How Many CTOs

In this episode of "How Many CTOs Does It Take?" podcast , hosts Scott Porad and Brad Hefta-Gaub  are joined by Paul Brown to delve into the misplaced fears of AI supplanting engineers, highlighting instead its potential to enhance productivity. Paul shares his journey from skepticism about AI's capabilities to recognizing its strengths, drawing parallels to the historic shift from mainframes to p...

In this special public service announcement episode of "How Many CTOs Does It Take?" podcast, hosts Scott Porad and Brad Hefta-Gaub announce that they will be taking a two-week break for the holidays and will return with Season 2 on January 13th. They reflect on their first year, discussing the major themes like the challenges of tech debt, the evolving role of AI in software engineering, and the...

In this episode of "How Many CTOs Does It Take?" podcast, hosts Scott Porad and Brad Hefta-Gaub welcome guest Scott W. Bradley , Managing Partner at Facet Digital , to delve into the complexities and potential pitfalls of AI technology. With insights drawn from Bradley's provocative LinkedIn post abstraction and language, the discussion explores AI's rapid growth, the quality vs. speed debate in t...

In this episode of "How Many CTOs Does It Take?" podcast, hosts Scott Porad and Brad Hefta-Gaub  compare Anthropic and OpenAI's distinct business strategies. While OpenAI takes a high-risk, expansive approach aiming for rapid growth, Anthropic focuses on a more disciplined, business-centric path, particularly targeting corporate customers and avoiding more expensive AI ventures like image and vide...

In this episode of "How Many CTOs Does It Take?" podcast, hosts Scott Porad and Brad Hefta-Gaub  delve into Scott's recent meeting with AWS. They discuss the concept of vendors supporting their clients, weighing potential benefits against risks like vendor lock-in and misaligned solutions. The conversation also touches on Scott's old blog 'The Luddite CTO.' They offer practical advice for engineer...

In this episode of "How Many CTOs Does It Take?" podcast, hosts Scott Porad and Brad Hefta-Gaub  dive into the pervasive influence of AI, starting with a critical look at Apple's Siri and its struggles to keep up with competitors like ChatGPT. They explore the current state of AI and its varied impacts, from productivity boosts in small resource-strapped organizations to the political and societal...

In this episode of "How Many CTOs Does It Take?" podcast, hosts Scott Porad and Brad Hefta-Gaub discuss the critical importance of clear requirements in both hardware and software projects. Using the analogy of a home renovation project, they explore how detailed planning and frequent communication between builders and requesters can prevent costly mistakes and ensure customer satisfaction. They r...

In this episode of "How Many CTOs Does It Take?" podcast, hosts Scott Porad and Brad Hefta-Gaub dive into the 2025 DORA Metrics Report on the state of AI-assisted software development. They discuss key findings such as the near-universal adoption of AI, its impact on productivity, and its role in software delivery instability. Brad and Scott also explore the attributes of high-performance teams an...

In this episode of "How Many CTOs Does It Take?" podcast, hosts Scott Porad and Brad Hefta-Gaub reflect on the recent shifts in Big Tech's approach to AI, discussing the changing perceptions and economic impacts of the technology. They provide insights into the AI hype cycle, comparing it to the dot-com bubble, and ponder whether an AI bust is imminent. They also highlight innovative uses of AI by...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub dive deep into the concept of the 10x engineer—those rare developers who are exponentially more productive than their peers. They discuss attributes such as natural talent versus learned skills, curiosity, the ability to think abstractly, and fluidity between high-level design and low-level coding....

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub start with a quick retrospective, or is it an encore, of recent rock concerts before stage-diving into a lively discussion about the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) : what it is, when it matters, and how teams can keep it useful instead of bureaucratic. They explore how the SDLC functions as...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub dive deep into the engineering crossroads between  Better Architecture Driven Development (BADD) and Feature Driven Development (FaDD) . They unpack the eternal question faced by every CTO and engineering leader: Should we refactor now for a better tomorrow, or build features today and clean up as...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub tackle the evolving landscape of quality assurance in web apps . They challenge the notion of QA as just "manual testers at the end," instead framing quality as a chain of practices across the entire SDLC : requirements, technical design, code reviews, unit tests, automation, monitoring, and stakeh...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub wrestle with one of the industry's toughest questions: How do you measure engineering productivity? The conversation explores the hypothesis that deploy frequency per person can serve as a practical proxy for velocity, and the cultural tradeoffs this metric may introduce. Scott and Brad dig into wh...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub dive into the concept of product debt : what it is, how it differs from technical debt, and why it matters. They unpack how hidden or forgotten product features can quietly slow down innovation, complicate modernization efforts, and create pitfalls when deciding whether to refactor or rewrite. With...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub break down the quirky and serious sides of today's AI. They cover vibe coding, smart glasses, debugging with ChatGPT, and the big question of whether AI gets weaker without human content, offering practical takeaways for CTOs. They tackle topics like: Vibe coding during a meeting : Scott builds a f...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub delve into the art and science of engineering leveling frameworks. From performance reviews to competency guides, they explore how organizations can fairly evaluate engineers while balancing technical expertise, communication, ownership, and professional judgment. They tackle tough questions like:...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?" podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub explore the evolving reality of AI productivity, and what it means for software engineering, product management, and the future of work. They kick things off with a look at recent data showing how the complexity of tasks AI can handle is rapidly increasing—measured by the length of human-equivalent...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub dig into the messy reality of product management effectiveness, and what happens when bugs reveal deeper product debt. They kick things off with a retrospective on a critical login bug that exposed lingering legacy code, sparking a conversation about how product decisions and technical debt intertw...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub delve into the critical issue of building a sense of urgency and trust within engineering teams. They discuss the importance of schedule accuracy, delivering on time, and establishing dependable processes. The conversation highlights the essential role of transparency in planning and breaking down...

In this "Summer Catch-Up" episode of "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub swap stories from the field, covering everything from data pipeline migrations to the ongoing debate over centralized versus distributed data teams. They explore the critical importance of clear data definitions, the promise (and pitfalls) of data lakes, and how organizational stru...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub welcome design veteran Vince Dean for a deep dive into the shifting world of product design in the AI era. With over two decades of experience across corporate and freelance roles, Vince unpacks how design tools, workflows, and creative expectations have evolved—from Photoshop to Figma, from static...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub are joined by Dan Woods , an expert in founder-led marketing. Dan shares his extensive experience in helping software engineers and product management professionals tell their stories better. The discussion spans Dan's career journey from working on early internet projects like Starwave and thestre...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub dig deep into the real-world lessons of managing outsourced and distributed engineering teams. Drawing on decades of experience with partners in Romania, India, Syria, and Ukraine, they unpack what makes these relationships thrive, or fail. From timezone pains and cultural mismatches to the power o...

In this episode of  "How Many CTOs Does It Take?"  podcast, hosts  Scott Porad  and  Brad Hefta-Gaub   dive into the fast-evolving world of generative AI—and what it means for the future of software development, careers, and the economy at large. They unpack how tools like GPT-4o and Claude are shifting the very nature of programming work, boosting productivity while raising deeper questions about...