CTO Insights Podcast

In this episode of CTO Insights, I had the pleasure of hosting Alex Kroman, Chief Product and Technology Officer at AssemblyAI, to explore the evolving role of the combined Chief Product and Technology Officer position and its impact on creating high-performing engineering teams. "I very much think about running a product organization as shipping two products - one product is what the customers use and another product is what the developers inside the company use to build that product." Here are the main takeaways from this episode: * Combining the CPO and CTO roles helps eliminate silos, align priorities under one unified vision, and create clearer accountability. * Instead of separating feature work from infrastructure or developer experience initiatives, Alex emphasizes having one comprehensive roadmap. * Every planning cycle begins by identifying a clear North Star metric and then mapping both product and tech efforts to move that needle. * Velocity isn’t about pushing teams harder; it’s about removing friction. * Metrics like deploy frequency, mean time to recovery, and off-hours paging are useful but only when viewed in balance. * Titles matter less than mindset. Product managers with technical curiosity and engineering managers who understand user needs tend to create more collaborative, high-functioning teams. * Even if roles remain distinct, Alex actively seeks PMs who understand tech and engineering managers who care about product outcomes. Listen now on Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cto-insights-podcast/id1743166543], Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1HJ7yKl4OFcv0baBLqDDGw], and YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@CTOInsights]. This episode is brought to you by Adeva, a global network of top developers connecting businesses with world-class talent. Whether you need to scale your team or bring an idea to life, Adeva empowers you to increase your engineering capacity without the overhead of traditional hiring. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ctoinsights.adevait.com [https://ctoinsights.adevait.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

In this episode of CTO Insights, I had the pleasure of hosting Georgina Shute, Founder of KindTwo, to discuss why diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones. Following her own ADHD diagnosis, Georgina has dedicated herself to empowering leaders and organizations to understand and leverage the unique strengths of neurodiverse teams. We also share common misconceptions about neurodiverse employees, strategies for creating inclusive tech teams, and actionable insights for CTOs looking to leverage diverse thinking styles as a competitive advantage. Georgina points out, "People aren't broken and we don't need to be fixed. I think there are different environments where people thrive in different ways." “Future leaders won't just be managing teams. They're gonna become these architects of inclusive systems that enable every individual to contribute at their best, which then continues to drive that innovation and performance.” Here are the main takeaways from this episode: * Neurodiversity is a competitive advantage, not a challenge to fix. High-performing teams thrive when they leverage diverse ways of thinking rather than forcing everyone into the same mold. * Psychological safety is the foundation of innovation. When individuals feel safe to work in ways that suit them, they contribute more creatively and effectively, boosting team performance. * Leadership is evolving from management to system design. The best leaders won't just manage teams; they'll create inclusive structures where every individual can contribute at their best. * Workplaces weren't designed for neurodivergent minds, but they should be. Instead of expecting individuals to adapt to rigid systems, companies must build environments where diverse talent can thrive. Listen now on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. This episode is brought to you by Adeva, a global network of top developers connecting businesses with world-class talent. Whether you need to scale your team or bring an idea to life, Adeva empowers you to increase your engineering capacity without the overhead of traditional hiring. Learn more about Adeva. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ctoinsights.adevait.com [https://ctoinsights.adevait.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

In this episode of CTO Insights, host Katerina Trajchevska is joined by Allison McMillan, Fractional VP of Engineering and Leadership Consultant. Together, they navigate effective strategies for planning and budgeting from a CTO perspective, how to enhance team productivity through better meeting practices, and the challenges of scaling high-performing engineering teams. Allison is the Founder of Tavlin Consulting and serves as a Fractional VP of Engineering for various organizations. With a rich background in leadership roles at companies like GitHub and Quarterpath, Allison specializes in enhancing communication and collaboration within engineering teams. Her expertise lies in enhancing communication and collaboration within engineering teams to build high-performing, scalable, and resilient team cultures. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. Instructions on how to do this are here [https://www.fame.so/follow-rate-review]. This episode is brought to you by Adeva, a global network of top developers connecting businesses with world-class talent. Whether you need to scale your team or bring an idea to life, Adeva empowers you to increase your engineering capacity without the overhead of traditional hiring. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ctoinsights.adevait.com [https://ctoinsights.adevait.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

