A Geek Leader Podcast - inspiring technical and creative leaders around the world

About Ahmed Ahmed is an experienced engineering leader, having led teams at Microsoft, Amazon and Google. He is currently leading Cloud teams at Google. In addition to his day job, Ahmed also helps engineering managers become effective leaders through his coaching. Today We Talked About Ahmed’s background Leadership in general Re-occurring problems for new leaders Feedback loops Dealing with being Overwhelmed Know your own limits Setting Explicit Expectations Knowing what your optimizing for Framework Master yourself Manage People Manage Project Resources, Time and Scope Grumpy Unintentional messages to your team Change the way you show up Lead by Example One-on-Ones Weekly – Don’t skip them Don’t end them early Follow-up Questions Aligning Incentives Career Focused One-on-ones every 4th one. Connect with Ahmed LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!  

About Bartosz An entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience, coach, mentor, and public speaker. The founder of G2A.COM, the largest and most dynamically developing global marketplace with vouchers for digital products such as games, gift cards, subscriptions, or software. The marketplace already has had over 25 million users from 180 countries around the world. A winner of the Forbes magazine’s BrandMe CEO award given to the best CEOs in the country, as well as of the Digital Shaper Award, the Gold Medal of Polish Academy of Success, and the Manager of the Year title awarded by the government of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship where G2A.COM began its journey. He’s also a co-founder and member of many business organizations such as the International Leaders Forum, Google Next Gen CEO Club, Facebook Client Advisory Board, and the Polish Council of Global Businessmen. Speaker for business events such as The Economic Forum, Merchants Payment Ecosystem Conference in Berlin, MIT in Boston, or Gamescom in Cologne. Graduate of the AGH University of Krakow and the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, as well as Executive Education programs on Harvard (Finance), MIT (IT, Blockchain, Platformization, Productivity), and Oxford (Fintech). He also actively participates in society – he initiated the creation of the działajmyrazem.pl platform for organizing aid for Ukraine, with several dozen companies joining in solidarity. He’s involved in the SaveTheChildren program and supports local orphanages. Privately, he loves animals and is a fan of tennis. Today We Talked About Bartosz Background G2A.com Gamers Why? Trust Feedback Payments Hard Work Lead by Example Ego Listen, then Respond Global Standups People and Attracting them Learning Connect with Bartosz LinkedIn Website X Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!  

About Brian “Tap” Taptich Tap is a seasoned leader with 25+ years of experience leading strategy, technology, business, marketing, and corporate development at worldwide technology companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100. He is passionate about developing and leading cross-functional teams to achieve bold goals on a global scale. Currently, Tap is VP of Strategic Initiatives. In this role, he designs and implements key initiatives to build and execute AWS growth strategy. Tap leads strategic planning and provides thought leadership to AWS senior executives. He also works with AWS senior leadership to evolve AWS’ long-term vision and operational plan, including assessing current strategy, designing optimized solutions, and supporting implementation across the organization. Prior to leading Strategic Initiatives, Tap ran the Worldwide Specialist Organization (WWSO) that builds and executes go-to-market strategies for AWS’ multibillion dollar businesses. Under his leadership, the team tripled in size and AWS revenue grew significantly from $41B ARR in 2020 to $85B ARR in 2023. Prior to WWSO, Tap led AWS Game Tech, a vertical strategy that spanned AWS Services, Sales, Solutions Architecture, Business Development, and Marketing. Tap led this team for 3 years and under his leadership, the team doubled the games industry revenue. Before AWS, Tap was the CEO of Bitcasa, a venture-backed cloud file system services company built entirely on AWS. Under his leadership, the company grew the data under their management to over 30 PB, with users in 120+ countries. Bitcasa was sold to Intel at the end of 2016. Prior to Bitcasa, Tap has also held senior executive positions in Business Development and General Management at Zynga, BitTorrent, and Electronic Arts. Tap also spent some time in finance and worked at both Doll Capital Management and Allen & Company. Tap received a BA from Williams College and a MBA from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management, with a focus on Entrepreneurship/ Entrepreneurial Studies. Today We Talked About Tap’s Background 16 leadership principles ownership Bitcasa Turning the ship around Culture Customer focused Solving big problems AWS   Connect with Brian LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!  

