Always an Engineer

In today's episode, Asim sits down with Shailesh Kumar, the Senior Vice President of Engineering at ClickUp. Shailesh has over 18 years of experience in software engineering, architecture, and leadership, with a passion for scaling organizations, products, and processes. The duo breaks down the future of software testing with generative AI, why engineers are moving away from automation testing...

In today's episode, Asim sits down with Umair Akeel, a startup founder, passionate engineer, former distinguished engineer at Twilio Inc, and former VP of Engineering at Oracle. They discuss how to 5X your productivity with generative AI, the future of software development, and advice to engineers on using generative AI. [00:00] Introduction [02:05] Umair’s New Startup [03:09] The Future of So...

In today's episode, Asim sits down with Arnold Goldberg, the VP/GM of Payments at Google. Over the last 30 years, Arnold has worked with four notable high-growth companies – PayPal, Box, LinkedIn, and eBay, primarily focusing on scaling people, processes, and technology. They discuss the what, why, and how of inner sourcing. They cover the inner source approach to engineering, how to get the m...

In today's episode, Asim sits down with Joe Lynch, an experienced engineering leader and the VP of Engineering at Twilio. Joe boasts comprehensive experience in bringing scalable SaaS products and platforms to market and leading world-class Engineering organizations, with a focus on quality, efficiency, rapid delivery, and continuous improvement. They discuss the best way to frame an engineeri...

In today's episode, Asim sits down with Mark Interrante, a technology leader who builds engineering and product development teams for companies ranging in size from startups to Fortune 100. He also enjoys getting involved in new technologies when they're going from early adoption to mainstream. They break down the seven habits of highly effective teams - and the outcomes you can expect fro...

In today's episode, Asim sits down with Harry Max, an executive player-coach, consultant, and hands-on product design leader with vision and a solid grasp on operations. His experience includes being a founder/CEO, operational leader, and consultant with start-ups, innovators, and global brands, including Apple, Adobe, DreamWorks, Google, and PayPal. They discuss ways to make prioritization a...

In today's episode, Asim sits down with Ashmeet Sidana, the Founder and Chief Engineer at Engineering Capital. His experience includes managing venture capital funds, serving on multiple Boards of Directors, and helping build industry-leading products such as VMware ESX Server and WebFORCE. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Ashmeet was an executive with hands-on operating experience as a CEO a...

In today's episode, Asim sits down with Troy Toman, the Vice President of Engineering at Planet. He is a technology and services executive with an extensive background in systems and infrastructure solutions. His most recent focus is on agile development, continuous delivery, web-scale infrastructure, cloud computing and OpenStack. They discuss why authentic leadership matters and ways engineering...

In today’s episode, Asim sits down with Ron Lichty to discuss the rude awakening of engineering management. Ron is a software engineering leader and product development consultant with a passion for making software developers and leaders thrive. They break down ways managers and aspiring managers can make engineering leadership predictable and reliable. [00:38] Introduction [02:07] Ron’s Back and...

For today’s episode, Asim is joined by Luca Galante to discuss the spectrum of DevOps and platform engineering. Luca is a product manager at Humanitec, and has been on the development line of work for almost 6 years. He joins Asim to break down platform engineering and its community, goals, career, and history. [00:51] Introduction of Luca Galante [01:50] Backstory of Platform Engineering Communit...

For today’s episode, Asim takes on the situation of tech employees going through layoffs. In recent months, there have been many layoffs in the tech industry, and people are either flustered or placed at their lowest points going through this predicament. Asim takes on a guide that can help those who have been laid off and those who are trying to avoid the situation. [00:38] Introduction to Tech L...

For today’s episode, Asim is joined by Adam Zimman, a recovering entrepreneur and an engineer who’s spent years developing software in the enterprise domains focused on infrastructure and engineering. He joins today’s show to talk about progressive software delivery to consumers and the key structure to help it roll-out efficiently. [00:34] Introduction of Adam Zimman [01:34] What Motivates Adam [...

