Not an Important Problem" #SoftwareEngineering #StaffEngineer #CareerGrowth | |||
| Forward Deployed Engineer: The Role Up 800% (And How to Get It) | 10 déc. 2025 | 00:45:33 | |
Traditional software engineering job listings have dropped by 70%, yet Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) roles have exploded by over 800% this year. We sit down with Mo Fagir, Principal Technical Consultant at ServiceNow, to break down exactly why this shift is happening and how you can pivot your career to ride this AI adoption wave. In this episode, we cover:
Connect with Mo Fagir: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mo-nour-tarig Timestamps: #ForwardDeployedEngineer #FDE #SoftwareCareers | |||
| AI Won't Replace Software Engineers, But This Might (CEO Perspective) | 03 déc. 2025 | 00:36:49 | |
If you think your value as a software engineer comes just from writing code, you're already at risk. In this episode, Outsystems CEO Woodson Martin reveals why AI isn't the real threat to your career. Irrelevance is. He explains that writing code is now only 20% of the job, and the engineers who thrive are the ones who master the other "80% that matters." We cover:
This is a reality check for developers, tech leads, and architects who want to stay relevant as agentic AI reshapes the industry. Connect with Woodson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/woodsonmartin Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:56 - How Agentic AI keeps the human in the loop 00:01:55 - Real-world example: Automating the grunt work 00:04:17 - How engineers are using agents internally 00:05:52 - Blending Low-Code and High-Code for complex systems 00:08:28 - Is a Low-Code career a trap for engineers? 00:10:50 - Will AI make software engineering obsolete? 00:12:09 - The 80/20 Rule: Why code is only 20% of your job 00:13:14 - Layoffs vs. the rise of the solo entrepreneur 00:15:18 - Career advice for a volatile tech market 00:17:02 - How to retain top talent and keep them happy 00:20:10 - Why we radically changed our engineering team structure 00:24:33 - The "Forward Deployed Engineer" model explained 00:27:08 - Outsystems vs. OpenAI: The future of platform building 00:31:45 - The tech debt problem no one's talking about 00:34:23 - The one thing that keeps you from becoming irrelevant #SoftwareEngineering #CareerAdvice #AIAgents | |||
| How We Get More Done with Fewer Engineers | 26 nov. 2025 | 00:28:52 | |
What if you could build a multi-million dollar software company where only 10% of your employees are developers? AFAS, a company with hundreds of millions in revenue, does exactly that with a lean team of just 70 engineers. In this episode, Engineering Manager Michiel Overeem pulls back the curtain on their unconventional strategies for achieving massive productivity with a surprisingly small team. In this episode, we cover:
This video is for engineering leaders and software developers who want to learn proven, counter-intuitive strategies to build hyper-effective teams and get more done, regardless of team size. Connect with Michiel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/movereem Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:22 - The "10% Engineering" Paradox at a €100M+ Company 00:03:20 - How Standardization Allows a Small Team to Do More 00:04:27 - The Two Types of Engineers Every Successful Company Needs 00:06:46 - Why Feeling Responsible is More Powerful Than Being Responsible 00:09:33 - The Secret Sauce of High-Performing Engineering Teams 00:11:52 - A Simple Method to Keep Engineers Connected to Customers 00:14:22 - What We Look For When Hiring New Engineers 00:17:09 - The #1 Red Flag That Will Get You Rejected in an Interview 00:19:33 - Why We Don't Use Scrum (And What We Do Instead) 00:22:51 - The Power of Strong, Decisive Leadership 00:24:13 - How Our 4-Day Work Week Actually Works 00:26:55 - Our Approach to Adopting AI Tools like Copilot 00:28:19 - Final Advice: The Best Way to Grow Your Career #EngineeringCulture #Productivity #SoftwareDevelopment | |||
| GitHub Senior Engineer: How The Best Software Engineers Lock In System Design | 19 nov. 2025 | 00:46:01 | |
