Empathy in Tech

Zhou Fang is the founder of Intersectional Group - a leadership, people and culture practice with a focus on intersectionality, empathy, compassion, intentionality, as well as curiosity.

Zhou is a passionate advocate for pay transparency and equity, mental wellbeing, immigration reform, and climate justice, as well as a committed ally for the LGBTQ+ and Indigenous communities.

Currently, Zhou serves on the board of Portland HR Management Association, as well as a thought leader for the Policy Committee at Women’s Foundation of Oregon. She is also the producer and host of The Intersection, a podcast program about intersectionality, identity, leadership, and personal journey.

Outside of work, Zhou is a proud dog and plant parent and a comedy and horror movie enthusiast. She appreciates good food and loves to travel.

LINKS

• Intersectional Group
• Zhou’s LinkedIn
• Instagram: @intersectionalliving
• Podcast: The Intersection
• Kimberlé Crenshaw - Wiki

HOSTS

• Andrea Goulet LinkedIn | andreagoulet.com
• Ray Myers LinkedIn | Craft vs Cruft on YouTube

ABOUT EMPATHY IN TECH

Empathy in Tech is on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in the tech industry by:

• Closing the empathy skills gap by treating empathy as a technical skill.
• Teaching technical empathy through accessible, affordable, actionable training.
• Building community and breaking down harmful stereotypes and tropes.
• Promoting technical empathy for ethics, equity, and social justice.

Learn more at empathyintech.com

Pianpian Xu Guthrie is founder and CEO of Amotions AI, a startup that provides an emotionally intelligent real-time AI coach live in calls and AI role play for leaders and employees in areas like sales.

Before founding Amotions AI, she led product management and growth at multiple tech companies such as GoDaddy and Ticketmaster.

She aims to use technology to improve people's lives across socioeconomic circumstances and cultures.

LINKS

• Pianpian’s LinkedIn
• Amotions
• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
• SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham

HOSTS

• Andrea Goulet LinkedIn | andreagoulet.com
• Ray Myers LinkedIn | Craft vs Cruft on YouTube

ABOUT EMPATHY IN TECH

Empathy in Tech is a fiscally sponsored project of Superbloom Design, a US 501c3 nonprofit. Together, we are on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in  the tech industry by:

• Closing the empathy skills gap by treating empathy as a technical skill.
• Teaching technical empathy through accessible, affordable, actionable training.
• Building community and breaking down harmful stereotypes and tropes.
• Promoting technical empathy for ethics, equity, and social justice.

How do you turn a hero into a villain? Andrea and Ray dip into the world of professional wrestling to explore unconventional and surprisingly subtle uses of empathy in John Cena's recent storyline of becoming a "heel".

LINKS

• Video: "Betrayal Moment" at Elimination Chamber
• Video: John Cena's first heel promo speech at WWE RAW
• Wikipedia glossary of pro wrestling terms
• Empathy In Tech Episode: Who is the Business?
• Radiolab episode: Montreal Screwjob

HOSTS

• Andrea Goulet LinkedIn | andreagoulet.com
• Ray Myers LinkedIn | Craft vs Cruft on YouTube

ABOUT EMPATHY IN TECH

Empathy in Tech is a fiscally sponsored project of Superbloom Design, a US 501c3 nonprofit. Together, we are on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in the tech industry by:

• Closing the empathy skills gap by treating empathy as a technical skill.
• Teaching technical empathy through accessible, affordable, actionable training.
• Building community and breaking down harmful stereotypes and tropes.
• Promoting technical empathy for ethics, equity, and social justice.

Learn more at empathyintech.com

Hashini Gunatilake is a researcher exploring the role of empathy in developer-stakeholder interactions within software engineering. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Software Engineering at Monash University as part of the HumaniSE Lab to identify ways to improve software engineering processes and outcomes through empathetic practices. Her research contributions have been published in leading software engineering journals, including ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM), Information and Software Technology (IST), and the Journal of Systems and Software (JSS).

