In this conversation, Suhail Patel, a Principal Engineer at Monzo, discusses the rapid scaling of the fintech platform and the core infrastructure. He shares insights on the evolution of microservices and the importance of automation in supporting growth. Patel emphasizes securing buy-in from teams to showcase true platform value and the necessity of minimum viable architectures. He also dives into team dynamics, highlighting communication's role in leadership and the integration of AI in enhancing engineering practices.
46:27
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
From Four Engineers To A Hundred
Suhail joined Monzo's platform team when it had about four engineers and stayed in platform for seven years.
That small team grew into over 10 squads and nearly 100 people owning platform capabilities.
insights INSIGHT
Small Bets Yield Large Returns
Early bets on Go and Kubernetes compounded into large long-term benefits for Monzo.
Choosing composable microservices enabled reassigning services between teams as the company scaled.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Automate Ownership Transfers
Automate service ownership updates and alert migrations using a service catalog and tooling.
Build automation so services and alerts can move between teams without manual toil.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
In this episode, Suhail Patel joins Thomas Betts for a discussion about growing yourself as your company grows. When he started at Monzo, Patel was one of four engineers on the then new platform team–there are now over 100 people. The conversation covers how to thrive when the company and the systems you’re building are going through major growth.
Read a transcript of this interview: http://bit.ly/41zbtMO
Subscribe to the Software Architects’ Newsletter for your monthly guide to the essential news and experience from industry peers on emerging patterns and technologies:
https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter
Upcoming Events:
InfoQ Dev Summit Munich (October 15-16, 2025)
Essential insights on critical software development priorities.
https://devsummit.infoq.com/conference/munich2025
QCon San Francisco 2025 (November 17-21, 2025)
Get practical inspiration and best practices on emerging software trends directly from senior software developers at early adopter companies.
https://qconsf.com/
QCon AI New York 2025 (December 16-17, 2025)
https://ai.qconferences.com/
QCon London 2026 (March 16-19, 2026)
https://qconlondon.com/
The InfoQ Podcasts:
Weekly inspiration to drive innovation and build great teams from senior software leaders. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:
- The InfoQ Podcast https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/
- Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture
- Generally AI: https://www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/
Follow InfoQ:
- Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@infoq
- X: https://x.com/InfoQ?from=@
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom#
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/infoq
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/infoq.com
Write for InfoQ: Learn and share the changes and innovations in professional software development.
- Join a community of experts.
- Increase your visibility.
- Grow your career.
https://www.infoq.com/write-for-infoq
The InfoQ Podcast