Diary of a Sales Engineer – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Diary of a Sales Engineer

DiaryofaSE

Business

Frequency: 1 episode/21d. Total Eps: 38

"Diary of a Sales Engineer" takes you on an insightful journey through the dynamic world of sales engineering, hosted by industry veterans Ryan Krueger and Sameer Kausar. Each episode offers candid experiences, practical advice, and insider tips to help you navigate and thrive in your career. Whether you're just starting out or looking to sharpen your skills, this podcast is your go-to resource for all things sales engineering.

Read moreCollapse

Site

RSS

Apple

Data updated on 21/08/2026

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.

See all

http://www.diaryofasalesengineer.com
1 share

RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

See all

RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 32%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

Recent episodes with titles, durations, and descriptions.

See all

RIP Traditional Presales

Season 1 · Episode 37

Tuesday, July 7, 2026 • Duration 42:50

RIP traditional presales. Ryan Krueger and Sameer Sahay-Kausar sit down to map what is actually replacing it, and what the shift means for your career as a sales engineer.

We get into why "pre-sales" is a label that no longer fits, the new roles taking shape (we coin a couple live, the account engineer and the forward deploy solution engineer), and how consumption-based pricing quietly rewires everything about how solutions engineers create value. We also dig into why SEs are already writing and shipping code to fix product gaps, the three dials every SE has to balance, and how leaders should be thinking about team building in this chaos. There is also a simple, freeing takeaway about switching industries and why saying "I don't know" makes you more credible, not less.

If you are a sales engineer, solutions consultant, forward deployed engineer, or an SE leader trying to stay ahead of where the role is going, this one is for you.

Diary of a Sales Engineer is available on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.

www.diaryofasalesengineer.com

Read moreCollapse

How Sales Engineers Handle Difficult Prospects Without Losing the Deal

Season 1 · Episode 36

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 • Duration 55:15

In Episode 36 of Diary of a Sales Engineer, Ryan and Sameer discuss how sales engineers can handle difficult prospects, skeptical buyers, technical roadblocks, and prickly internal stakeholders.

They break down the difference between buyers who have been burned before, people who create roadblocks, and stakeholders who simply show up in a bad mood.

The episode covers audience management, technical objections, InfoSec and architecture conversations, follow-up discipline, internal relationships with product and engineering, and how SEs can stay calm while protecting deal momentum.

Read moreCollapse

How to Win Million Dollar Deals as a Sales Engineer

Season 1 · Episode 35

Monday, May 11, 2026 • Duration 42:32

Ryan Krueger and Sameer Sahay-Kausar are back with a deep dive on how sales engineers actually win the biggest deals of their careers. Whether you're working a $100K opportunity that's the largest your team has ever seen or a million dollar enterprise deal, the framework is the same and it starts with people, not technology.

In this conversation, we get into how to identify who really has the power inside a buying committee, how to build a champion who sells for you when you're not in the room, and why pushing back on prospects can be the move that earns you the deal. Ryan shares why every big deal will give you "blisters" and what to do when your champion goes dark for three months. We also unpack the difference between hard savings and soft savings, and why the way most sales teams pitch ROI makes CFOs roll their eyes.

If you're a sales engineer, AE, or anyone working complex enterprise deals and trying to figure out how to navigate the politics, the timing, and the approval gates that come with seven-figure contracts, this one is for you.

Diary of a Sales Engineer is available on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.

www.diaryofasalesengineer.com

Read moreCollapse

From Sales Engineer to CEO | Jeff Wang, CEO of Windsurf

Season 1 · Episode 34

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 • Duration 57:45

Jeff Wang is the CEO of Windsurf (now part of Cognition) and a former solutions engineer who rode the SE skill set all the way to the top of one of the most high-profile AI startups in the industry. He sits down with Ryan and Sameer to talk about what that journey actually looked like.

You'll hear how Jeff built automation bots that saved his teams hundreds of hours, why he started blogging about AI to land his first role in the space, and how Windsurf structured an entirely new set of engineering roles that are reshaping how companies think about presales and post-sales. We also get into what it takes to close enterprise deals when nobody knows your name, what product market fit really feels like versus what people assume, and Jeff's advice for SEs who want to build something of their own.

If you're thinking about your next career move in presales, or you're curious about how the sales engineering role is evolving in the age of AI agents and forward deployed teams, this one's for you.

Diary of a Sales Engineer is available on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.www.diaryofasalesengineer.com

Read moreCollapse

If Your SE Never Says No, You Don't Have a Partner

Season 1 · Episode 33

Wednesday, March 4, 2026 • Duration 35:20

Ryan's LinkedIn post went viral: "If your SE has never told you no, you don't have a partner. You have an order taker." In Episode 33, Ryan and Sameer turn that into a full playbook for saying no with confidence.

They cover how to shift your identity from technical resource to strategic partner, how to negotiate with your AE rather than just blocking ideas, how to use curiosity to give hard feedback without creating conflict, and why knowing when to kill a deal is just as important as knowing how to close one.

Packed with tactical, real-world advice for SEs at every stage of their career. Don't let your ego get in the way of success.