System design interviews often focus on theoretical complexity, but how do Senior Engineers at GitHub actually approach scaling? In this episode, Bassem Dghaidi breaks down how to think about system design when real business impact is on the line. We discuss why "simple is complicated enough," the dangers of premature scaling, and why vertical scaling often beats complex distributed systems. If you want to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and understand how to design software that actually serves the business, this conversation is for you. In this episode, we cover: - The "Order of Magnitude" rule for scaling systems - Why GitHub often runs millions of requests on simple architecture - How to communicate technical constraints to non-technical stakeholders - Why 90% of Bassem's code is now written by AI agents Connect with Bassem Dghaidi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bassemdghaidy Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:48 - Theory vs. Practice in System Design 00:02:06 - The Startup That Almost Failed via Kubernetes 00:03:33 - How GitHub Scales (It's Simpler Than You Think) 00:05:20 - The Underrated Power of Vertical Scaling 00:08:23 - Why Big Tech Interviews for Scale You Don't Need Yet 00:10:39 - Software Evolves, It Isn't Just "Built" 00:11:53 - Only Design for the Next Order of Magnitude 00:15:39 - Stop Building Generic Frameworks 00:18:17 - "Hacking" the System Design Interview 00:21:29 - Translating Tech Problems to Business Risks 00:27:37 - Layoffs & Engineering Efficiency 00:29:41 - Proving Your Impact with Numbers 00:31:00 - Professional Engineering vs. Hobby Coding 00:32:19 - "Simple is Complicated Enough" 00:35:03 - The Rise of AI Coding (The Motorcycle Analogy) 00:37:30 - "90% of My Code is Written by AI Agents" 00:41:04 - How to Become a Great Engineer #SystemDesign #SoftwareEngineering #GitHub | |||
| From Backend Engineer to Head of Mobile (Lessons from Uber) | 12 nov. 2025 | 00:58:34 | |
What does it take to build a career as a mobile engineer when AI is changing everything? Pasha Mazurin shares how he went from Java backend engineer to Head of Mobile, why he only joins mobile-first companies, and how AI-assisted development brought the joy back to his work. This isn't theory, it's real lessons from 15+ years in the field and now learning Android at a senior level. In this episode, we cover: AI-assisted mobile development workflow (the four-window tmux setup) Why mobile-first companies operate completely differently Hiring for strengths, not lack of weaknesses (lessons from Uber) Leading as a hands-on engineer who stays in the trenches Why React Native doesn't feel native and when to go fully native Whether you're building your mobile engineering career or figuring out how AI changes your workflow, this conversation offers practical perspectives on staying effective and making intentional career choices.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kovpas TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:13 - Using AI as Your Junior Engineer Teammate 00:02:33 - The Four-Window Tmux Setup for AI-Assisted Development 00:04:29 - Managing Multiple Features with Git Worktrees 00:05:52 - Why AI Makes You a Better Code Reviewer 00:08:07 - Setting Up Markdown Files for AI Context 00:11:54 - Small Teams vs Big Companies: Where Mobile Engineers Thrive 00:16:26 - The Mobile-First Company Filter That Shapes Every Career Move 00:18:31 - Being Nice: The Underrated Career Skill 00:20:29 - Pick Your Battles: When to Disagree and Commit 00:22:52 - Hire for Strengths, Not Lack of Weaknesses 00:25:16 - Is Software Engineering Still a Good Career Choice? 00:28:19 - How I Accidentally Became a Mobile Engineer 00:31:41 - Why I Only Work on Apps That Matter to People 00:35:08 - Joining Uber During the Big Mobile App Rewrite 00:39:12 - Leading Without Rank: Managing as a Hands-On Engineer 00:43:01 - How AI Changed Mobile Development in 12 Months 00:46:09 - The Communication Skills That Make or Break Engineers 00:49:59 - It's Okay to Say You Don't Understand 00:51:30 - Working on Payments: Building Critical App Infrastructure 00:53:25 - Why React Native Doesn't Feel Native (And What Works Better) 00:55:36 - Can You Switch Specializations Without Taking a Pay Cut? 00:57:02 - How Learning Android Brought the Joy Back | |||
