groCTO Podcast

In today’s episode, Kovid Batra is joined by two dynamic engineering leaders: Miroslaw Stanek and Francis Lacoste . Miroslaw, the Director of Engineering and PL Engineering Site Lead for the Poland R&D division at Papaya Global , also authors the much-loved newsletter ‘ Practical Engineering Management ’ . Francis, an expert at fostering high-performing, collaborative cultures, is a VPE and CTO Co...

In this episode, host Kovid Batra welcomes Lubo Drobny , Senior Leader & Software Engineering Coach at Cisco . With an impressive professional background at Seimens & SAP Labs, Lubo also actively contributes to the tech community through blogging, hosting podcasts, and organizing meetups centered around product and software engineering topics. Today, you can find Lubo talking about building teams...

In this episode, host Kovid Batra welcomes Jörg Godau , Chief Digital Officer at Doctorly and one of the founding members of The EL Club in Berlin, Germany. His vast experience includes valuable contributions to renowned companies such as VRR Consulting UG, Nortal, and IBM. The discussion revolves around ‘Leading with Empathy & Compassion’. The episode kicks off with Jörg discussing his hobbies an...

In this episode, host Kovid Batra welcomes Ricardo Castro , Platform Engineer/SRE at FanDuel . The episode kicks off with Ricardo shedding light on his personal interests and transformative life experiences. He imparts valuable wisdom on differentiating between DevOps, SRE, and Platform Engineers. He also advises adopting best practices for implementing CI/CD pipelines in startups, medium-sized en...

This episode features Claus Höfele , Head of Engineering at On and the author of the newsletter ‘Drawn to Leadership’ . He has a rich technical background at the Doctari Group, eBay Classifieds, Sony Ericsson, and more. The episode begins with Claus sharing the core function of his company ‘On’ and the inspiration behind his newsletter. Following that, he explores his definition of ‘Leadership’ an...

In this episode, we welcome Ariel Pérez, VP of Engineering at Strip. He has also previously contributed his expertise to JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Berchbox. The episode begins with a quick fireside chat, where Ariel reveals his love for Latin dance, especially Salsa, and recounts a life-defining moment. Moving further into the main section, he shares details of his day-to-day responsibilities...

In this episode, join Sebastian Heide-Meyer zu Erpen , VP of Technology at Tonies , and a professional mentor at the Mentoring Club . Sebastian delves into the transition from an IC to a managerial role at Tonies, elucidating his day-to-day responsibilities and the challenges he faces. He emphasizes the strategic move towards insourcing development, illustrating the process of building and scaling...

In this episode, we welcome Eric Heikkila , Technical Lead at Ford , and Founder/ex-CTO at Arbor Insight. Eric discusses his journey from founding a startup to his current role at Ford. He shares insights on his hobbies, life-defining moments, and experiences in various roles. He delves into topics like coding beginnings, transitioning from startup to corporate leadership, and managing remote team...

In this episode, we welcome James Samuel , Software Engineering Manager at Reddit , and ex-Head of Technology at TIER Mobility. He's also the author of the blog 'Effective Software Leads' . The episode begins with James' exciting journey from chemistry to coding. We also learn about his passion for tennis and insatiable curiosity that led him on a journey from Nigeria to Germany. M...

In this episode, join Andrei Gavrila , agile coach & Fractional CTO at Pentalog. The podcast starts with a fireside chat with Andrei Gavrila, providing us with a glimpse into his personal interests. As the conversation progresses, he takes a deeper dive into the challenges faced by fractional CTOs in startups and large-scale organizations. Further, he sheds light on implementing agile at scale...

In this episode, join Sayak Saha , Director of Engineering at AUTO1 Group , with a rich background in organizations such as Wipro Technologies, Amazon, and Dell. The episode kicks off with a fun fireside chat with Sayak. As the conversation progresses, he addresses the key considerations for scaling a development team. Furthermore, he explores strategies for fostering seamless collaboration among...

Welcome to episode #02 of The DORA Lab - An exclusive podcast by Beyond the Code, dedicated to all things DORA and beyond! In this episode, we've brought back one of our most beloved guests - Marian Kamenistak , a renowned VP Engineering Coach , and the former VPE at Mews . The discussion begins with Marian elaborating on two key terms - DevOps and DORA metrics. He then explores the applicatio...