About Kyle Kyle Kiser is Chief Executive Officer at Arrive Health, the leader in delivering real-time cost and coverage data to decision-making workflows. In this role, he focuses on helping providers and care teams improve patient access, affordability, and outcomes while reducing administrative burden. By partnering with health systems, health plans, IT vendors, and pharmacy benefit managers, Arrive Health enables transparency and better patient care nationwide. Since 2013, Kyle has helped grow the company from a vision to a reality, and has been at the forefront of some of the most transformational initiatives in healthcare. In particular, he has focused on projects that lower the cost of care, improve adherence, and enable informed decisionmaking. His focus on interoperability has allowed partners to improve provider workflows and reduce medication costs for millions of patients. Kyle has helped develop incentive strategies for the countryʼs most innovative employers and led product launches with the nationʼs largest payers. Prior to Arrive Health, he was a senior leader at Welltok, Catapult Health, and Principal Wellness Company. Today We Talked About Kyle’s background Pricing in Healthcare Automation Laws and regulation HIPPA data Health plan price transparency Future of Healthcare Tech Connect with Kyle X LinkedIn Website   Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About D.J. D.J. Eshelman has more than 25 years of overall IT experience, but it was in 2004 when he found Citrix Systems that his career became truly focused. While this still requires skillsets beyond the delivery, Citrix technologies have been the central point of focus ever since. He is the author of two books released in 2020, “Be a Citrix Hero” and “Just Do THIS: A Simpler Way to Succeed in I.T.” as well as blog sites ctxpro.com and thrive-it.com. He is the host of the “THRIVE-IT” YouTube channel and the popular “THRIVEcast” show, interviewing leaders in I.T. Mr. Eshelman has proven himself as an expert in the industry. He was recognized as one of 50 Citrix Technology Advocates (CTA) worldwide in 2017. He has served Citrix Consulting Services since 2011 as an ad-hoc or resident senior consultant/architect. He has on behalf of his companies BOT Consulting and THRIVE-IT.com guided multiple Citrix Platinum partners in the technology while serving customers independently and with white-label services. In everything D.J. does, he is on a mission to Leave the World Better Than He Found It – and Inspire Others to do the same. https://thrive-it.com/AGL23 IT Career Roadmap Workshop Today We Talked About D.J.’s background RiskLESS Methodology Understand Plan Change Maintain Quiet Quitting Not what you know, but what you’re willing to learn. Confused people don’t buy Connect with D.J. X Book YouTube Website LinkedIn Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!  

About Phil Most people can’t say that they were already a successful entrepreneur at the age of 18. But then again, Phil Alves isn’t most people. After teaching himself how to code in high school, he started writing blogs about building software for direct marketing, unknowingly becoming an SEO powerhouse in the space — and it wasn’t long until one of his posts landed at #1 on Google. Capitalizing on the resulting inbound inquiries, he was able to grow his first business to 10 employees and then sell it… all before he could buy a lottery ticket. From there, Phil moved to the US to attend college, pursuing further education in Computer Information Technology at BYU. As he settled into Salt Lake City, his entrepreneurial tendencies once again came to the forefront: he soon founded DevSquad, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in strategizing, prototyping, and developing digital products.  Over the last nine years, Phil has grown the company from a tiny startup into a 100-person cross-functional team, operating in both the US and his home country of Brazil — leading numerous startup clients to multi-million dollar exits and shepherding the development of digital products for major enterprises like ADP, Box, and the US Ski and Snowboarding team along the way. In all of these endeavors, Phil’s ultimate goal shines through: giving SaaS leaders the tools their businesses need to thrive. When he’s not deep in development, you can find Phil behind the mic hosting his own podcast, SaaS Origin Stories, or working on his newest venture, DevStats, a SaaS product that helps product and engineering leaders get insight on their development teams’ performance. He’s also a passionate pilot, a loving husband, an avid cyclist, and a practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Today We Talked About Phil’s background DevOps SaaS product Development JOMO vs. FOMO (Joy of Missing out vs. Fear of Missing Out) Project Management Methodology Sprint Zero Prototype User Interviews Development Metrics User Metrics Microservices https://www.devstats.com/  Connect with Phil LinkedIn Website Phil Alves Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!  