I had the pleasure of hosting Sven Peters, Developer Advocate at Atlassian to discuss Developer Experience, a topic that increasingly catches the attention of engineering leaders. We start the discussion with some mindblowing stats from the recent Developer Experience report, released by Atlassian. According to it, 69% of developers lose eight or more hours per week to inefficiencies. 69%. That’s a full day lost weekly due to the inability to organize work in a way that empowers productivity. Sven argues that developer joy is the single most important factor directly impacting the team's performance. Increasing it reduces inefficiencies. Or vice-versa. The bottom line is that when traditional metrics fail us, measuring developer joy will likely open perspectives that guide us toward more productive work. So, we talk about concrete actions they’ve taken at Atlassian, how they track developer joy, and what we can learn from the process. We asked developers, "Where are you losing time?" The top answer was tech debt, followed by insufficient documentation. Then we asked leaders what they see as the main challenge for developers. Their top answer was, "They’re understaffed." It’s not tech debt, not documentation, and not slow build processes. So, they try to fix the problem by adding more people to it. Here are the main takeaways from this episode: - 69% of developers lose eight or more hours per week to inefficiencies and less than half of them believe leaders are aware of these issues. On the other hand, nearly 40% of leaders use lines of code and hours worked to measure performance. There’s a huge discrepancy between leadership and engineering that only contributes to the team’s inefficiency. - Based on Atlassian’s research, Tech Debt is the number one reason developers lose time. - Leaders often misunderstand the challenges developers face and the first step in resolving them is improving the communication between developers and leaders. - Developer joy correlates with productivity and satisfaction. Regular surveys can help measure developer satisfaction and continued investment in improving the metrics directly contributes to increased performance. - Empowering teams to solve their problems increases engagement and creates a culture of continuous improvement and higher work satisfaction. - Quality assistance, a process where developers own the quality with a handful of QA experts to assist them, helps developers take responsibility for their code and improve the general team performance. This episode is brought to you by Adeva, a global talent network that connects companies with top-tier tech and product talent, ready to hit the ground running. With the ability to introduce a candidate within 24 hours and an exceptional 98% success rate on trial engagements, Adeva offers the flexibility for companies to scale their teams up or down as needed. If you’re looking to expand your team, drive momentum in new projects, or need to backfill a role, Adeva might be the solution you need. Visit https://adevait.com to learn more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ctoinsights.adevait.com [https://ctoinsights.adevait.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

I had the pleasure of hosting David Heinemeier Hansson, co-owner and CTO at 37signals. Known for its commitment to work-life balance and focusing on outcomes over hours, 37signals has set a strong example in the industry. So, I was thrilled by the opportunity to hear David’s take on team performance, especially how to achieve more with less. In our conversation, we explore why overwork often signals poor organization and how to build a culture that enables people to accomplish more while working less. We discuss the value of flow over busyness, challenge the need for traditional metrics, and examine the unconventional approaches that have allowed 37signals to consistently deliver exceptional products for over 20 years. “40 hours is enough. 40 hours is actually plenty. The main difficulty is finding a way for those 40 hours to connect, not to be sliced into little work moments but to have long stretches of uninterrupted time.“- David Heinemeier Hansson Here are the main takeaways from this episode: * Overwork is often a sign of poor organization, not commitment—and it frequently comes at the expense of productivity. Creating a culture of flow, on the other hand, boosts productivity without requiring overwork. * “You can do big things with small teams, but it’s hard to do small things with big teams.“ * The right tools can significantly impact productivity. * The use of the ShapeUp framework encourages autonomy and flexibility in teams. In comparison, Scrum can become overly process-driven, losing sight of the actual customer needs. * Enterprise software often becomes overly complex due to customer demands and feature creep can lead to a product becoming worse over time. * Short-term planning allows for more flexibility and responsiveness. Avoiding traditional KPIs and roadmaps has helped Basecamp maintain agility over the years. * Building great software requires a commitment to quality and user experience and a sustainable business model prioritizes profitability over rapid growth. Listen now on Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cto-insights-podcast/id1743166543], Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1HJ7yKl4OFcv0baBLqDDGw], and YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4tkeiADJJst-BBW0ylbkX7-leU_7QSht]. This episode is brought to you by Adeva, a global talent network that connects companies with top-tier tech and product talent, ready to hit the ground running. With the ability to introduce a candidate within 24 hours and an exceptional 98% success rate on trial engagements, Adeva offers the flexibility for companies to scale their teams up or down as needed. If you’re looking to expand your team, drive momentum in new projects, or need to backfill a role, Adeva might be the solution you need. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ctoinsights.adevait.com [https://ctoinsights.adevait.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]