CTO Insights Podcast

In this episode of CTO Insights, Katerina is joined by Bryan Finster, co-creator of Minimum Viable Continuous Delivery (CD), to discuss implementing CD in legacy and enterprise environments. Bryan shares practical steps, the benefits of CD, and how to overcome challenges such as getting buy-in, improving test coverage, and dealing with legacy code. Learn how to drive progress without needing a com...

In this episode of CTO Insights, Katerina is joined by Farah Chabchoub, CTO at Worklife, to discuss the strategies for transitioning from a growth-driven model to a profitable and sustainable tech company. Farah shares her experiences aiding late-stage startups in building resilient organizations by transforming the development focus towards financial planning. They delve into topics such as budge...

In this episode, Egil Osthus, CEO and co-founder of Unleash, joins Katerina to talk about how enterprise teams can move away from rigid, high-risk release cycles to safer, faster, and more iterative delivery. Egil shares how he led a 500-person engineering org from quarterly (and even yearly) releases to a deploy-whenever model—despite legal constraints, stakeholder objections, and legacy systems....

In this episode, Laura Tacho joins Katerina to explore what really drives developer team performance. They dig into how to use self-reported and system data effectively, why metrics should never be used for individual performance, and how AI is changing developer workflows (and what it’s not doing yet). From scrappy startup practices to company-wide DevEx strategies, this episode is packed with pr...

Brought to you by: Adeva — Global network of top developers connecting businesses with world-class talent. In this episode of CTO Insights, Katerina Trajchevska is joined by Mojtaba Hosseini, VP of Engineering at Zapier, to explore how Zapier built a culture of strong customer focus, meaningful metrics, and long-term performance — and how they're using AI to drive real impact across the organizati...

Brought to you by Adeva — a global network of top developers connecting businesses with world-class talent. In this episode of CTO Insights, Katerina Trajchevska is joined by Julien Lavigne du Cadet, CTO behind Zoe’s growth to 9-figures ARR. They discuss the challenges faced at different growth stages, the importance of balancing structure with lean processes, and the strategies for promoting inte...

In this episode of CTO Insights, I had the pleasure of hosting Alex Kroman, Chief Product and Technology Officer at AssemblyAI, to explore the evolving role of the combined Chief Product and Technology Officer position and its impact on creating high-performing engineering teams. "I very much think about running a product organization as shipping two products - one product is what the customers us...

In this episode of CTO Insights, I had the pleasure of hosting Georgina Shute, Founder of KindTwo, to discuss why diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones. Following her own ADHD diagnosis, Georgina has dedicated herself to empowering leaders and organizations to understand and leverage the unique strengths of neurodiverse teams. We also share common misconceptions about neurodiverse employees, s...

In this episode of CTO Insights, host Katerina Trajchevska is joined by Allison McMillan, Fractional VP of Engineering and Leadership Consultant. Together, they navigate effective strategies for planning and budgeting from a CTO perspective, how to enhance team productivity through better meeting practices, and the challenges of scaling high-performing engineering teams. Allison is the Founder of...

I had the pleasure of hosting Sven Peters, Developer Advocate at Atlassian to discuss Developer Experience, a topic that increasingly catches the attention of engineering leaders. We start the discussion with some mindblowing stats from the recent Developer Experience report, released by Atlassian. According to it, 69% of developers lose eight or more hours per week to inefficiencies . 69%. That’s...

I had the pleasure of hosting David Heinemeier Hansson, co-owner and CTO at 37signals. Known for its commitment to work-life balance and focusing on outcomes over hours, 37signals has set a strong example in the industry. So, I was thrilled by the opportunity to hear David’s take on team performance, especially how to achieve more with less. In our conversation, we explore why overwork often signa...

I had the pleasure of hosting Manuel Pais, co-author of Team Topologies - the book that reshaped how companies structure their teams for high performance. With years of hands-on experience working with global organizations, Manuel specializes in optimizing team interactions, reducing complexity, and driving value. We discussed the challenges of traditional team structures and the importance of int...

I had the pleasure of hosting Gregor Ojstersek for a conversation on the less-emphasized aspects of high performance: great culture, good processes, and a positive mindset. He believes that the best teams have good relationships and can collaborate effectively, focusing on performance as a driver of the whole business, not solely on individual achievements. With a unique stance on the notion of th...

Tune in for valuable insights into what it takes to succeed as a CTO with Drew Falkman, Principal at Moves the Needle, a product consulting company. Drew is also a former CTO, advisor to multiple startups, product consultant, and LinkedIn instructor whose CTO course has been watched by over a quarter million engineering leaders worldwide. Drew emphasizes that the CTO role is, above all, a people j...

I had the pleasure of hosting J.B. Rainsberger, Business and Software Coach helping companies profit sooner from their software projects while empowering individuals to navigate the complex world of work. His approach is all about less stress and more energy to bring to the parts of the job that create value. The notion of “Programming is the easy part” comes again as a focal point of the discussi...

In this episode, I’m speaking with Natalia Tepluhina, Principal Engineer at GitLab, Vue.js core team member, and Google Developer Expert in Web Technologies. I’ve always been fascinated by Gitlab and the async culture they foster, so I was really looking forward to exploring how working asynchronously might benefit the team's performance. And Natalia had a lot to share on the topic. The biggest hi...

I had the pleasure of hosting Kent Beck, one of the key people who shaped Software Engineering as we know it. Kent is the creator of Extreme Programming (XP) and one of the 17 original signatories of the Agile Manifesto. He introduced Test-Driven Development, Software Design Patterns, and created JUnite. Embarked on a personal mission to help geeks feel safe in the world, Kent continuously introdu...

Mite Mitreski is the CTO of Signicat, the leading provider of digital identity solutions in Europe. Before Signicat, Mite was an engineering director and part of the CTO office at Klarna. He brings extensive experience in engineering leadership and great insights into high-performing teams. In our conversation, Mite emphasizes the importance of team autonomy in driving progress at Signicat. They h...

Ryan Singer is the author of Shape Up, a framework that has changed the way modern leaders approach planning and managing software development. As part of the founding team of Basecamp, Ryan deeply influenced the early software-as-a-service industry. Over 17 years, he designed features used by millions and invented processes for designing, developing, and shipping software, evolving from UI Design...

Tune in for an insightful session with Anne-Laure Huin, VP of Engineering at Mollie and former Senior Engineering Manager at Uber. In this conversation, we dive into the challenges of scaling teams and hiring new talent in a changing economic environment. Episode highlights: * When scaling teams with limited resources, paying attention to the candidate’s alignment with the company’s vision and val...

Welcome to the first episode of CTO Insights, a podcast on engineering leadership that brings you insights from senior engineering leaders and experts on creating a culture of high performance. Tune into the discussion with Kamil Dziublinski, CTO at Xapo Bank - a digital-first bank that makes it simple for members to bank with Bitcoin. Kamil comes from a very innovative space and brings unique ins...