| How to Stay Relevant in Tech (25+ Years of Lessons) | 05 nov. 2025 | 00:59:35 | |
Worried about staying relevant as AI and new tools keep changing tech? The answer isn't chasing every new framework, it's treating your career like an engineering problem you can solve. In this episode, we cover:
If you're an engineer who wants to take control of your career instead of letting it happen to you, this episode gives you the frameworks and tactics to do it. Connect with Özgen Güngör: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozgengungor Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:46 - The Biggest Challenge for Tech Careers Today 00:01:33 - How to Stay Relevant in the Age of AI 00:03:46 - The Coming Commoditization of Coding 00:05:29 - How to Move Up the Value Stream as an Engineer 00:07:35 - Your First Tech Job is a Throwaway (And That's OK) 00:09:24 - The Power of Breaking Down Your Career Plan 00:11:44 - You Work 13% of Your Life: Why Intentionality Matters 00:13:56 - I Have Too Many Career Options. What Do I Do? 00:15:34 - The "5 Whys" Exercise for Your Career 00:19:38 - How to Get Your Manager to Be Your Ally 00:22:15 - The Truth About Big Tech's Broken Promotion Process 00:24:43 - The #1 Person Who Cares About Your Career 00:28:48 - Why You MUST Keep a "Brag Doc" 00:34:08 - How to Avoid Falling Behind in Promotions 00:37:33 - What is a Competency Framework? 00:40:34 - How to Map Out Your Own Career Ladder 00:44:35 - The Silent Factor That Kills Engineering Performance 00:48:31 - Your Career Transcends Your Company 00:52:40 - The 5-Year Plan That Changed My Career 00:56:18 - 3 Essential Tools for Total Career Management #TechCareer #SoftwareEngineering #CareerAdvice | |||
| Promotions, Salary & Leadership: I Answer Your Toughest Tech Career Questions | 29 oct. 2025 | 00:57:10 | |
You asked, I answered. In this Q&A episode, I tackle the toughest career questions you submitted: from getting promoted when the process feels political, to negotiating salary, to leading projects as an IC. In this episode, we cover: * Holding peers accountable when you're not their manager * Navigating promotions when the process is political or unclear * Increasing your salary with strategic job offers * Building real authority and getting noticed by leadership * Staying relevant in the age of AI without burning out This is for software engineers who want practical strategies to level up their careers, increase their earning potential, and make real impact without the fluff. Join me at React Advanced and Tech Lead Conf in London: https://ti.to/gitnation/react-advanced-london-2025/discount/CODING20 Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:19 - Holding Peers Accountable When Managers Won't Help 00:03:58 - The Surprising Truth About Code "Quality" 00:05:43 - Scaling Accountability Across Large Teams 00:07:50 - When Climbing the Career Ladder Feels Political 00:12:37 - How to Stay Relevant in Tech Without Burning Out 00:14:49 - The Key to Learning Without Feeling Overwhelmed 00:15:18 - The Real Difference for Engineers Working Globally 00:17:44 - What to Do When You Get a Better Job Offer 00:20:51 - Finding Motivation Beyond a Higher Salary 00:21:41 - How to Build Real Credibility and Authority 00:25:31 - The Advice I'd Give My Junior Developer Self 00:29:05 - The Art of Effective Delegation 00:31:47 - Why Delegation Is Really an Act of Trust 00:32:21 - Team Player vs. Individual Star: A False Choice? 00:34:43 - The #1 Personal Development Skill for Engineers 00:37:11 - The Hidden Dangers of Relying on AI Tools 00:40:08 - Is Volunteering at Tech Conferences Worth It? 00:42:50 - My Personal Struggle with Embracing Change 00:45:32 - The Career "Regret" I Don't Actually Regret 00:46:45 - How to Stay Productive While Dealing with Grief 00:49:08 - My Process for Finding Great Podcast Guests 00:50:48 - The Secret to Making Guests Feel Comfortable 00:52:06 - How Podcasting Transformed My Communication Skills 00:53:35 - Handling Guarded or Difficult Podcast Guests 00:56:11 - Final Thoughts & How to Support the Channel Got questions for the next Q&A? Drop them in the comments 👇 #SoftwareEngineering #CareerGrowth #TechLeadership | |||
