Tech Lead Journal

Can decades-old management philosophy actually help us tackle AI’s biggest challenges? In this episode, John Willis, a foundational figure in the DevOps movement and co-author of the DevOps Handbook, takes us through Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge and its surprising relevance to today’s most pressing challenges. John reveals how Deming’s four-lens framework—theory of knowledg...

In this episode, Honey Mittal, CEO and co-founder of Locofy.ai, explores one of the most exciting transformations in software development: the convergence of design and engineering through AI-powered automation. Honey shares the fascinating journey of building Locofy, a tool that converts Figma designs into production-ready front-end code. But this isn’t just another AI hype story. It’s a deep div...

Can you navigate AI disruption without understanding your landscape? Discover how to gain true situational awareness. The rise of AI has exposed a fundamental problem in how organizations make decisions. Most leaders operate using stories and graphs, not actual maps of their landscape. This leaves them vulnerable to disruption and unable to make informed choices about where to apply new technologi...

How much of your code exists only to prevent failures? Discover a new paradigm for building reliable applications. In this episode, Preeti Somal, SVP at Temporal, explores a paradigm shift that can dramatically boost productivity and give developers peace of mind. Drawing on her experience leading massive infrastructure at Yahoo and HashiCorp, she explains Temporal’s concept of durable execution t...

“Engineering leaders are stuck between the expectations put out by sensational headlines and the reality of what they’re seeing in their organization. There’s a big disappointment gap.” Is your AI investment paying off? Many leaders struggle to see real ROI beyond the hype. In this episode, Laura Tacho, CTO of DX, shares DX’s new research on measuring AI adoption success across 38,000+ engineers....

“Architecture is something that has to emerge naturally from the code. If it doesn’t make the code better, more elegant, and more flexible, then you should not be doing it.” Why do so many developers have a love-hate relationship with ORM? The creator of Hibernate reveals the real reasons behind the controversy and what’s being done to fix the fundamental issues. In this episode, Gavin King, the c...

Are long code review cycles killing your engineering team’s velocity? Learn how top engineering teams are shipping code faster without sacrificing quality. In this episode, Greg Foster, CTO and co-founder of Graphite, discusses the evolution of code review practices, from the fundamentals of pull requests to the future of AI in code review workflows. He shares the secrets behind how the Graphite t...

Struggling with technical debt and code quality? Learn how a technical coach can help your team level up. In this episode, Emily Bache, a Samman technical coach, shares her proven method for building better engineering teams through structured learning and collaborative coding. We explore ensemble programming, learning hours, and why AI makes fundamental engineering practices more important than e...

Why do engineering teams slow down as they scale? It’s not the technology—it’s the management systems. In this episode, Michi Kono, CTO at Garner Health and former engineering leader at Meta, Capital One, and Stripe, shares his battle-tested approach to building scalable engineering organizations. We explore why most teams slow down as they scale and how to build systems that accelerate growth. Ou...

How do you build a high-performing engineering team in the AI era? And will AI make fundamental engineering skills obsolete? In this episode, Mohan Krishnan, Head of Engineering at Grab, shares lessons from leading multiple transformational engineering teams. Drawing from his experience at Grab, Bukalapak, BBM Emtek, and Pivotal Labs, Mohan explains why core engineering fundamentals still matter,...

How has Infrastructure as Code changed in the last five years? Explore the key shifts and how to align your infrastructure to real business value. In this episode, Kief Morris, a Distinguished Infrastructure Engineer at Thoughtworks, returns to discuss the third edition of his book “Infrastructure as Code.” He shares fresh insights on designing and delivering dynamic systems for today’s cloud-driv...

Ever wondered how AI is being applied in the world of clinical trials where human lives are at stake? In this episode, Patrick Leung, CTO of Faro Health and former Google Duplex Engineering Lead, reveals how AI is transforming the clinical trial process — a process that can cost up to $2 billion per drug and take over 10 years to complete. Patrick reveals how Faro Health’s AI systems generate comp...

Is your engineering team running like the wild, wild west? What does engineering excellence look like in practice? In this episode, Ganesh Datta, co-founder and CTO of Cortex, explores what it takes to achieve engineering excellence. Ganesh shares lessons from his own journey, from early bug-fixing to building a company focused on engineering excellence. We discuss how platform engineering and int...

