Engineering Evolved

In this episode of Engineering Evolved, Tom sits down with Amelia Prasad, Director of Product at Concept to Cloud, to trace how AI has reshaped the day-to-day of UX and product design. Amelia — who came to product from astrophysics and climate science — walks through the shift from manual research, whiteboards and "back-of-the-napkin" sketches to building zero-to-one products directly in Claude Co...

Private equity firms are facing an unprecedented challenge with a backlog of 13,000 companies. The biggest issue for 2025 isn't raising capital or sourcing deals—it's successfully returning capital to investors after buying at market peaks. Show Notes Episode Overview A concise analysis of the private equity industry's current crisis: managing a backlog of 13,000 companies while struggling to retu...

Tom Barber challenges the AI hype cycle, arguing that users care about outcomes, not architecture. Learn why slapping an 'AI-powered' label on everything is the wrong approach, and discover how to thoughtfully integrate LLMs into products without falling into common pitfalls like dependency on unstable APIs or unnecessary chatbot interfaces. Show Notes Episode Overview Tom Barber returns with a cr...

Engineering leaders learn how the Trio model can eliminate the blame game between business and IT teams. Discover practical strategies for cross-functional collaboration that actually work. The Trio Model: Breaking Down Business-IT Walls Key Topics Covered The Business-IT Dysfunction Problem Why blame games develop between business and IT teams The 'technical purgatory' of mid-sized companies (200...

How many meetings moved your team forward last week? Tom explores why most team rituals fail at building trust and alignment, sharing lessons from NASA JPL and startups on creating ceremonies that actually work. Why Your Team Rituals Are Optimized for the Wrong Thing Key Topics Covered The Missing Middle Challenge Why mid-sized companies (200-1000 employees) face unique coordination challenges Too...

Engineering leader Tom Barber challenges the default adoption of Kubernetes, sharing why simpler alternatives often serve mid-sized companies better and how to make pragmatic infrastructure decisions. Episode 12: Why Kubernetes Is Probably Wrong for Your Mid-Sized Company Key Topics Covered The Kubernetes Reality Check Why most mid-sized companies don't need Kubernetes complexity The hidden costs:...

In this episode of Engineering Evolved, Tom Barber discusses the pitfalls of over-engineering platform infrastructure, particularly for mid-sized companies. He shares insights from his experience at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, emphasizing the importance of right-sizing infrastructure to match team needs and capacity. The episode covers the build versus buy framework, the challenges of intern...

Summary In this conversation, Tom Barber discusses the challenges organizations face when dealing with legacy systems and the importance of recognizing the human element in system migration. He emphasizes that migration is not just a technical project but a transition that impacts people's identities and roles within the organization. Takeaways Think about your current environment for a second. Do...

Summary In this episode of Engineering Evolved, Tom Barber discusses the critical first 90 days of a modernization initiative for engineering directors. He emphasizes that success is not solely about technology but about understanding the business pain, building trust, and navigating organizational dynamics. The episode provides a week-by-week action plan, highlighting the importance of quick wins...

Summary In this conversation, Tom Barber discusses the challenges of managing feature requests and the importance of strategic deployment to enhance team efficiency. He emphasizes the need to prioritize time-consuming tasks to free up valuable hours for the team, ultimately leading to increased productivity without additional hiring costs. Takeaways We are overwhelmed with feature requests. Starti...

Summary In this episode of Engineering Evolved, Tom Barber discusses the critical aspects of cloud migration, emphasizing that many migrations fail due to poor planning and execution. He contrasts successful migrations, like Netflix's, with failures like TSB Bank's, highlighting the importance of treating migration as a product launch. Barber introduces the Strangler Fig pattern as a preferred mig...

Summary In this conversation, Tom Barber discusses the significant impact of technical debt on American companies, highlighting that it costs them $1.5 trillion annually. He emphasizes that many executives are unaware of this issue, which often remains hidden within organizations, particularly in engineering payroll. Barber explains how technical debt can lead to lost deals and increased risk expo...

Summary Most midsize companies are making terrible architecture decisions because they're copying Netflix instead of solving their actual problems. This episode cuts through the hype and gives you a practical framework for deciding when you need microservices, when you don't, and everything in between. We talk about why "microservices" is a terrible name that encourages bad decisions, the five fac...

Episode Summary Are your "cross-functional" teams actually just a feature factory in disguise? In this solo deep-dive, I break down the real differences between truly empowered teams and organizations that just reorganized the boxes on an org chart. You'll learn how to measure true cross-functionality, spot the warning signs you're still running a feature factory, and get concrete strategies to tr...

Most engineering leaders would fail miserably as product managers. They'd get fired for shipping features nobody wants, ignoring user feedback, and measuring the wrong things. But here's the thing - your engineering team IS a product. And the techniques you use to build great products are exactly what you need to build a great engineering organization. In this episode, I break down the Product Thi...

Nobody wakes up wanting to be a modernization director. In this deeply personal episode, I share my journey from writing simple code at NASA JPL to leading complex system transformations at a fintech startup—and the expensive failures that taught me everything about modernization leadership. You'll hear the story of two catastrophic failures: turning atmospheric science research code into a produc...

Why Mid-Sized Companies Are Stuck (And How to Break Free) You've achieved product-market fit. You're generating real revenue. You have 200-1000 employees and a tech team of 20-150 engineers. You're not a startup anymore—but you're also not Google. And you're stuck in hell. The VP of Engineering reads all the right blogs, follows all the thought leaders, and decides to implement microservices like...