| What Separates Good Engineers from Great Ones | 22 oct. 2025 | 00:38:04 | |
What's the real difference between a good software engineer and a truly great one? It’s more than just coding skill. It's a specific mindset, a disciplined approach to technology, and a deep understanding of core principles. This is the roadmap to leveling up your career. In this conversation with Sander Mak, Director of Technology at Picnic, we discuss the methods they use to train world-class engineers. You will learn: The "under the hood" knowledge that truly matters. Why great engineers often choose "boring," proven technology. The critical transition from being a coder to a product-focused engineer. The most common pitfall that holds good developers back. If you're a software developer looking to move beyond "good enough" and achieve greatness in your craft, this is the episode for you. Connect with Sander: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandermak Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:30 - Building Picnic's Tech Academy for New Engineers 00:04:37 - The Key Mindset of a Successful Junior Engineer 00:08:01 - A Look Inside the Engineering Training Curriculum 00:12:19 - The Common Pitfall of Copying Without Understanding 00:14:10 - How Deep "Under the Hood" Knowledge Should Go 00:17:41 - Why Great Engineers Value "Boring" Technology 00:21:44 - Improving Developer Experience and Team Productivity 00:30:02 - The Transition from Coder to Product Engineer 00:34:18 - Key Advice for Self-Taught Developers 00:35:41 - Using AI for Learning vs. for Code Generation #SoftwareEngineering #DeveloperCareer #Coding | |||
| From 6 Engineers to 2: Why Product and Engineering Are Merging | 15 oct. 2025 | 00:49:24 | |
What if the standard 6-person software team is now obsolete? AI tooling isn't just a productivity booster; it's fundamentally blurring the lines between product and engineering, enabling smaller, more powerful teams to achieve what once took an entire department. We're joined by Kate Ivanova, a Product Manager with years of experience building AI products at Big Tech companies, to discuss this tectonic shift. She explains why the traditional handoff between disciplines is breaking down and what the new, merged "product-engineer" role looks like. In this episode, we cover: - Why AI enables smaller teams to have a massive impact - The merging roles of Product, Engineering, and Design - What skills make you one of the indispensable "2 engineers" - How to structure and manage a hyper-efficient, AI-native team This is a must-watch for founders building lean companies, and for engineers and PMs who want to understand their evolving role in the age of AI. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:57 - Are Agile Processes Obsolete in the Age of AI? 00:02:46 - Why Product Managers Are Redefining Team Processes 00:04:35 - The Mindset You Need for AI Product Development 00:07:54 - How AI Is Forcing Product and Engineering Closer Together 00:11:26 - Using AI as Your Personal Feedback Co-Pilot 00:15:23 - The Critical Mistake to Avoid When Using AI for Product 00:20:45 - The Ideal AI Product Team Composition of the Future 00:26:10 - The New Expectations for Software Engineers in the AI Era 00:32:05 - A Better Way to Manage Tech Debt and Developer Happiness 00:34:46 - What Truly Makes Developers Happy at Work 00:37:43 - Co-Creating a Vision That Actually Motivates Your Team 00:40:59 - How to Receive Tough Feedback as a Growth Opportunity 00:45:37 - The Painful Decision to Kill a Failing Project 00:48:44 - The Most Important Skill for the AI Era | |||
| How Hackathons Make You a Better Software Engineer | 08 oct. 2025 | 00:42:27 | |
What if you could turn a weekend project into a core product feature at a major tech company? We sit down with Behrouz Pooladrak, a software engineer and hackathon legend at Booking.com, to uncover how these intense competitions can fast-track your skills, career, and impact. He shares the mindset and strategies that took his ideas from a one-day build to a real-world product used by millions. In this episode, we cover: How to treat your hackathon project like a mini-startup to guarantee success. The surprising skills you gain from short-term projects that your daily job can't teach you. How companies like Booking.com use hackathons to innovate and train new talent. Why personal projects are the secret weapon for career growth. This episode is for any software engineer looking to distinguish themselves, learn new technologies rapidly, and make a real impact in the tech industry. Timestamps: 00:00:49 - The Mindset of a Prolific Builder #SoftwareEngineering #Hackathon #CareerGrowth | |||
