The Leadership Exchange

Angela Nelms shares valuable insights on building successful companies, emphasizing the importance of humility, transparency, and continuous learning in leadership. She discusses the criteria for company success, including exceptional customer service, positive work culture, and employee satisfaction. Angela also highlights the significance of building collaborative teams, nurturing a healthy work...

Maggie Pint discusses the growing focus on customer-centric product development and the trend she sees with the shift in product roles and ownership. How does product converge with engineering and what will the future of how the industry is shifting shape the next few years? She also discusses how engineering roles are impacted by new frameworks, tools, and generative AI like chatGPT. Sponsored by...

Sheldon McGee is the Head of Engineering at Satellite.im. Learn his thoughts on the evolution of engineering management, the balance between process and people in scrum, and practical strategies for optimizing team workflows. Sponsored by This Dot Labs. Watch this episode on our YouTube Channel. Read more on our blog.

Nael Alismail, Head of Engineering at ImagineX, discusses the intricate balance between technology, business outcomes, and software development. This conversation offers practical advice on delivering true business value, the importance of understanding business goals, making strategic technology decisions, and fostering a culture of iterative development.  Sponsored by This Dot Labs Watch this ep...

Emma Bostian is an engineering manager at Spotify and shares her journey from engineer to manager. She discusses the challenges she faced in her new role and the importance of collaboration, continuous learning, and understanding individual motivations in a managerial role. She also shares strategies for time management and highlights the importance of matching team members with projects that alig...

Discover the challenges of giving and receiving feedback and the importance of mutual respect with Kelly Vaughn. Explore the cultural aspects of feedback delivery and the value of creating a safe space for failure and critical feedback.   Sponsored by This Dot Labs Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. Read more on our blog.

Dr. Christine Dee, a technologist and research psychologist at IBM shares her perspective on AI ethics and designing responsibly for AI. The episode addresses the challenges leaders face in navigating conversations around trust, ethics, and responsibility. Sponsored by This Dot Labs Watch this episode on our YouTube Channel Read more on our blog

Cory Minton, a Field CTO at Splunk shares his role in the intersection of data analytics and Formula One racing. He shares insights into his leadership philosophy, emphasizing the importance of intentional curiosity, continuous learning, side projects, and balancing high-performance work with periods of lower intensity to prevent burnout. The episode also explores Cory's project involving McLaren,...

Jean Roberts, the field CTO of financial markets at DataRobot is a leader in the field of data and AI. Jean shares her journey from investment banking to tech, and shares her insights into companies adopting technology and going through data transformations and the challenges they face. She talks about how data must first be accessible within an organization before it can be fully utilized in the...

Tracy and Rob explore the critical aspects of successfully adopting technology in non-tech companies. They stress the importance of integrating technology into the core mission, sharing insights on pitfalls and the transformative nature of tech adoption. The conversation covers promoting technology ownership, hiring aligned technologists, fostering curiosity, staying adaptable, and embracing trial...

Rob Ocel interviews Cassidy Williams, the CTO at Contenda and startup adviser. Cassidy shares her journey to becoming a startup adviser and CTO, and how Contenda pivoted from mailing stickers to creating Brain Story, an AI-powered brainstorming app. Rob and Cassidy discuss the importance of being willing to be wrong and to hear out other perspectives, and the importance of adapting and pivoting in...

Tracy Lee and Rob Ocel discuss the concept of 'owning the middle' in engineering leadership and the importance of leaders having opinions and fighting for them. They talk about making people unhappy in deliberate ways, and leading with intentionality and purpose. They also cover the need for self-awareness and self-introspection in leadership. Sponsored by This Dot Labs Watch this episode on our Y...

Rob Ocel interviews Dr. Joye Purser, the Global Lead Field CISO at Veritas Technologies. Dr. Purser explains the need for passionate problem solvers in the private sector and outlines the three key elements of security leadership. She discusses the rising threat of cybersecurity attacks in the private sector and what organizations are doing to address them, and what skillsets are needed to hire le...

Rob Ocel interviews Dylani Herath about championing change within organizations and how to effectively lead transformation efforts within organization. She shares her career journey and talks about the best practices she implements when working to align the team’s technology capabilities with organizational objectives. Sponsored by This Dot Labs Watch this episode on our YouTube Channel! Read more...

Charity Majors, CTO at Honeycomb challenges engineers and engineering managers to ask themselves this question: “Why would anyone want to be an engineering manager?” Charity discusses the importance of engineering management, the rising standards engineering managers are held to, the emotional labor, and how big of a mindset shift successful engineering management is from being a developer. They a...

On this episode of the Engineering Leadership podcast, Rob Ocel interviews Joe Essey, the Director of Engineering at Popmenu, about how to create a high-performing championship team environment. Joe draws on his experiences in sports, the restaurant industry, and his time at Liberty Mutual Insurance, Salesloft, and Popmenu to discuss the need for a good pipeline, the right people in place, and a f...

On this episode of Engineering Leadership, Rob Ocel interviews Charlie Isaacs, CTO for Customer Connection at Salesforce. Charlie talks about his career journey, his technique of 'spaghetti flinging', digital transformation, and how rapid prototyping helps leaders move from vision to action quickly.

Rob Ocel hosts the Engineering Leadership Series with Kathy Keating, co-founder of CTO Levels. Keating shares her tech journey, leadership insights, and the vital role of swift trust-building. They discuss transitioning to leadership, effective communication, and matching CTO roles to a company's stage.

On this episode of the Engineering Leadership series, Rob Ocel interviews David Cramer, co-founder and CTO of Sentry. They discuss the importance of making decisions and taking risks, the success of Sentry, and the challenges of developing and defending opinions in the software engineering industry.

Rob Ocel talks to Matteo Collina, Platformatic's co-founder and CTO, about leadership and risk perception. Matteo discusses how Platformatic manages risk using their tools and emphasizes the overlooked advantages of embracing open source contributions in organizations. Sponsored by This Dot Labs.

In this podcast, Rob Ocel interviews Shanthala Rao, Chief Digital Development Officer at Primerica. They discuss her 20+ year career, Primerica's innovative culture, and how technology is used to enhance human connections, particularly between representatives and clients. Sponsored by This Dot Labs.

In this episode, Tracy Lee and Dustin Goodman discuss blending project management processes for a more efficient workflow. Dustin's project example underscores understanding the highest value proposition aligned with the organization's KPIs or OKRs. Finally, they stress the balance between strategic planning and adaptability. Sponsored by This Dot Labs.

On this episode, Rob Ocel interviews Heather Giovanni, the VP of Engineering of Data Infrastructure at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. They discuss the importance of striking a balance between optimization and customer expectations, and how the customer's familiarity with the product can affect the level of complexity.

Jimmy Jacobson, CTO of Codingscape, discusses developer performance. He highlights challenges in the job market, and explore key productivity metrics and frameworks like DORA & McKinsey's report. They also touch on balancing process improvement with tech investments, emphasizing efficient communication for engineering teams. Sponsor: This Dot Labs