Read moreCollapse

Eps 32: GTMshift with James Kaikis

Season 1 · Episode 32

Monday, February 16, 2026 • Duration 58:04

Sales engineering career advice and go-to-market strategy with James Kaikis, co-founder of Pre-Sales Collective, founder of GTM Shift, and co-founder of Solution Exec and AI Sales Studio.

The predictable revenue model that defined B2B SaaS for the last decade is breaking down. AI-first companies are collapsing the traditional sales cycle. Roles are merging. Swim lanes are blurring. And sales engineers are sitting in the best position to capitalize on all of it.

James shares the full story behind his exit from Pre-Sales Collective, what he learned running revenue as a CRO at Testbox, and why he came back to entrepreneurship to build three businesses: GTM Shift (consulting and events for go-to-market leaders), AI Sales Studio (AI proficiency training for GTM teams), and Solution Exec (a private network for senior solutions executives). He also announces that he and Jeff Margolese are writing a book on solutions engineering.

We get into the tactical stuff too. How to build a career roadmap from SE to CRO. Why lateral moves to account management or sales matter more than people realize. How to prepare for the convergence of SE, AE, CS, and professional services roles. And why the SEs who treat themselves as students of the game will be the ones who thrive in the next era of B2B.

Ryan also shares his prediction on the emergence of the "account engineer" role, and we talk openly about work-life balance, setting boundaries, and being present at home while building a career in tech sales.

This one is personal for us. James and the Pre-Sales Collective are the reason Ryan broke into sales engineering. 32 episodes later, here we are.

If this episode hits home, send us a message. Those notes from listeners are the reason we do this.

Read moreCollapse

Eps 31: 2025 Wrapped

Season 1 · Episode 31

Tuesday, January 27, 2026 • Duration 44:02

2025 didn’t redefine presales overnight, but it made the direction impossible to ignore.

In this episode, we look back on what we accomplished this year and unpack the real ways the presales role evolved over the last 12 months. The fundamentals are still there, but expectations, scope, and impact are moving faster than many teams realize.

We share where we believe presales is heading, what strong teams are already leaning into, and the skills that are becoming harder to ignore as we move into 2026.

We also take on the growing conversation around Forward Deployed Engineers. What the role actually means, why it keeps surfacing in presales conversations, and why the industry needs a clearer, more honest discussion about how it fits into modern GTM teams.

We close by thanking everyone who listened, watched, shared, and challenged us throughout 2025. This community continues to shape the conversations we care about most.

Presales didn’t flip overnight in 2025, but the direction became impossible to ignore. This episode breaks down what shifted and why it matters.

Read moreCollapse

Eps 30: Technical ≠ Effective with Alice Egan

Season 1 · Episode 30

Monday, January 12, 2026 • Duration 54:02

Episode 30: You Don’t Need to Be the Most Technical Person in the Room

In this episode, we’re joined by Alice Egan to challenge one of the biggest myths in sales engineering.

The best Sales Engineers aren’t always the most technical people on the call. They’re the ones who can turn complex technical concepts into simple, compelling stories that buyers actually understand.

In SaaS, this matters more than ever. Just like buying a car, most buyers don’t need to see the engine. They want to know how it works, how it fits their business, and why it solves their problem.

In this episode, we discuss:

Why being too technical can slow deals down
How to translate complexity into clear, buyer-friendly stories
When technical depth helps and when it hurts
A practical way to position yourself at the very beginning of a sales call
How top Sales Engineers read the room and adjust in real time

If you’re a Sales Engineer, Solutions Engineer, or work in presales and feel pressure to always be the most technical voice, this episode will change how you think about your role.

Tune in for real-world insights and practical nuggets you can use immediately.

Read moreCollapse

Eps 29: Crush Your Next Event

Season 1 · Episode 29

Tuesday, December 16, 2025 • Duration 51:58

In this episode, we break down how to be effective at conferences and in-person events. We cover what actually matters when it comes to working a booth, including how to dress, how to demo efficiently, how to collect scans, and how to get attendees to connect with you on LinkedIn.

We also talk through the importance of booking meetings, common mistakes people make at events, and how to follow up so conversations turn into something real after the event is over.

This episode is for anyone attending or working conferences who wants to get more value out of being on the floor.

Read moreCollapse

SE Secrets: How to Maximize Your Career with Yuji Higashi

Season 1 · Episode 28

Wednesday, December 3, 2025 • Duration 01:01:00

In this episode of Diary of a Sales Engineer, we sit down with Yuji Higashi, founder of Better Career and co-founder of the Presales Collective, to uncover the real secrets behind building a high-earning, high-impact Sales Engineering career.

We break down everything SEs wish they learned years earlier:

How SE compensation actually works
Common salary and commission split structures
Leveling frameworks and what separates junior, mid, and senior SEs
How to position yourself for the role you really want
How to land roles you didn’t think you were qualified for
What companies look for when hiring top technical talent

Yuji brings a unique perspective from coaching hundreds of SEs, analyzing comp bands across the industry, guiding people into roles they didn’t think they could land, and helping them negotiate offers that transform their careers.

Whether you’re trying to break into Sales Engineering, get promoted, or maximize your earning potential, this conversation is packed with real-world, actionable insights.

If you want to understand your value as an SE and learn how to take control of your career, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

Read moreCollapse

Diary of a Sales Engineer – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Diary of a Sales Engineer – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Google Docs2

Other1

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Google Docs2

Other1