Tech Lead Journal

By Henry SuryawirawanTechnology

Tech Lead Journal episodes

August 25, 2025#230 - Technical Coaching in the Age of AI with Samman (Ensemble) - Emily Bache
Struggling with technical debt and code quality? Learn how a technical coach can help your team level up.
In this episode, Emily Bache, a Samman technical coach, shares her proven method for building better engineering teams through structured learning and collaborative coding. We explore ensemble programming, learning hours, and why AI makes fundamental engineering practices more important than ever.
Key topics discussed:
The role of a Technical Coach and the Samman Method explained
How AI amplifies good engineering practices instead of replacing them
How to use ensemble programming to achieve single-piece flow
Running effective ensemble sessions and avoiding common failure modes
Why learning is part of the work, not only a side activity
Why pull requests should not be the primary tool for mentoring junior developers
The dangerous trend of “vibe coding” with AI tools
Timestamps:
(00:00) Trailer & Intro
(02:22) Career Turning Points
(03:23) Being Part of Modern Engineering YouTube Channel
(04:27) The Role of a Technical Coach
(05:42) The Impact of AI on Technical Coaching
(08:20) Sofware Engineering is a Learning Process
(09:55) Optimizing Learning With Samman Method
(11:40) The Samman Method: Ensemble (Mob Programming)
(14:59) The Main Benefit of Ensemble: Single Piece Flow
(17:26) How to Do Ensemble and Avoid Common Failure Modes
(20:27) The Types of Coding to Ensemble On
(22:12) The Importance of Trust, Communication, and Kindness
(23:52) Common Things Development Teams Are Struggling With
(25:37) Prompt Engineering
(27:16) The Samman Method: Learning Hours
(29:08) Learning is Part of the Work
(31:32) The Practice of Learning as a Team
(34:39) The Constraint When Learning from Pull Requests
(36:30) Putting Aside Time for Learning Hours
(39:14) Becoming a Technical Coach
(41:23) How to Measure the Effectiveness of Technical Coaching
(43:52) Danger of AI Assisted Coding
(46:59) The (Still) Important Skills in the AI Era
(49:56) Why We Should Not Refactor Through AI
(52:41) The Samman Method & Technical Coaching Resources
(53:29) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom
(54:56) Finding Mentors for Career Progression
_____
Emily Bache’s Bio
Emily Bache is an independent consultant, YouTuber and Technical Coach. She works with developers, training and coaching effective agile practices like Refactoring and Test-Driven Development.
Emily has worked with software development for 25 years, written two books and teaches courses on platforms including Pluralsight and O’Reilly. A frequent conference speaker, Emily has been invited to keynote at prestigious developer events including EuroPython, Craft and ACCU. Emily founded the Samman Technical Coaching Society in order to promote technical excellence and support coaches everywhere.
Follow Emily:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/emilybache
X – x.com/emilybache
Mastodon – sw-development-is.social/web/@emilybache
GitHub – github.com/emilybache
Website – emilybache.com
Samman Coaching – sammancoaching.org
YouTube – youtube.com/@EmilyBache-tech-coach
Modern Software Engineering – youtube.com/@ModernSoftwareEngineeringYT