For today’s episode, Asim is joined by Andrea Goulet, who has spent more than 20 years in the tech industry. She joins Asim as she tells her journey in the tech industry and how the idea of empathy has helped her develop some soft skills that may be productive for software engineers in the field. [00:39] Introduction of Andrea [2:00] About Empathy [04:56] Andrea’s Journey in Software [07:47] Frame...

For today’s episode, Asim Razzaq is joined by Tim Chou, an entrepreneur and engineer-at-heart who’s had great career success at Oracle and speaking engagement in universities. Tim shares insights on the art of influence, a way to sell yourself and your ideas to clients. He crafts a unique process to let engineers become their very own entrepreneur. [00:46] Introduction of Tim Chou [02:45] The Art...

For today’s episode, Asim Razzaq takes on the skills of interviewing candidates. It’s one thing to be interviewed, and it’s another to be the one asking the questions. When it comes to interviewing software engineers, there are many points to remember when interviewing a candidate. The process should be beneficial for both the candidate and the interviewer. [01:01] Interviewing as a Skill [01:58]...

In this episode, Asim responds to listener questions about how they can build a successful and fulfilling career as a software engineer. There is a lot of information out there regarding tips and tricks, but ultimately it boils down to developing rare and valuable skills that set you apart from others. You have to be deliberate and disciplined about it. The reward is worth the effort.  You mu...

In this episode, Asim Razzaq explains Conway’s Law, which states that “Any organization that designs a system, will inevitably produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organization's communication structure.” Applied to software development, this means that your software architecture will mimic your team, organization, and communication structure.  Conway’s law is the most critical p...

On today’s episode, Asim Razzaq elaborates on the misconceptions between artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and data science. While many might not be able to see the difference in the 4 fields, experts are still advised to know how each of these work, and the outcomes and process are definitely not the same. [00:57] The Misconceptions of AI, ML, DL, and DS [01:57] How They A...

Join Asim Razzaq as he introduces the concept of antifragile software systems. This concept aims to demonstrate what happens during catastrophic scenarios inside the system. For today’s episode, he will highlight key principles that can lead to antifragile teams, processes, and code. [01:11] What is Antifragile [02:14] Modern Resilient Software [03:17] Antifragile System [03:51] Building the Softw...

On today’s show, Asim Razzaq focuses on the importance of customer-centric software engineering. Software engineers should always be creating meaningful value for customers, and other stakeholders as well, not just writing code. [01:03] Wasted Software Features [01:25] Envisioning Success for Customers [02:23] Misplaced Customer-Centric Service [07:20] Ways to Be Part of the Conversation [12:42] S...

In this episode of Always an Engineer, Asim Razzaq breaks down four different types of engineering roles: platform engineering, site reliability engineering, development operations (DevOps), and application engineering. It’s important to know the difference to avoid confusion in tasks and improve overall productivity. [01:11] Platform Engineering [02:45] Site Reliability Engineering [06:34] Develo...

In this episode, Asim Razzaq talks about the pitfalls of joining the wrong startup when you are early in your software engineering career. While young engineers relish the opportunity to become part of the legacy of a new company and wear multiple hats, early-stage startups often don't have the best engineering culture or approach for grooming new software engineers or establishing the foundationa...

In this episode Asim Razzaq sheds light on the ongoing debate of whether companies should undertake a software rewrite or instead refactor. This age-old decision can often make or break an organization, especially when a specific software system reaches a certain point of evolution. [01:23] Trade Offs on Rewrites and Refactoring [02:55] Situation Analysis [04:39] Fit Application for the Demand [06...

In this episode, Asim Razzaq clears out the career path dilemma for software engineers, whether they should pursue a path as an individual contributor (IC), or in a managerial role. He will detail the difference as well as give guidance on how you should base your decisions and consider the payoffs. [01:04] Wrong Ways of Choosing a Path [02:22] Difference Between Contributor and Manager [03:12] Ad...

In this episode, Asim Razzaq highlights the difference between a maker’s schedule and the manager’s schedule. In a company, it is important to consider the type of work your colleagues do, and Asim aims to shed some light on an underlying conflict between the two schedules and how one side needs to be more understanding of the other’s work. [00:59] Difference Between Maker and Manager Schedule [01...