About Rob Rob Kalwarowsky was at the top of his game. Known to colleagues only as Reliable Rob, his MIT Mechanical Engineering degree and dedication to the heavy industry space gave him the unique insight that saved his organization millions of dollars. But then, the twist. Upper management? They didn’t care. At all. The huge disconnect spurred Rob to shift gears – from heavy industry to heavy research. 10 years later, the bleak results. One: The relationship between workforce and management has broken down, everywhere, and completely. Two: This is destroying the mental health of all involved – and taking entire companies down. But there is a solution. And it starts with the deceptively simple question: what separates a great leader from an a**hole boss? Rob brings deep insights into intra-organizational obstacles to change, and small shifts in leadership with big impacts on the bottom line, mental health, and quality of life across all levels. Today We Talked About Rob’s background Trust Caring manager Thin book of Trust Work Identity Perception is reality Accountability Imposter Syndrome Ego Internal Family Systems Show up as you Leaders are traumatized Our jobs are killing people Horizontal Work vs Vertical Work Mindset work   Connect with Rob LinkedIn Website YouTube Leadership Launchpad Project Personal Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Jeffrey Jeffrey is a nationally recognized thought leader and award winning author on the next evolution of leadership: Conscious Leadership. His recently published book: “Developing the Conscious Leadership Mindset for the 21st Century” won a total of four national and international Stevie Awards® and is an Amazon best seller in the Occupational and Organizational Psychology category. He also won the 2021 International Business Awards bronze medal for ‘Innovator of the Year’. His background is one of a serial entrepreneur who has bootstrapped 2 multi-million dollar companies; several non-profits and multiple political organizations. Since 2005 he has been a leadership and organizational performance consultant and leadership coach. He’s helped scores of clients grow by strengthening their leadership teams and helping them uncover, then mobilize, the hidden human capital that drives performance and profits in the 21st century. Jeffrey is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and regularly publishes on the Forbes.com blog. Jeffrey is also a stage 4 cancer “thriver”; a dedicated student spiritual teachings and a Reiki Master. He blends his life experiences with decades of front-line management experience to help his clients build powerful and resilient 21st century ready organizations. Today We Talked About Jeffrey’s background Cancer Diagnosis What it was like Changing Perspective Empathy Getting things out of. Controlling it No Matter What “I Win” The Inner Elder Mindset of Abundance vs. a Mindset of Scarcity What is “So” What Stage 4 Cancer Taught Me About Conscious Leadership – YouTube Connect with Jeffrey Website Book LinkedIn Twitter Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!  

About Zain With a strong background in fintech and climatetech, Zain has honed his expertise in credit card infrastructure and carbon offsets. Having worked at prominent companies in these fields, Zain has gained invaluable experience and insights. Given his time studying under Geoffrey Hinton, Zain has deep knowledge in neural networks, deep learning, and other advanced AI techniques. As the former head of Engineering for two Silicon Valley-based Climate Technology companies, he possesses expertise in sustainable technology, environmental solutions, and the intersection of technology and climate change. Zain’s passion for utilizing technology to drive positive change has led him to found a successful 150-person engineering consulting firm, Lightci. As the Founder, he is skilled in software development, optimization, and providing technical consultancy to major companies. He continues to make a significant impact on the industry, working on projects for companies like Google and Apple. Today We Talked About Climate Tech AI LightCI Leadership Entrepreneurship Business Knowledge in Tech and Engineering Climate Tech Carbon Offset Carbon Neutral Products Credit Fraud Monitoring using AI Fear of AI Data Restrictions Data Exposure Connect with Zain LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Jim Jim Saliba is a certified coach, public speaker, and seasoned leader with over 30 years of experience in the IT industry. Starting as a software engineer, he rose through the ranks to become the VP of a $4 billion tech company. As the author of the book “The Six-Step Leadership Challenge,” Jim shares his expertise and insights on empowering leaders to overcome fears and self-limiting beliefs to unlock true potential. Through his Triple E system – Emerge, Elevate, Excel – he guides individuals to reach their goals and transform their leadership styles. As a PCC-certified coach, Jim has impacted diverse industries and nurtured all levels of leadership. His mission is to “Transform the World of Work” one leader at a time. Today We Talked About Jim’s Background Leadership Coaching Core Skills 4 Fears Fear of Incompetence – Impostor Syndrome Fear of Feeling Foolish – FOMO Fear of Failure – Culture of Blame Fear of Vulnerability – Mistrust Self-Awareness & Self-Development 6 Steps Looking at yourself Looking outside of yourself Change your story Building a Strategy – not a plan Empower your story (experiment) Adding Durability to your story 5 Dysfunctions of a team Herding Tigers Retrospectives SCRUM Director level getting stuck Hire your opposite Trust Open Communication Connect with Jim LinkedIn Website Twitter Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!