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/230.
Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Buy me a coffee or become a patron.
58 min
August 18, 2025#229 - The Management System for High-Performing Engineering Organizations - Michi Kono
Why do engineering teams slow down as they scale? It’s not the technology—it’s the management systems.
In this episode, Michi Kono, CTO at Garner Health and former engineering leader at Meta, Capital One, and Stripe, shares his battle-tested approach to building scalable engineering organizations. We explore why most teams slow down as they scale and how to build systems that accelerate growth. Our conversation covers everything from designing effective org charts to creating accountability without killing psychological safety. You’ll learn practical strategies for nurturing engineering culture while maintaining high-performance standards.
Key topics discussed:
The challenges of hypergrowth and the need to constantly reinvent yourself
How to avoid slowdowns by holding teams accountable for outcomes, not just shipping code
The art of designing org charts that maximize team autonomy
Building a culture of accountability and learning from mistakes without blame
When managers should stop writing code (and why this decision matters)
The difference between being a people manager and an executive
Why communication becomes the most critical skill at senior levels
Timestamps:
(00:00) Trailer & Intro
(02:10) Career Turning Points
(03:55) Skills Advice for Engineers
(06:46) The Challenges of a Hypergrowth Company
(09:09) Learning and Growing in a Hypergrowth Company
(12:07) The Slowdown in Engineering as You Scale
(15:55) Designing Organization Structure Well
(18:11) Effective Organization Chart Tips
(21:05) Nurturing a Good Engineering Culture
(25:37) Nurturing Psychological Safety
(28:14) Learning from Mistakes & Performance Review
(30:27) Being a Mission-Driven Company
(32:11) Aligning Mission and Values in the Day-to-Day Work
(34:45) The Importance of Management System in Organization
(41:53) The Importance of Having Good Managers
(45:30) For Strong ICs: Writing Code or Being a Manager?
(50:55) The Difference Between a Manager Role and Executive Role
(56:01) A Unique Thing Learned from Doing Payment Systems
(58:43) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom
_____
Michi Kono’s Bio
Michi Kono is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Garner Health, a company on a mission to help people get better healthcare. With a unique and extensive career spanning multiple industries, Michi has navigated the entire spectrum of the tech world. He began his journey in startups, one of which was acquired, leading him to a role at Capital One. From there, he gained invaluable experience at tech giants like Meta and financial-tech leader Stripe before taking the helm at Garner Health. Michi is passionate about the art and science of scaling engineering teams, building resilient cultures, and designing effective management systems to drive success in high-growth environments. He believes deeply in empowering engineers, fostering accountability, and the critical importance of clear communication for any leader.
Follow Michi:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/michikono
Twitter – x.com/michikono
Garner Health – getgarner.com

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/229.
Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Buy me a coffee or become a patron.
1 hr 2 min
August 11, 2025#228 - Leading Transformational Engineering Teams with Craft in the AI Era - Mohan Krishnan
How do you build a high-performing engineering team in the AI era? And will AI make fundamental engineering skills obsolete?
In this episode, Mohan Krishnan, Head of Engineering at Grab, shares lessons from leading multiple transformational engineering teams. Drawing from his experience at Grab, Bukalapak, BBM Emtek, and Pivotal Labs, Mohan explains why core engineering fundamentals still matter, even in the age of AI, and will become even more valuable than ever. He discusses building disciplined, high-performing engineering teams and the importance of hands-on leadership. We also explore the unique challenges and vast potential of the tech landscape in Southeast Asia.
Key topics discussed:
Why foundational skills like TDD and system design are becoming more critical in the age of generative AI
How to effectively use AI as a pair programmer for upskilling and idea generation, while avoiding the pitfalls of “vibe coding”
Mohan’s “sports team” analogy for building successful engineering teams with discipline, a mix of seniority, and a culture of deep learning
The importance of hands-on technical leadership, and why even CTOs should “dive deep” to set the right engineering bar
The state of engineering talent in Southeast Asia and what’s needed to bridge the gap in deep tech and AI development
Actionable career advice for junior and mid-career professionals navigating the AI-infused software industry
Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Trailer & Intro
(00:02:08) Career Turning Points
(00:06:03) Things We Should Learn in the AI Era
(00:09:53) AI as a Pair Programmer
(00:13:58) The Danger of Outsourcing Our Thinking to AI
(00:17:29) The Dopamine Hit of Using AI
(00:20:36) Building a Successful Transformational Engineering Team
(00:25:33) The Discipline Rigor in An Engineering Team
(00:29:14) Understanding & Delivering Outcomes for the Business
(00:32:21) Having a Tough Approach as an Engineering Leader
(00:39:07) Going Back as an IC at Google
(00:45:40) The Importance of Being Hands-On with Recent Technologies for Leaders
(00:52:40) Hands-on vs Micromanagement
(00:55:11) Engineering Talents in Southeast Asia
(00:58:06) Building Tech Talents in Southeast Asia
(01:01:17) Bridging the AI Gap in Southeast Asia
(01:04:03) Should We Still Pursue a Tech Career in the AI Era?
(01:07:24) 2 Tech Lead Wisdom
_____
Mohan Krishnan’s Bio
Mohan Krishnan, based in Singapore, is currently a Head of Engineering at Grab. Mohan Krishnan brings experience from previous roles at Google, Bukalapak, BBM and Pt. Kreatif Media Karya. Mohan Krishnan holds a 1998 - 2002 Bachelor of Engineering in Multimedia, Electronics at Multimedia University. With a robust skill set that includes Ruby on Rails, Multithreading, Web Services, HTML, Services and more.
Follow Mohan:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/mohangk

