Engineering Culture by InfoQ

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 Elisabeth Hendrickson and Joel Tosi about systems thinking as a lens for software delivery, the cultural "levers" leaders and teams can pull to shape organizations, and building thriving, sustainable teams amid AI-driven change.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/4xhGaTE

Newsletter:

Subscribe to the Software Architects' Newsletter, a monthly roundup of the patterns and technologies senior practitioners are working through, with the news and lessons from people doing the work:

www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter

InfoQ Online Certification Programs:

5-week online cohorts for senior engineers and architects, built around QCon talks. Programs now cover software architecture, AI engineering, and organizational architecture. Each week you join a four-hour live session with a confidential peer group of practitioners from other companies, apply frameworks from QCon talks to the decisions you're making at work, and earn an InfoQ certification. You leave with new approaches, or confirmation that the calls you're already making are the right ones. Learn more:

certification.qconferences.com/

Upcoming Events:

QCon San Francisco 2026 (November 16-20, 2026)

qconsf.com/

QCon London 2027 (April 13-16, 2027)

qconlondon.com/

The InfoQ Podcasts:

Weekly conversations with senior software leaders about how they build systems and teams, including what they'd do differently. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:

The InfoQ Podcast: www.infoq.com/podcasts/

Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ: www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture

Generally AI: www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/

Follow InfoQ:

Mastodon: techhub.social/@infoq

X: x.com/InfoQ

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom

Instagram: www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/

YouTube: www.youtube.com/infoq

Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/infoq.com

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 Adam Wachtel, CTO at Click Boarding, about hiring for personality and problem-solving over pure skillset, turning around a platform and team in crisis, and how AI is reshaping team size and composition without ending SAAS.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/4qDkrDU

Newsletter:

Subscribe to the Software Architects' Newsletter, a monthly roundup of the patterns and technologies senior practitioners are working through, with the news and lessons from people doing the work:

https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter

InfoQ Online Certification Programs:

5-week online cohorts for senior engineers and architects, built around QCon talks. Programs now cover software architecture, AI engineering, and organizational architecture. Each week you join a four-hour live session with a confidential peer group of practitioners from other companies, apply frameworks from QCon talks to the decisions you're making at work, and earn an InfoQ certification. You leave with new approaches, or confirmation that the calls you're already making are the right ones. Learn more:

https://certification.qconferences.com/

Upcoming Events:

QCon San Francisco 2026 (November 16-20, 2026)

https://qconsf.com/

QCon London 2027 (April 13-16, 2027)

https://qconlondon.com/

The InfoQ Podcasts:

Weekly conversations with senior software leaders about how they build systems and teams, including what they'd do differently. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:

The InfoQ Podcast: https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/

Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ: https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture

Generally AI: https://www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/

Follow InfoQ:

Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@infoq

X: https://x.com/InfoQ

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/infoq

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/infoq.com

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 David Gudeman about the unique culture of early-stage startup engineering, how founder personality quirks and premature process impositions can derail teams, and how engineers can build influence and make deliberate career choices without formal power.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/3TQ4qhz

Newsletter:

Subscribe to the Software Architects' Newsletter, a monthly roundup of the patterns and technologies senior practitioners are working through, with the news and lessons from people doing the work:

https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter

InfoQ Online Certification Programs:

5-week online cohorts for senior engineers and architects, built around QCon talks. Programs now cover software architecture, AI engineering, and organizational architecture. Each week you join a four-hour live session with a confidential peer group of practitioners from other companies, apply frameworks from QCon talks to the decisions you're making at work, and earn an InfoQ certification. You leave with new approaches, or confirmation that the calls you're already making are the right ones. Learn more:

https://certification.qconferences.com/

Upcoming Events:

QCon San Francisco 2026 (November 16-20, 2026)

https://qconsf.com/

QCon London 2027 (April 13-16, 2027)

https://qconlondon.com/

The InfoQ Podcasts:

Weekly conversations with senior software leaders about how they build systems and teams, including what they'd do differently. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:

The InfoQ Podcast: https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/

Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ: https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture

Generally AI: https://www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/

Follow InfoQ:

Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@infoq

X: https://x.com/InfoQ

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/infoq

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/infoq.com

Write for InfoQ:

Share what you've learned building software with a community of senior practitioners, and get your work in front of the people who read InfoQ.

https://www.infoq.com/write-for-infoq

This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences.

