Engineering Unblocked

In this episode, Lada Kesseler shares what she’s learned from a year of hands-on experience building with AI coding tools — including the three fundamental challenges that define how these tools work, and why understanding limitations is what makes you better at using them.Lada explains why “focus” is the critical concept most developers miss, how a dedicated committer agent will catch issues that a general-purpose copilot never does, and why software craftsmanship matters more now than ever. She also gets into why using AI to critique itself produces dramatically better results, and how AI works as an amplifier that speeds up both good and bad engineering practices.Find the transcript at: https://www.swarmia.com/podcast/lada-kesseler-logic2020(0:00) Introduction(2:46) The five fundamental gaps in AI development(7:15) “You’re absolutely right!”(8:00) The anti-pattern of the distracted agent(11:09) Do agile best practices still matter in the age of AI?(14:48) Why software craftsmanship is more important than ever(15:46) Managing complexity: Can AI do it, or do we still need humans?(18:19) The difference between vibe coding and craft(20:24) How AI is an amplifier — for better or worse(21:23) Good practices that are suddenly essential(23:02) The superpower of refactoring(25:36) Documentation: harder to maintain but more important than ever(26:58) When developers don’t write code anymore(32:49) AI costs and the coming reckoning(33:54) When AI is not the right choice(36:06) Three things senior leaders need to understand about AI(39:46) Will we still be talking about this in a year’s time?Watch Lada’s talk Augmented Coding: Mapping the Uncharted Territory See the interactive map on Lada’s website Follow Lada on LinkedIn Follow Rebecca on LinkedIn

In this episode, Rob Zuber shares what he’s learned from over a decade as CTO at CircleCI — including why the current market requires CTOs to be more hands-on than ever, and why he doesn’t even know who his competitors are anymore.Rob explains how his team deliberately encourages AI tool sprawl to find the gaps, how CircleCI went from instant product-market fit to navigating constant transformation, and why boring technology still wins for infrastructure even as everything else changes. He also gets into why AI works as an amplifier that speeds up both good processes and bad ones.Find the transcript at: https://www.swarmia.com/podcast/rob-zuber-circleci(00:00) Introduction(01:00) What it means to be a CTO right now(03:09) The evolution of software development since 2011(06:07) The mobile revolution and iOS tooling(08:28) JavaScript frameworks and the rise of containers(12:03) Staying competitive in a crowded CI/CD market(15:32) AI is changing everything about software delivery(18:17) Setting goals and priorities in uncertain times(28:58) What the board holds CTOs accountable for(34:27) The ZIRP era and its aftermath(38:45) Why headcount became the wrong metric(41:22) AI as an amplifier — for better or worse(44:03) Will companies without fundamentals survive?(46:00) The reverse camera problem(51:52) Do we still need to understand how things work?Links and mentionsFollow Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robzuber/Follow Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmurphey/

In this episode, Michael Lopp shares what he's learned leading engineering teams at Slack, Pinterest, and Palantir — including why AI is delivering real but modest productivity gains, and why junior engineers churning out AI-generated code is probably slowing teams down.Michael Lopp (Rands) brings three decades of engineering leadership experience to the AI conversation — revealing why he thinks we're experiencing another bubble similar to the dotcom era, but moving much faster. He's bullish on the technology but realistic: AI enables 5-10% productivity gains for complex work, not the revolutionary changes some expect. His framework emphasizes that good leadership still requires empathy, one-on-ones, and actually listening to your team.Find the transcript at: https://www.swarmia.com/podcast/michael-lopp-rands/(0:00) Introduction(2:45) Are we living in another dotcom bubble?(11:12) AI doesn't replace critical thinking(15:34) The problem with measuring the productivity impact of AI(18:01) Your job as a human is to know when you're being lied to(19:40) What junior engineers need to learn now(24:16) Assessing team health and psychological safety at scale(28:12) What happens at 150 headcount(30:21) Are companies buying AI tools without a hypothesis?(33:11) The fakers(35:22) Rands’ advice on leading through hard times(42:18) Why telling managers to stop coding was a bad idea(45:25) Rands’ hot take on the industryFollow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelloppFollow Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmurphey/

Titus Winters, Senior Principal Scientist at Adobe and former Google engineer, dives into optimizing software value. He argues that humans should only be involved in the creative development phase, labeling the deployment phase as pure toil. Winters introduces a framework dividing software into three stages: creative development, factory-like deployment, and operational maintenance. He also discusses the importance of quantifying the costs of software defects and the critical need for organizations to understand the balance between developer productivity and effective platformization.