Is your software development process stuck on a conveyor belt? Discover how to break free from outdated manufacturing mindsets and build truly high-performing, agile teams that “Move Fast and Break Silos.” In this episode, experienced CPTO, Klaus Breyer, introduces a revolutionary approach to software development. He explains why treating software engineering like a factory assembly line leads to...

Is AI taking over the craft of coding? Many engineers now face an identity crisis. In the episode, Distinguished Engineer Annie Vella discusses her research on AI’s impact on software development. She explores the “software engineering identity crisis” as the craft of coding becomes automated. Annie warns that the seductive speed of AI tools can lead to lower quality and delivery instability, a tr...

What if your most critical systems run on code that no one fully understands? In this episode, Omer Rosenbaum, CTO and co-founder of Swimm, explains how to use AI to close the knowledge gap in your legacy codebase. Discover the limitations of AI in understanding legacy code and learn novel approaches to automatically document complex systems, ensuring their critical business logic is preserved and...

Feeling like you have valuable technical insights to share but struggle to put them into words? You’re not alone. In this episode, Piotr Sarna, author of “Writing for Developers” and an experienced open-source maintainer, shares the common hurdles developers face in writing and provides practical tips to get started. Discover how cultivating a writing habit can not only boost your personal brand b...

In this special in-person episode, Sanne Grinovero shares the story of Java’s evolution from his unique perspective as a long-time open-source contributor. He shares his 16-year career journey at Red Hat, highlighting his amazing work on key projects like Hibernate, Infinispan, and especially the creation of Quarkus. His career trajectory, from a student who initially disliked Java’s complexity to...

Tired of feeling like your team is stuck in a cycle of frustration and miscommunication? What if the biggest blocker in your tech career isn’t your code, but your thinking? That’s the core premise of Systems Thinking, and in this episode, Diana Montalion (author of “Learning Systems Thinking”) shares the practical insights and mental models to help you make that essential shift. Key topics discuss...

Understand the secret behind one of Amazon’s most powerful innovation tools and learn how you can use it to drive clarity, alignment, and better decision-making. In this episode, Marcelo Calbucci, author of “The PRFAQ Framework,” dives deep into the PRFAQ (Press Release & Frequently Asked Questions) framework, a unique approach that combines narrative storytelling and strategic FAQs to crystal...

(08:54) Brought to you by Swimm.io. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Start modernizing your mainframe faster with  ⁠⁠⁠Swimm⁠⁠⁠ . Understand the what, why, and how of your mainframe code. Use AI to uncover critical code insights for seamless migration, refactoring, or system replacement. Why do so many well-intentioned initiatives fail to move the needle? In this episode, Sriram Narayan, author of ‘Impact Intelligence,’...

(05:46) Brought to you by Swimm.io. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Start modernizing your mainframe faster with  ⁠⁠Swimm⁠⁠ .Understand the what, why, and how of your mainframe code. Use AI to uncover critical code insights for seamless migration, refactoring, or system replacement. Feeling uneasy about how your personal data is used, and wondering if companies are doing enough to protect it? In this episode, Katharine...

(04:07) Brought to you by Swimm.io. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Start modernizing your mainframe faster with  ⁠Swimm⁠ .Understand the what, why, and how of your mainframe code. Use AI to uncover critical code insights for seamless migration, refactoring, or system replacement. Are too many meetings killing your productivity and making your team less effective? Discover a new approach to work where meetings are no long...

(03:59) Brought to you by Swimm.io. ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Start modernizing your mainframe faster with  Swimm . Understand the what, why, and how of your mainframe code. Use AI to uncover critical code insights for seamless migration, refactoring, or system replacement. Stop fearing Friday and late-night deployments! Discover how the most painful part of software development—deploying to production—can become rout...

(05:57) Brought to you by Swimm.io. ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Start modernizing your mainframe faster with  Swimm . Understand the what, why, and how of your mainframe code. Use AI to uncover critical code insights for seamless migration, refactoring, or system replacement. Are we looking at software engineering the wrong way? What if it’s less about writing code and more about making better decisions in an ever-chang...