This is the Engineering Culture Trends Report for 2026. Featuring a panel of QCon speakers and InfoQ contributors, they discussed AI adoption maturity and risk, the transformation of engineering team structures and roles, and the human dimensions of software development that must not be lost in 2026.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/4bmDGv1

Newsletter:

Subscribe to the Software Architects' Newsletter, a monthly roundup of the patterns and technologies senior practitioners are working through, with the news and lessons from people doing the work:

https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter

InfoQ Online Certification Programs:

5-week online cohorts for senior engineers and architects, built around QCon talks. Programs now cover software architecture, AI engineering, and organizational architecture. Each week you join a four-hour live session with a confidential peer group of practitioners from other companies, apply frameworks from QCon talks to the decisions you're making at work, and earn an InfoQ certification. You leave with new approaches, or confirmation that the calls you're already making are the right ones. Learn more:

https://certification.qconferences.com/

Upcoming Events:

QCon San Francisco 2026 (November 16-20, 2026)

https://qconsf.com/

QCon London 2027 (April 13-16, 2027)

https://qconlondon.com/

The InfoQ Podcasts:

Weekly conversations with senior software leaders about how they build systems and teams, including what they'd do differently. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:

The InfoQ Podcast: https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/

Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ: https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture

Generally AI: https://www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/

Follow InfoQ:

Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@infoq

X: https://x.com/InfoQ

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/infoq

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/infoq.com

Write for InfoQ:

Share what you've learned building software with a community of senior practitioners, and get your work in front of the people who read InfoQ.

https://www.infoq.com/write-for-infoq

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 Gabriela Moreira about making formal methods accessible through the Quint specification language, how AI is dramatically lowering the barrier to entry for formal specification and model-based testing, and why defining correct system behaviour remains essential human work in an AI-driven world.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/3QoST7L

Newsletter:

Subscribe to the Software Architects' Newsletter, a monthly roundup of the patterns and technologies senior practitioners are working through, with the news and lessons from people doing the work:

https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter

InfoQ Online Certification Programs:

5-week online cohorts for senior engineers and architects, built around QCon talks. Programs now cover software architecture, AI engineering, and organizational architecture. Each week you join a four-hour live session with a confidential peer group of practitioners from other companies, apply frameworks from QCon talks to the decisions you're making at work, and earn an InfoQ certification. You leave with new approaches, or confirmation that the calls you're already making are the right ones. Learn more:

https://certification.qconferences.com/

Upcoming Events:

QCon San Francisco 2026 (November 16-20, 2026)

https://qconsf.com/

QCon London 2027 (April 13-16, 2027)

https://qconlondon.com/

The InfoQ Podcasts:

Weekly conversations with senior software leaders about how they build systems and teams, including what they'd do differently. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:

The InfoQ Podcast: https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/

Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ: https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture

Generally AI: https://www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/

Follow InfoQ:

Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@infoq

X: https://x.com/InfoQ

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/infoq

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/infoq.com

Write for InfoQ:

Share what you've learned building software with a community of senior practitioners, and get your work in front of the people who read InfoQ.

https://www.infoq.com/write-for-infoq

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 Craig McLuckie, co-creator of Kubernetes and CEO of Stacklok, about the impact of AI coding tools on open source communities and engineering teams, designing deliberate organisational culture, and navigating evolving career paths for engineers in the age of AI.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/3RGzPCa

Newsletter:

Subscribe to the Software Architects’ Newsletter for your monthly guide to the essential news and experience from industry peers on emerging patterns and technologies:

https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter

InfoQ online certification cohorts:

Online cohorts for senior engineers and architects, built around QCon talks. Join a 5-week confidential peer group to validate your approach and apply practitioner frameworks to the technical challenges you face at work. Learn more: https://certification.qconferences.com/

Upcoming Events:

QCon AI Boston 2026 (June 1-2, 2026)

Learn how real teams are accelerating the entire software lifecycle with AI.

https://boston.qcon.ai

QCon San Francisco 2026 (November 16-20, 2026)

https://qconsf.com/

The InfoQ Podcasts:

Weekly inspiration to drive innovation and build great teams from senior software leaders. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:

- The InfoQ Podcast https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/

- Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture

- Generally AI: https://www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/

Follow InfoQ:

- Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@infoq

- X: https://x.com/InfoQ?from=@

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom#

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/?hl=en

- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/infoq

- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/infoq.com

Write for InfoQ:

Learn and share the changes and innovations in professional software development.

- Join a community of practitioners.

- Increase your visibility.

- Grow your career.

https://www.infoq.com/write-for-infoq

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 Michael Parker, VP of Engineering at TurinTech AI, about bringing joy back to software development in the AI era, the emerging role of "factory architects" who orchestrate AI agents rather than write code directly, and the cultural divide between AI hype and the reality developers face on legacy codebases.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/4vOJrKs

Newsletter:

Subscribe to the Software Architects’ Newsletter for your monthly guide to the essential news and experience from industry peers on emerging patterns and technologies:

https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter

InfoQ online certification cohorts:

Online cohorts for senior engineers and architects, built around QCon talks. Join a 5-week confidential peer group to validate your approach and apply practitioner frameworks to the technical challenges you face at work. Learn more: https://certification.qconferences.com/

Upcoming Events:

QCon AI Boston 2026 (June 1-2, 2026)

Learn how real teams are accelerating the entire software lifecycle with AI.

https://boston.qcon.ai

QCon San Francisco 2026 (November 16-20, 2026)

https://qconsf.com/

The InfoQ Podcasts:

Weekly inspiration to drive innovation and build great teams from senior software leaders. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:

- The InfoQ Podcast https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/

- Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture

- Generally AI: https://www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/

Follow InfoQ:

- Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@infoq

- X: https://x.com/InfoQ?from=@

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom#

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/?hl=en

- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/infoq

- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/infoq.com

Write for InfoQ:

Learn and share the changes and innovations in professional software development.