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/228.
Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Buy me a coffee or become a patron.
1 hr 10 min
August 04, 2025#227 - Infrastructure as Code: Delivering Dynamic Systems for the Cloud Age - Kief Morris
How has Infrastructure as Code changed in the last five years? Explore the key shifts and how to align your infrastructure to real business value.
In this episode, Kief Morris, a Distinguished Infrastructure Engineer at Thoughtworks, returns to discuss the third edition of his book “Infrastructure as Code.” He shares fresh insights on designing and delivering dynamic systems for today’s cloud-driven world. Kief explores the evolution of IaC, practical methods for modern teams, the next generation of tools, and lessons learned from the recent years. Learn how to align infrastructure with business needs and manage today’s growing infrastructure complexities.
Key topics discussed:
How “Infrastructure as Code” book has evolved across three editions
Why infrastructure decisions must align with business value
How IaC and the toolchain have evolved over the last few years
Handling the growing complexity of modern infrastructure
The rise of platform engineering and internal developer platforms
Terraform vs. OpenTofu: which one should you use?
Balancing governance, speed, and innovation in the cloud era
The current limitations and role of AI in managing infrastructure
Timestamps:
(00:00) Trailer & Intro
(02:39) Updates in the Last Five Years
(04:13) Infrastructure as Code Definition
(05:58) The Practice of Infrastructure as Code
(06:32) The Differences Between the Book Editions
(10:21) Aligning Infrastructure to the Business Value
(15:03) Handling the Growing Infrastructure Complexities
(19:10) The Tools and New Inventions in IAC
(24:11) Terraform vs OpenTofu
(27:38) Orchestrating Infrastructure Changes Using IAC
(30:35) Platform Engineering
(33:06) Internal Developer Platform Key Success Factor
(37:15) Key Considerations of Building Teams with Infrastructure Skills
(41:56) Infrastructure Compliance and Governance
(45:53) Using AI for Infrastructure as Code
(50:31) Using AI for Troubleshooting and Root Cause Analysis
(51:50) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom
_____
Kief Morris’s Bio
Kief Morris is the author of the O’Reilly book Infrastructure as Code, and is a Distinguished Infrastructure Engineer at Thoughtworks, based in London. He works with clients and project teams around the world to explore, shape, and share better ways of working with cloud and infrastructure architecture.
Kief started out as a developer and systems administrator in the dot-com boom days, then worked with a series of digital scaleups applying infrastructure automation before DevOps was a thing. He joined Thoughtworks in 2010 as the wider industry was discovering Infrastructure as Code, DevOps, and Cloud, which gave him the opportunity to bring what he had learned in the previous fifteen years to enterprise clients in many industries and many countries.
He wrote the book Infrastructure as Code (now on the third edition) to share these ideas with a wider audience, which has given him a platform to meet and learn from an ever-growing variety of people and organizations.
Follow Kief:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/kiefmorris
Twitter – x.com/kief
BlueSky – bsky.app/profile/kief.com
Personal Website – kief.com
Infra as Code Website – infrastructure-as-code.com
Infrastructure as Code – https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/infrastructure-as-code/9781098150341/