Sponsored by CodeCrafters - discount link

LINKS

• Hashini’s LinkedIn
• Hashini’s website
• Paper:  Enablers and barriers of empathy in software developer and user interactions: a mixed methods case study
• HumaniSE Lab - Monash University

HOSTS

• Andrea Goulet LinkedIn | andreagoulet.com
• Ray Myers LinkedIn | Craft vs Cruft on YouTube

ABOUT EMPATHY IN TECH

Empathy in Tech is a non-profit project of Superbloom Design. Together, we’re on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in the tech industry by:

• Closing the empathy skills gap by treating empathy as a technical skill.
• Teaching technical empathy through accessible, affordable, actionable training.
• Building community and breaking down harmful stereotypes and tropes.
• Promoting technical empathy for ethics, equity, and social justice.

Learn more at empathyintech.com

In this vulnerable impromptu session, Andrea examines the roots of discomfort she experiences trying to absorb mathematical jargon. Ray rethinks his approach, emphasizing that the true role of logic should be to bring us together rather than push us apart.

LINKS

• First-order logic - Wikipedia
• Euclid's Proof that √2 is Irrational
• Types of Reasoning
• Legacy Code Rocks community and podcast
• Episode: Are GUIs Anti-social?!
• Episode: They Called Me a Turnip! With Jeremy Adamson
• Video by Ray on First-order Logic using Z3 prover

HOSTS

• Andrea Goulet LinkedIn | andreagoulet.com
• Ray Myers LinkedIn | Craft vs Cruft on YouTube

ABOUT EMPATHY IN TECH

Empathy in Tech is on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in the tech industry by:

• Closing the empathy skills gap by treating empathy as a technical skill.
• Teaching technical empathy through accessible, affordable, actionable training.
• Building community and breaking down harmful stereotypes and tropes.
• Promoting technical empathy for ethics, equity, and social justice.

Learn more at empathyintech.com

Christian Idiodi is a leader in the product industry and a Partner at Silicon Valley Product Group. For over 15 years, he has developed teams that build innovative, disruptive, and market-transforming technology products. He has worked with organizations such as CareerBuilder, Merrill Corporation, Microsoft, Starbucks, and Squarespace and teaches product management and innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Christian is passionate about creating practical tech solutions for Africa's social and economic issues, such as unemployment, poverty, healthcare, insecurity, and financial exclusion. He has founded several companies in Africa and is the Chairman of Innovate Africa Foundation, a non-profit organization that enables tech innovation for social good in Africa. Through these initiatives, he aims to empower and inspire the next generation of African tech leaders and entrepreneurs.

Sponsored by CodeCrafters - discount link

LINKS

• Product Therapy Podcast
• Christian’s LinkedIn
• How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Innovate Africa Foundation
• Silicon Valley Product Group

HOSTS

• Andrea Goulet LinkedIn | andreagoulet.com
• Ray Myers LinkedIn | Craft vs Cruft on YouTube

ABOUT EMPATHY IN TECH

Empathy in Tech is on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in the tech industry by:

• Closing the empathy skills gap by treating empathy as a technical skill.
• Teaching technical empathy through accessible, affordable, actionable training.
• Building community and breaking down harmful stereotypes and tropes.
• Promoting technical empathy for ethics, equity, and social justice.

Learn more at empathyintech.com

Tudor Girba is the CEO of feenk, a company focused on modernizing legacy systems. They do that through Moldable Development, a way of programming through custom tools. They build Glamorous Toolkit, a free and open-source moldable development environment, to show how working through thousands of custom tools per system can be practical.

Sponsored by CodeCrafters - discount link

LINKS

• Tudor's LinkedIn
• feenk
• Glamorous Toolkit
• Moldable Development
• Rising Strong by Brené Brown
• Global Village by Marshall McLuhan
• Above the Line, Below the Line by David Woods and Richard Cook

HOSTS

• Andrea Goulet LinkedIn | andreagoulet.com
• Ray Myers LinkedIn | Craft vs Cruft on YouTube

ABOUT EMPATHY IN TECH

Empathy in Tech is on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in the tech industry by:

• Closing the empathy skills gap by treating empathy as a technical skill.
• Teaching technical empathy through accessible, affordable, actionable training.
• Building community and breaking down harmful stereotypes and tropes.
• Promoting technical empathy for ethics, equity, and social justice.