In this episode, join Chris Bee - startup tech advisor and ex-CTO at Lessen with previous engineering leadership experience at Zillow, Uber & Amazon. The episode begins with a candid fireside chat where Chris talks about moving to the West Coast, his college years, being a DJ, and how it paved the way for software development in his life. In the main section, Chris shares hands-on advice to ta...

Welcome to episode #01 of The DORA Lab - An exclusive podcast by Beyond the Code, dedicated to all things DORA and beyond! In our debut episode, host Kovid Batra welcomes Lena Reinhard , tech mentor and advisor with a wealth of experience from renowned organizations such as CircleCI, Travis CI , and BuzzFeed . The episode kicks off with a glimpse into Lena's life outside of work. Transitioning...

Join Marc Adler , Fractional CTO & Chief Architect for startups at CTO-as-a-Service . In this episode, Marc shares the challenges he's faced as a Fractional CTO & specifies the differences between a Fractional & a full-time CTO role. Moreover, he defines his strategies while working with dev teams, and explains how startups can benefit from a Fractional CTO. He also emphasizes crea...

In this episode, join William Mendes , SRE Manager at Feedzai and mentor at IFTL . William explores the challenges faced as an SRE manager. He discusses the balance between metrics, including DORA metrics and Cycle time, and the need for direct communication. He also emphasizes psychological safety and shares strategies to prioritize and support developer experience and well-being. Lastly, William...

Join Alexandre Goedert , Head of Technology at Thoughtworks . In this episode, Alex takes a deep dive into his team collaboration practices and defines what constitutes 'Good software' for engineering teams. Further, he also highlights the pivotal role of large-scale CI/CD, fostering the autonomous mindset and crucial aspect of ensuring a positive developer experience within teams. Alex co...

Join Stephan Schmidt , CTO Coach at Amazing CTO. In today's episode, Stephan discusses the various challenges faced by CTOs, the importance of creating tech strategies, aligning dev teams to focus on creating impact and bridging the gap between tech & business goals. He also sheds light on technical debt and what separates a leader from a manager. Stephan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin....

Join Herijs Deksnis , Director of Software Engineering at Giraffe360. In this episode, Harijs talks about his experience of scaling up a startup from 0 to 1, and from 1 to 10 and beyond. Further, he discusses the psychological strategies to manage 'bus factors' and handling technical debt. Lastly, he talks about the sure-shot signs of developer burnout & inefficiency in the team and th...

Join Limor Bergman , tech leadership coach & mentor at LBG Consulting Services Ltd. Limor also hosts her own podcast series - 'From a Woman to a Leader'. In this episode, Limor discusses the challenges she has faced as a woman in tech, and how she overcame them. She also emphasises the importance of having a mentor, keeping up with the latest tech, and employing metrics tools for estim...

Join Ashik Uzzaman - Director of Engineering, Treatment Platform at Twin Health . He's also the creator of 'Leader's Whiteboard' - a blog and an educational YouTube channel for engineering leaders. Being an avid reader & a chess enthusiast, Ashik is also passionate about coaching individual developers and helping them move into management roles. He shares his knowledge of vario...

Join Peter Kristianto Widjaja , Co-founder & CTO at Hubble. Build In this episode, Peter talks about scaling a startup from 0 to 1. He also sheds light on the importance of purpose-driven values, being people-centric, 360 feedback and holistic methods of measuring developer well-being along with efficiency. Peter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterkwidjaja/ Beyond the Code is an exc...

Join Jeff Watkins , Chief Product & Technology Officer at xDesign , who leads a team of 250+ engineers. In this episode, Jeff talks about the concept of the 'iron triangle' and the ways to balance it. He also discusses the implementation of the latest security tech and AI tech, defining success for dev teams, utilising engineering metrics to identify bottlenecks and understanding devel...

Join Serdar Mustafa , the founder of Phoenix Software Consulting , who has also contributed to the product & engineering teams of companies like Twilio & Wise. He now works as a Fractional Advisor to multiple tech startups and is the author of the blog 'From Code to Boardroom' on Substack. Today's discussion revolves around leading dev teams towards a Product-Market Fit. Serdar...

Meet Marian Kamenistak , engineering leadership mentor & coach, founder of Augment Lab & Engineering Leaders CZ . He's also the former VP of Product Engineering at Mews . The episode starts with a fun fireside chat where Marian talks about his first coding days, his favourite Netflix show & his end-of-the-day routine. In the main section, Marian sheds light on how to maintain engin...