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/227.
Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Buy me a coffee or become a patron.
57 min
July 28, 2025#226 - Ex-Google Duplex Eng Lead on Disrupting $2B Clinical Trials with AI - Patrick Leung
Ever wondered how AI is being applied in the world of clinical trials where human lives are at stake?
In this episode, Patrick Leung, CTO of Faro Health and former Google Duplex Engineering Lead, reveals how AI is transforming the clinical trial process — a process that can cost up to $2 billion per drug and take over 10 years to complete. Patrick reveals how Faro Health’s AI systems generate complex clinical documentation in minutes instead of months in which hallucinations aren’t acceptable, while navigating the strict regulatory requirements of the healthcare industry.
Patrick also reflects on the evolution of AI technologies, the realities of large language models, and offers practical advice on how to thrive in the rapidly changing AI-driven era.
Key topics discussed:
The evolution of AI from image recognition and Google Duplex to LLMs
How Faro Health uses AI to transform clinical trial process
The challenges of applying AI in highly regulated industries
AI’s potential to save time and millions in clinical trials
How to tackle AI hallucinations and ensure high-quality outputs
Patrick’s thoughts on AGI and the future of AI beyond current capabilities
The viability and limitations of vibe coding
Strategies and advice for individuals to thrive in the AI era
Timestamps:
(00:00) Trailer & Intro
(02:09) Career Turning Points
(02:46) The Advancements of AI in the Past 10 Years
(04:13) Non-LLM Types of AI
(05:42) The Google Duplex
(07:28) The Use of AI in Faro Health
(09:44) Tackling AI Hallucination for Clinical Documents
(12:25) Building the Evaluation Process on AI Results
(14:28) AI as a Research Assistant
(16:40) The Need of Building Custom AI Model
(18:50) The Huge Impact of AI in Clinical Trials
(21:15) The Regulations on Applying AI Technology
(23:28) AI Success Stories in the Life Science Industry
(25:16) The Possibility of AGI
(28:36) The Path to AGI Using LLM
(30:43) Actions People Should Take in the AI Era
(35:48) AI Engineers and AI-Enabled Engineers
(38:37) The Viability of Vibe Coding
(41:03) Hiring AI Engineers
(42:26) Important Engineer Attributes in the AI Era
(44:23) Important Leader Attributes in the AI Era
(46:59) The Room for Juniors in the AI Era
(49:04) Inspirational Story of a Successful Junior
(51:33) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom
_____
Patrick Leung’s Bio
Patrick Leung is a Chief Technology Officer at Faro Health, a company at the forefront of optimizing clinical trial development through the use of artificial intelligence.
In his role, he is instrumental in applying large language models and other AI technologies to enhance protocol design and outcomes for clinical trials. A native of New Zealand, Mr. Leung holds degrees in Computer Science and Finance.
His career includes being a foundational member of an early e-commerce software company, where he played a key role in guiding the company from its initial stages to a successful initial public offering.
Follow Patrick:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/puiwah
Twitter – x.com/puiwah
Website – farohealth.com

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/226.
Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Buy me a coffee or become a patron.
55 min
July 21, 2025#225 - Driving Engineering Excellence with Platform Engineering and IDP - Ganesh Datta
Is your engineering team running like the wild, wild west? What does engineering excellence look like in practice?
In this episode, Ganesh Datta, co-founder and CTO of Cortex, explores what it takes to achieve engineering excellence. Ganesh shares lessons from his own journey, from early bug-fixing to building a company focused on engineering excellence.
We discuss how platform engineering and internal developer platforms (IDPs) can help teams scale, improve reliability, and align with business outcomes. Ganesh also explains why culture, leadership, and clear metrics matter more than any single tool.
If you’re looking to make your engineering team a true business driver, this conversation is for you.
Key topics discussed:
How to define engineering excellence and why it’s tied to business outcomes.
The critical role of leadership in connecting engineering initiatives to business values.
When to invest in platform engineering and internal developer platforms as your team grows.
Common misconceptions about platform engineering.
The importance of clear metrics, shared language, and transparency for continuous improvement.
Building a culture that supports operational excellence through rituals and repeated messaging.
Real-world examples of using generative AI to accelerate platform adoption and incident analysis.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Trailer & Intro
(01:56) Career Turning Points
(07:50) The Practice of Finding the Patterns in Issues
(11:39) The Definition of Engineering Excellence
(17:10) The Leader’s Role in Engineering Excellence
(22:31) Aligning Engineering Excellence with the Business Outcomes
(26:30) The Importance of Metrics in Engineering Excellence
(33:35) The Culture that Drives Engineering Excellence
(39:05) Platform Engineering and Internal Developer Platform
(45:02) The Biggest Misconception of Platform Engineering or IDP
(50:36) Cortex as an Engineering Excellence Platform
(52:39) Generative AI Use Case in Platform Engineering
(55:26) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom
_____
Ganesh Datta’s Bio
Ganesh Datta is a Co-Founder & CTO of Cortex. Before co-founding Cortex, he was a Principal Software Engineer at Mission Lane where he was responsible for driving the development of real-time underwriting infrastructure. At LendUp, Ganesh was a Senior Software Engineer leading the development and optimization of the company’s decisioning infrastructure and financial account management system. Ganesh holds a bachelor of science in computer science from the University of California San Diego.
Follow Ganesh:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/gsdatta
Twitter – x.com/gsdatta
Website – www.cortex.io
Email – [email protected]
Join Ganesh & Cortex at IDPCon in NYC – ipdcon.com