Charity Majors, CTO and co-founder of Honeycomb, champions the power of 'normal' engineers over the myth of '10x developers'. She argues for systems that support everyday engineers, emphasizing that resilience stems from diverse teams. The conversation highlights the importance of team collaboration and the pitfalls of focusing solely on individual metrics. Additionally, Charity discusses her journey in management and how it intertwines with maintaining technical skills and fostering team spirit, challenging conventional wisdom on career progression.

Allan Leinwand, Chief Technology Officer at Webflow and veteran engineering leader, shares his insights on scaling tech teams during pivotal growth phases. He discusses how AI is reshaping the hiring landscape, boosting junior developer integration, and streamlining performance reviews. Allan also reflects on the importance of accountability in engineering, advocating for mentorship and a team-centered approach to performance management. His unique experiences at top tech firms provide a fascinating perspective on navigating the evolving tech landscape.

In this episode of Engineering Unblocked, Rebecca sits down with Kathryn Koehler, Director of Developer Productivity at Netflix, to explore the unique challenges of scaling engineering at a 20-year-old company.The conversation dives deep into the complexities of building versus buying solutions, managing migrations across a multi-repo environment, and maintaining Netflix’s culture of freedom and responsibility, while providing the standardization that enables productivity at scale. Kathryn offers practical insights on everything from measuring productivity (hint: it’s not about lines of code) to navigating the current AI hype cycle with a level head.Find the transcript at: https://www.swarmia.com/podcast/kathryn-koehler-netflix/Timestamps(0:00) Introductions(1:14) Kathryn's background and journey to Netflix(5:27) Solving problems at a 20-year-old company(9:01) Defining productivity and platform(13:05) Kathryn's approach to standardization(16:50) How Netflix handles migrations(20:36) Deciding what to work on(23:26) Maintaining utility per engineer(27:36) The importance of mindset(31:25) Metrics of productivity(36:25) What Kathryn is accountable for(37:50) Kathryn's thoughts on AIFollow Kathryn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kakoehler/Follow Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmurphey/

In this episode of Engineering Unblocked, Rebecca sits down with Julianna Lamb, co-founder and CTO of Stytch, to explore the challenges of building and scaling engineering culture at a fast-growing startup.Julianna shares her journey from Plaid to founding an authentication and fraud prevention platform, and dives deep into the cultural decisions that shaped Stytch's 30-person engineering team. From establishing quality practices and developer experience from day one to navigating the balance between speed and reliability, Julianna offers practical insights on maintaining culture through growth. They also discuss how AI is reshaping engineering interviews and the evolving role of junior developers in 2025. Find the transcript at: https://www.swarmia.com/podcast/julianna-lamb-stytch/Timestamps(0:00) Introductions(0:32) Julianna's background and path to Stytch(3:08) About the structure of Stytch(5:30) Julianna's approach to team growth(9:30) Early investments as a start-up(12:36) About Stytch's culture(17:10) Ensuring quality through testing(19:58) Ownership of internal tooling(22:24) Maintaining a culture of speed(25:09) Managing quality through growth(28:23) The importance of culture fit(31:53) AI's impact on junior engineers(35:00) How Stytch interviews in 2025(40:32) Julianna's ambitions for the futureFollow Julianna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannaelamb/Follow Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmurphey/

Max Kanat-Alexander, an Executive Distinguished Engineer at Capital One with a rich background from Google and LinkedIn, dives into developer productivity. He reveals common pitfalls for initiatives aimed at boosting it, emphasizing the need to truly understand developers’ challenges. The conversation contrasts individual versus team productivity, critiques the 'ticket-taker' culture that hampers software quality, and discusses the implications of AI on coding. Max also shares valuable advice for junior engineers to grasp core principles amidst evolving technology.

Kristen Foster-Marks, Head of Developer Experience at Depot, shares her wealth of knowledge from her previous work at Pluralsight. She dives into the hot topic of 'ghost engineers,' stressing the importance of ethical research in the tech world. Kristen discusses how improving developer experience can impact productivity and retention, especially during tough economic times. The conversation also highlights the need for empirical studies and the challenges of replicating qualitative research, as well as the importance of research literacy for practical application.