Nick Gillian, Co-founder and CTO of Archetype and former Google AI lead, dives into innovative strategies for leading interdisciplinary teams in the realm of physical AI. He highlights how positive tensions between research and product can enhance engineering culture. Gillian discusses the importance of evolving team structures and maintaining productive cross-functional dynamics. He also emphasizes the value of amplifying desired behaviors within a team and navigating the shift from technical issues to social challenges as projects scale.
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insights INSIGHT
Positive Tension Drives Better Products
Positive tension between research and productization produces better innovation and products.
Cross-functional teams that sit together accelerate learning and create more exciting outcomes.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Scale Process Stepwise With Project Phases
Adapt team processes and composition as projects move from whiteboard to production.
Increase structure stepwise as you hit communication and scaling limits.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Start Small And Prototype Fast
Start zero-to-one teams tiny with one rep from each discipline to move fastest.
Build many rough prototypes to clarify the product through doing, not theorizing.
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This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences.
In this podcast, Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Nick Gillian about building cross-functional teams for physical AI innovation, growing engineering culture through positive tensions, and navigating the journey from technical execution to organizational influence.
Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/3NBkxfI
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