- Join a community of practitioners.

- Increase your visibility.

- Grow your career.

https://www.infoq.com/write-for-infoq

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 Sam Bhagwat, co-founder and CEO of Mastra, about building and sustaining open source communities, the emerging discipline of AI engineering and evals, and how cross-functional Tiger Teams are key to shipping agentic applications.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/4ccSI6m

Subscribe to the Software Architects’ Newsletter for your monthly guide to the essential news and experience from industry peers on emerging patterns and technologies:

https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter

Upcoming Events:

QCon AI Boston 2026 (June 1-2, 2026)

Learn how real teams are accelerating the entire software lifecycle with AI.

https://boston.qcon.ai

QCon San Francisco 2026 (November 16-20, 2026)

https://qconsf.com/

The InfoQ Podcasts:

Weekly inspiration to drive innovation and build great teams from senior software leaders. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:

- The InfoQ Podcast https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/

- Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture

- Generally AI: https://www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/

Follow InfoQ:

- Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@infoq

- X: https://x.com/InfoQ?from=@

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom#

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/?hl=en

- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/infoq

- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/infoq.com

Write for InfoQ: Learn and share the changes and innovations in professional software development.

- Join a community of experts.

- Increase your visibility.

- Grow your career.

https://www.infoq.com/write-for-infoq

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 Adrian Peryer about Ron Westrum's organizational culture continuum, the role of information flow in shaping team culture, and how leaders can develop requisite imagination to detect weak signals.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/4llp5Us

Subscribe to the Software Architects’ Newsletter for your monthly guide to the essential news and experience from industry peers on emerging patterns and technologies:

https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter

Upcoming Events:

QCon London 2026 (March 16-19, 2026)

QCon London equips senior engineers, architects, and technical leaders with trusted, practical insights to lead the change in software development. Get real-world solutions and leadership strategies from senior software practitioners defining current trends and solving today's toughest software challenges.

https://qconlondon.com/

QCon AI Boston 2026 (June 1-2, 2026)

Learn how real teams are accelerating the entire software lifecycle with AI.

https://boston.qcon.ai

QCon San Francisco 2026 (November 16-20, 2026)

https://qconsf.com/

The InfoQ Podcasts:

Weekly inspiration to drive innovation and build great teams from senior software leaders. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:

- The InfoQ Podcast https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/

- Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture

- Generally AI: https://www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/

Follow InfoQ:

- Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@infoq

- X: https://x.com/InfoQ?from=@

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom#

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/?hl=en

- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/infoq

- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/infoq.com

Write for InfoQ: Learn and share the changes and innovations in professional software development.

- Join a community of experts.

- Increase your visibility.

- Grow your career.

https://www.infoq.com/write-for-infoq

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 Ben Greene about embracing AI in software engineering, expanding beyond pure technical skills to understand business context, and prioritizing human empathy in increasingly automated systems.

Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/45TyYlL

Subscribe to the Software Architects’ Newsletter for your monthly guide to the essential news and experience from industry peers on emerging patterns and technologies:

https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter

Upcoming Events:

QCon London 2026 (March 16-19, 2026)

QCon London equips senior engineers, architects, and technical leaders with trusted, practical insights to lead the change in software development. Get real-world solutions and leadership strategies from senior software practitioners defining current trends and solving today's toughest software challenges.

https://qconlondon.com/

QCon AI Boston 2026 (June 1-2, 2026)

Learn how real teams are accelerating the entire software lifecycle with AI.

https://boston.qcon.ai

The InfoQ Podcasts:

Weekly inspiration to drive innovation and build great teams from senior software leaders. Listen to all our podcasts and read interview transcripts:

- The InfoQ Podcast https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/

- Engineering Culture Podcast by InfoQ https://www.infoq.com/podcasts/#engineering_culture

- Generally AI: https://www.infoq.com/generally-ai-podcast/

Follow InfoQ:

- Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@infoq

- X: https://x.com/InfoQ?from=@

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infoq/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InfoQdotcom#

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infoqdotcom/?hl=en

- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/infoq

- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/infoq.com

Write for InfoQ: Learn and share the changes and innovations in professional software development.

- Join a community of experts.

- Increase your visibility.

- Grow your career.

https://www.infoq.com/write-for-infoq