What’s it like working at Netflix, Apple, Amazon, AND now??? 🤯

In this episode of The Programming Podcast, Danny Thompson and Leon Noel sit down with Robbie Wagner—Ember core team member, Staff Engineer at HashiCorp, and co-host of Whiskey Web and Whatnot—to talk about his journey through some of the world’s most recognized tech companies.

Grab a glass (of whiskey or water), and let’s go deep on career, code, and community.

🎧 Follow Robbie and his podcast: Whiskey Web and Whatnot

https://www.youtube.com/@UCogup1kGwxzjKjkAwUhVYEw

https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf

Follow Robbie!

https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbiethewagner/

https://bsky.app/profile/robbiethewagner.dev

Stay in Touch:

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at [email protected]!

Danny Thompson

https://x.com/DThompsonDev

https://www.linkedin.com/in/DThompsonDev

www.DThompsonDev.com

Leon Noel

https://x.com/leonnoel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnoel/

https://100devs.org/

📧 Have ideas or questions for the show? Or are you a business that wants to talk business?

Email us at [email protected]!

They cover:

- The future of AI-generated code (and whether it’s useful)

- Why Robbie still loves EmberJS

- What it actually feels like to leave your "dream job"

- How to prepare for FAANG (or Manoma) interviews

- Why mentorship may be the real key to success

⏱️ Chapter Timestamps

00:00 – Intro: Meet Robbie Wagner (Netflix, Apple, Amazon, HashiCorp)

02:00 – The “Manoma” Acronym Explained

03:42 – AI Will Write 90% of Code? Our Hot Takes

07:00 – Where AI Fails and Why Documentation Still Matters

10:55 – How AI is Changing the Code Economy

13:17 – EmberJS, Framework Evolution & Why React Might Be Subpar

18:30 – Are We Chasing Hype Instead of Building Real Things?

21:00 – Working at Amazon, Apple, Netflix: Pros & Cons

26:35 – The Toxic Culture That Made Him Quit

29:00 – Interview Prep for Big Tech (LeetCode, STAR, and Strategy)

32:45 – What HashiCorp’s Interview Process Got Right

34:00 – Advice for People Who See FAANG as the Dream

36:00 – Defining Success Later in Your Career

37:10 – Mentorship, Scaling Help, and Developer Growth

39:08 – Preparing for a “Manoma” Interview

41:40 – Final Thoughts & Closing Thanks