| AI Startup CEO Reveals What Really Kills AI Projects | 01 oct. 2025 | 00:44:08 | |
What if the biggest obstacles to AI innovation aren't what you think? Deeploy CEO Maarten Stolk shares his controversial but effective strategies for building successful AI products and ecosystems, challenging the common wisdom around bottom-up initiatives and regulation. In this episode, we cover: Why bottom-up initiatives fail without strong top-down vision. The surprising benefits of the EU's AI Act for innovation. How to build a thriving AI ecosystem from the ground up. The single most important metric for AI observability. This conversation is for tech leaders, founders, and engineers who want to move beyond AI experiments and build real-world, production-ready systems. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:45 - Why Maarten Started a Dutch AI Hub 00:02:15 - The "Flywheel" Effect Crucial for AI Success 00:04:42 - The Hard Truth: Why the Netherlands is Lagging in AI 00:07:52 - A Controversial Take: The EU AI Act is Actually Good for Everyone 00:11:26 - The Real Bottleneck to Innovation Isn't Regulation 00:14:25 - From POC to Production: Why Top-Down Vision is Non-Negotiable 00:17:13 - A Wake-Up Call for Inexperienced Leadership Teams 00:20:30 - How Winning Companies Use AI to Dominate Their Market 00:23:44 - The Right Way to Learn From Your Competitors 00:27:30 - Maarten Outsourced Core Development to an AI Company 00:31:59 - The #1 Metric You Must Track for AI Observability 00:36:03 - Open-Source vs. Closed-Source: Which AI Model Will Win? 00:40:23 - The Inevitable Crisis That Will Force Innovation 00:42:19 - The Power of Having a Long-Term Personal Vision #AIStrategy #TechLeadership #Innovation | |||
| The Graph Problem Most Developers Don't Know They Have | 25 sept. 2025 | 00:54:38 | |
As a developer, you're trained to think in rows and tables. But what if that's the exact reason you're missing the most powerful connections in your data? There's a fundamental "Graph Problem" hiding in plain sight in almost every application, and once you see it, you'll wonder how you ever missed it. In this episode, we reveal this "obvious" secret and show you how to leverage it to build smarter, more accurate, and context-aware AI. In this episode/video, we cover:
This conversation is for any developer who feels their projects are hitting a wall. If you're ready for the "aha!" moment that will change how you look at data forever, this episode is for you. Timestamps:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:39 - From Unstructured Data to a Knowledge Graph00:02:00 - The Experiment: What Happens When You Break a Knowledge Graph?00:05:41 - What Are Ontologies in the Graph World?00:07:35 - The Graph Problem You Didn't Know You Had00:09:09 - Why Graphs Are So Good for GenAI Context00:10:10 - The Best Way to Create Vector Embeddings for Graphs00:12:50 - Using Graphs to Solve Extreme Corporate Complexity00:17:14 - Real-World Problems That Are Actually Graph Problems00:19:31 - How to Find The Right Expert in Your Company00:23:33 - The Rise of Federated RAG Agents00:25:31 - The #1 Reason Knowledge Graph Projects Fail00:29:37 - A Standard Query Language for Graphs (GQL)00:32:53 - Why Teams Are Moving From RAG to Graph RAG00:34:34 - Should Your Company Build Its Own AI Assistant?00:38:28 - The "Fear of Missing Out" Driving Bad AI Projects00:40:21 - The Dangers of Chaotic vs. Laser-Focused Company Priorities00:44:05 - Why Gantt Charts Don't Work for Software00:47:08 - How Top Engineers Actually Learn New Technologies Guests on this podcast express their own views and do not represent their employers. #GraphDatabase #KnowledgeGraph #SoftwareArchitecture | |||
