alphalist.CTO Podcast - For CTOs and Technical Leaders

#106 - Meritocracy, Backend and Engineer-led Sales feat. Shyam Sankar // CTO @ Palantir Technologies

Aug 30, 2024

Shyam Sankar, CTO of Palantir Technologies, is shaking up the backend with innovative strategies derived from overseeing 150 independent development teams. He shares fascinating insights linking French restaurant management to engineer-led sales approaches. The conversation dives into the distinction between 'artists' and 'hackers' in engineering, while also addressing the importance of data-driven decisions and the power of meritocracy in tech. Shyam advocates for reducing information asymmetry, ensuring diversity and creativity thrive in organizations.

48:36

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Episode guests

Shyam Sankar

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

The imminent shift from traditional backend programming to autonomous development frameworks will enable engineers to focus on innovative solutions rather than infrastructure intricacies.

A collaborative relationship between engineers and clients is essential for creating tailored solutions that genuinely solve customer challenges and enhance market alignment.

Promoting a meritocratic culture that values individual strengths and encourages rebellion allows organizations to foster creativity, flexibility, and better decision-making.

Deep dives

The Future of Backend Programming

The discussion centers around the imminent deprecation of traditional backend programming as organizations shift towards more autonomous development frameworks. This transition will enable engineers to focus on higher-level abstractions without having to engage with the intricate details of infrastructure management. By eliminating the need for manual coding pipelines, developers can leverage pre-built components, allowing them to concentrate on creating innovative solutions. Consequently, this evolution in backend development is expected to streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and allow rapid application prototyping.

Intro

2min

Journey Through Computing: From Coding to Customer Engagement

11min

Building Efficient Tech Infrastructure

15min

Fostering an Artist Colony: The Power of Meritocracy and Unique Talents

5min

Empowering Innovation Through Organizational Structure

9min

Embracing Unconventional Leadership and AI's Potential

5min

Wrapping Up: Insights and Future Connections

2min

Diversity in Meritocracy Through Rebellion

Discover new ways to do things with Shyam Sankar, CTO of Palantir, who is working to deprecate backend development using their experience with 150 independent dev teams running a collection of 5,000 microservices. Yet this podcast is more than that (although I was blown away by the demo)—expect great nuggets of wisdom on meritocracy, data, and of course, backend. Think of this podcast as a series of back-to-back nuggets of wisdom that not only help you make sense of what you've observed but also open your mind to emerging trends.

Listen to find out

👨‍🍳 How French Restaurants Inspired Engineer-led Sales
⚖️ Finding Success in Contradicting Ideas
🧑‍💻 The Two Types of Engineers: Artists 🎨 vs. Hackers 🔧
🏗️ How he is working on deprecating backend development
📊 Why data is only as good as the decisions it guides and actualizes
📚 The Power of Ontologies
🧩 Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning
🌈 Diversity in meritocracy through acts of rebellion 💥
ℹ️ Why you need to reduce information asymmetry +🤖 Like Analog to Digital: How LLMs will change things

TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Introduction to Alphalist Podcast 00:59 Meet Shyam Sankar, CTO of Palantir 01:59 Early Days at Palantir 03:12 Impact of Florida 'Space Coast' Childhood 04:26 Power of Software 05:24 Move to LLMs: Like Analog to Digital 07:10 A Day in the Life of an In-The-Trenches CTO 08:37 Engineers in Product and Sales 09:46 Value of Contradiction 11:28 Two Types of Engineers: Artists and Hackers 12:10 Power Law: Solving the Problems of the Most Futuristic Clients 13:37 Building the Future of Backend Development 14:55 No Greenfield Enterprise Tech: Need to Make Sure It Works with Old Tech 16:13 Companies as Decision Chains and Why Data Is the New Snake Oil 17:21 Ontology 21:17 Inductive Over Deductive Problem Solving 21:56 Deprecating Backend Development 24:36 Will We Need IDEs in the Future? 26:07 Tackling the Application Layer with Clean Abstractions 26:43 Leveraging LLMs for Enterprise Use Cases 27:40 How to Avoid Being a "Jack of All Trades but Master of None" 29:12 Focus on Your Strengths 31:50 Hierarchies: Flexibility Over Flatness 32:28 The Qualitative Reward of Meritocracy 33:19 Diversity, Meritocracy, and Rebellion 34:42 How a Flat Hierarchy Helps the Creative Process 36:52 Reduce Information Asymmetry 38:08 Empower Your Team and Get Out of Their Way 41:47 Don't Settle for the Comfortable Playbook - Innovate 43:34 Reindustrialization and Software-Defined Production 44:37 Why He Is Involved as an IC on Some Projects 45:36 Focus on Your Strengths

QUOTES: “Focus on your strengths, go figure out what your superpowers are. Don't worry about the rest of the world, right? It's really that some of the value comes from the internal creative process and knowing who you are, not from being what you think the world needs you to be.” - Shyam Sankar, CTO of Palantir

“Your position of maximum growth is also likely a position of maximum pain. Like, no one is telling you this is going to be a pleasant journey, but it is going to be rewarding.” -- Shyam Sankar, CTO of Palantir

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