Learn more at empathyintech.com

Today on the show, we have Indi Young, who is known for data science that listens. Indi is a problem-discovery researcher who makes tools that support inclusive and responsible solutions for a broader variety of thinking styles. She teaches courses online, writes books & essays, presents talks and does podcast appearances, and pens helpful posts on LinkedIn.

HOSTS

• Andrea Goulet LinkedIn | andreagoulet.com
• Ray Myers LinkedIn | Craft vs Cruft on YouTube

ABOUT EMPATHY IN TECH

Empathy in Tech is on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in the tech industry by:

• Closing the empathy skills gap by treating empathy as a technical skill.
• Teaching technical empathy through accessible, affordable, actionable training.
• Building community and breaking down harmful stereotypes and tropes.
• Promoting technical empathy for ethics, equity, and social justice.

Learn more at empathyintech.com

In this episode of Empathy in Tech, Andrea and Ray sit down with J.B. Rainsberger, a software professional who transitioned from a purely technical focus to championing interpersonal skills in the tech world. J.B. shares his evolution from a programmer obsessed with "correct" solutions to a mentor helping others navigate the human challenges of software development. Through stories of personal growth, insights from Buddhism, and reflections on the dangers of dogmatic expertise, J.B. challenges listeners to embrace curiosity, patience, and compassion in their work.

Sponsored by CodeCrafters - discount link

LINKS

• J. B.'s website - jbrains.ca
• J. B.'s LinkedIn
• Contract Testing and Pact
• Geoffrey Moore - Crossing The Chasm book, video
• Robert B Miller - The new strategic selling
• Chip Heath & Dan Heath - Switch: How to change when change is hard
• Chip Heath & Dan Heath - Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
• Gerald Weinberg - Secrets of consulting

HOSTS

• Andrea Goulet LinkedIn | andreagoulet.com
• Ray Myers LinkedIn | Craft vs Cruft on YouTube

ABOUT EMPATHY IN TECH

Empathy in Tech is on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in the tech industry by:

• Closing the empathy skills gap by treating empathy as a technical skill.
• Teaching technical empathy through accessible, affordable, actionable training.
• Building community and breaking down harmful stereotypes and tropes.
• Promoting technical empathy for ethics, equity, and social justice.

Learn more at empathyintech.com

What ethical responsibilities do we have as technologists? Andrea and Ray dive into the paper that introduced the term “technoethics” and grapple with applying the principles to today’s challenges.

LINKS

• Paper: Towards a Technoethics, Mario Bunge, 1975
• Ray leaves AI!
• Paper: “My code is sh*t”: Negative automatic thoughts and outcomes of a behavioral experiment for code review anxiety
• NATO Software Engineering Conferences
• Github Copilot & code quality
• Wheelchair-to-Warfare pipeline article: How Disabled People Get Exploited to Build the Technology of War
• Empathy & foresight
• The Impact of AI on Computer Science Education
• Course: Think like a Stoic: Ancient Wisdom for Today's World by Massimo Pigliucci, PhD
• Marcus Aureillias - Meditations
• Documentary: The Social Dilemma
• Ray’s talk: Resilience Makes Money

HOSTS

• Andrea Goulet LinkedIn | andreagoulet.com
• Ray Myers LinkedIn | Craft vs Cruft on YouTube

ABOUT EMPATHY IN TECH

Empathy in Tech is on a mission to accelerate the responsible adoption of empathy in the tech industry by:

• Closing the empathy skills gap by treating empathy as a technical skill.
• Teaching technical empathy through accessible, affordable, actionable training.
• Building community and breaking down harmful stereotypes and tropes.
• Promoting technical empathy for ethics, equity, and social justice.

Learn more at empathyintech.com