| How Deepfakes are Evolving (And What You NEED to Know) | 17 sept. 2025 | 01:02:30 | |
It takes just three seconds for AI to steal your voice and impersonate you in a way no one can detect. How can you protect yourself, your family, and your finances when seeing and hearing is no longer believing? In this episode, deepfake expert Parya Lotfi reveals the shocking reality of AI-driven scams, from fraudulent bank transfers to fake kidnapping calls. We uncover how criminals operate and what you can do to spot the lies before it's too late. In this episode/video, we cover: - How criminals use 3-second voice clones for scams - The shocking story of a North Korean deepfake spy - Why facial and voice ID are no longer secure - How to use AI to detect other AI fakes This video is for anyone who wants to understand the real-world dangers of deepfake technology and learn actionable steps to protect themselves in our new "fake reality." Connect with Parya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paryalotfi Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:35 - The Scary Reality of AI-Generated Videos 00:02:32 - The Dangerous Side of Facial & Voice Biometrics 00:03:45 - The Disturbing Reality of Voice Cloning Scams 00:06:46 - How to Use AI to Catch AI-Generated Fakes 00:10:11 - Solving AI's "Black Box" Problem with Explainability 00:12:10 - The Different Types of Deepfakes Criminals Use 00:14:15 - How Deepfakes Are Used to Launder Millions From Banks 00:18:18 - Inside the Darknet's "Deepfake-as-a-Service" Business 00:22:32 - Why Banning Deepfake Technology Is Impossible 00:24:58 - How Deepfakes Are Being Weaponized in Global Conflicts 00:27:30 - Red Teaming: How to Think Like a Deepfake Criminal 00:29:09 - The North Korean Spy Who Used a Deepfake to Get a Job 00:31:54 - The Ultimate Goal: A Deepfake Detector for Everyone 00:37:23 - The Future That Scares Me: AGI and Self-Aware Robots 00:44:33 - The Journey of Building a Deepfake Detection Company 00:47:42 - The Surprising Reason Deepfake Detection Is So Hard 00:54:44 - Who Is Responsible When You Get Scammed by a Deepfake? 00:58:25 - The Rise of AI Influencers and Their Tragic Consequences #Deepfake #Cybersecurity #ArtificialIntelligence | |||
| From Pixels to Tokens: UX Is Not Enough Anymore | 10 sept. 2025 | 00:47:41 | |
What does it take to build AI features at the scale of Microsoft Copilot? Senior Product Manager Stéphanie Visser reveals the massive shifts in product development, from focusing on pixels to tokens and embracing a culture of rapid, data-driven experimentation. Learn how the roles of PMs, engineers, and scientists are evolving and what it takes to succeed. In this episode, we cover:
This episode is a must-watch for product managers, engineers, and tech leaders looking to adapt their processes for the age of AI and accelerate their delivery cycles. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - How Microsoft Builds AI Features 00:00:49 - The #1 Thing That Changed for Product Managers 01:28 - From Pixels to Tokens: The AI Product Shift 02:58 - Why AI Is All About Output Quality, Not UX 04:46 - When Is an AI Feature "Good Enough" to Ship? 06:45 - The "Non-Embarrassment Bar" for Releasing AI 09:07 - Why Old User Feedback Methods Don't Work for AI 12:28 - The New Expectations for Software Engineers in AI 15:33 - When to Involve Engineers in the Product Process 17:43 - How Microsoft Structures Its AI Product Teams 20:40 - Why 3-Month Planning Is Obsolete in the AI Era 22:42 - How to Remove Bias From Your Product Decisions 25:36 - Balancing Data vs. User Intuition in AI 27:44 - The Biggest Bottleneck in AI Experimentation 31:12 - How to Define the Right Metrics for Your AI Product 33:39 - Building Trust and Culture in a Remote Team 37:47 - The Most Underrated Skill for Product Managers 40:57 - How to Cultivate a Strong Product Culture 44:32 - The AI Tools a Microsoft PM Actually Uses 46:29 - How to Manage the Expanding Scope of the PM Role Connect with Stéphanie Visser: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanievisser Connect with Patrick Akil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-akil https://twitter.com/PatrickAkil_ Sponsors: Xebia - https://xebia.com #ProductManagement #AI #Microsoft | |||