Swarmia

Engineering Unblocked

Technology EN ↓ 30 episodes

Keeping software engineers in flow and unblocked is one of the key responsibilities of software development leaders. In each episode of the Engineering Unblocked podcast, Rebecca Murphey interviews leaders who have navigated challenges of scale, complexity, and growth. You’ll hear from people with lived experience across the software development ecosystem, from CTOs and VPEs to directors and line managers to product managers, program managers, tech leads, and more.

Author

Swarmia

Episodes

Scaling Engineering at Wolt with Niilo Säämänen, CTO 13.07.2023 51:15

Niilo is the CTO of Wolt, a subsidiary of DoorDash. In this episode, he talks to Swarmia founder and CEO Otto Hilska about lessons learned while rapidly scaling an engineering organization. Timestamps (0:23) Niilo’s background (03:49) Where to focus first (06:02) Product management in a 3-way marketplace (07:36) Principles-driven development (09:18) Turning “big things” into reality (12:26) Choosi...

Hypergrowth, B2B vs B2C, and welcoming the rest of the world to AI with Heidi Williams from Grammarly 05.06.2023 32:53

Heidi is Director of Engineering at Grammarly, leading Grammarly Business, their B2B offering for teams and organizations. In this episode, she shares stories of hypergrowth, the challenges of working on a product that has both business and consumer users, and transitioning a team from startup mode to long-term stability. Find the transcript at: https://www.unblocked.fm/episodes/heidi-williams-gra...

Transforming delivery time at a pivotal moment with Jack Humphrey from LinkedIn 05.06.2023 36:04

Jack Humphrey is an Engineering Director at LinkedIn. In this episode, Rebecca and Jack talk about the transformative impact on engineering velocity he had when they worked together at Indeed. Find the transcript at: https://www.unblocked.fm/episodes/jack-humphrey-linkedin-transforming-delivery-time Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (00:42) Jack’s current role at LinkedIn (01:27) The early days of J...

Making the jump from line manager to director — essentially overnight with Christian Helvin from Tithely 05.06.2023 34:10

Christian Helvin is an Engineering Director at Tithely. In this episode, Rebecca and Christian chat about his career journey, about being part of an acquisition, transitioning from agency work to software development, and his focus on developer happiness. Find the transcript at: https://www.unblocked.fm/episodes/christian-helvin-tithely-from-engineering-line-manager-to-director Timestamps (00:00)...

Growing up DevProd: 5 years of improving efficiency at Stripe with Ainsley Escorce-Jones 02.06.2023 48:56

In this episode, Rebecca chats with Ainsley Escorce-Jones, Tech Lead for the Developer Infrastructure organization at Stripe. Rebecca and Ainsley talk about the origin stories of the Developer Infrastructure organization and the reasons Stripe invests in that area. Ainsley also shares some of his takeaways from five years focusing on developer productivity at Stripe. Find the transcript at: https:...