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/225.
Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Buy me a coffee or become a patron.
1 hr 2 min
July 14, 2025#224 - Move Fast, Break Silos: Leadership for Interdisciplinary Teams - Klaus Breyer
Is your software development process stuck on a conveyor belt? Discover how to break free from outdated manufacturing mindsets and build truly high-performing, agile teams that “Move Fast and Break Silos.”
In this episode, experienced CPTO, Klaus Breyer, introduces a revolutionary approach to software development. He explains why treating software engineering like a factory assembly line leads to inefficiency, micromanagement, and disempowered teams. Learn how to slice work effectively—from objectives down to delivery—and align small, empowered teams to solve real customer problems and ship value faster.
Key topics discussed:
Why software development is a design process instead of a manufacturing process
How Agile and Scrum has become micromanagement tools
Why ticketing systems can create communication silos
How to slice work into objectives, problems, solutions, and delivery
Giving teams problems to solve, not just solutions to build
The concept of empowered teams that own their outcomes
Why small, dynamic groups of 2-3 people work best
Aligning your teams’ work with company goals and business objectives

Timestamps:
(00:00) Trailer & Intro
(02:10) Career Turning Points
(05:26) Critical Key Skills as CPTO
(07:40) Juggling Between Being Optimistic vs Pessimistic
(09:15) Move Fast and Break Silos
(13:08) The Difference Between Manufacturing and Software Development
(16:51) The Problems with the Status Quo of Software Development Practices
(23:50) Key Practice 1: Slicing Work
(25:51) Slicing Objectives
(28:30) Slicing Problems
(33:25) Slicing Solutions
(38:03) Slicing Delivery
(41:09) Key Practice 2: Aligning Teams
(43:21) The Effective Teams Alignment Practices
(48:10) Working in Small Teams at a Time
(51:07) Alignment with the Value Streams
(53:15) Mapping the Sliced Work to the Organization
(56:41) The Importance of Reporting Structure in the Large Organization
(58:52) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom
_____
Klaus Breyer’s Bio
Klaus Breyer is an experienced B2B SaaS CPTO who specializes in bridging the gap between technical delivery and agile product strategy, driven by a passion for breaking down silos. His career includes founding and leading the startups Buddybrand (a digital agency) and BuzzBird (a B2B marketplace), as well as building corporate startups and business units for major companies like Voith and edding in the IoT and B2B SaaS sectors.
Based in Berlin, he has extensive experience working with diverse and primarily remote teams. In addition to his leadership roles, he sometimes invests in and advises leadership teams on building effective interdisciplinary teams themselves. He is also a speaker, blogger, and book author who champions the philosophy of “Move Fast And Break Silos!”
Follow Klaus:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/klaus-breyer
Twitter – twitter.com/klausbreyer
Website – v01.io
Email – [email protected]

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/224.
Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Buy me a coffee or become a patron.
1 hr 5 min
July 07, 2025#223 - The Software Engineer Identity Crisis in the AI-Driven Future - Annie Vella
Is AI taking over the craft of coding? Many engineers now face an identity crisis.
In the episode, Distinguished Engineer Annie Vella discusses her research on AI’s impact on software development. She explores the “software engineering identity crisis” as the craft of coding becomes automated. Annie warns that the seductive speed of AI tools can lead to lower quality and delivery instability, a trend supported by reports from DORA and GitClear. She also cautions that over-reliance on AI prevents engineers from gaining the hands-on experience needed for deep skill acquisition.
Key topics discussed:
How AI is reshaping the software development lifecycle
The software engineer’s professional identity crisis
The real danger of over-relying on AI tools
How to balance the seduction of speed with long-term quality
Crucial advice for junior engineers entering the industry
Why leaders must shift focus from speed to quality
The idea of treating AI as a team member instead of just a tool
Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Trailer & Intro
(00:02:32) AI Impact on Career and Software Engineering
(00:07:00) The Future of AI-Driven Software Engineering
(00:14:29) The Shift in the Role of Software Engineer
(00:22:13) When Writing Code is Not the Bottleneck Anymore
(00:32:04) The Danger of Over-Reliance on AI
(00:38:51) The Software Engineering Identity Crisis
(00:48:09) Advice for Junior Engineers in This Challenging Time
(00:53:34) The Shift in the Role of Engineering Management
(00:59:46) You Are Not Alone
(01:00:50) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom
_____
Annie Vella’s Bio
Annie Vella is a Distinguished Engineer at Westpac NZ with two decades of experience in software engineering and technical leadership across various industries and countries.
Vella has returned to an engineering role after a period in management and is also a part-time Master’s student at the University of Auckland, researching the impact of AI on software engineering. She believes that technologies like Generative AI, LLMs, and Agentic AI will revolutionize the field and problem-solving in general.
Follow Annie:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/annievella
X – x.com/codefrenzy
Website – annievella.com/

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/223.
Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Buy me a coffee or become a patron.
1 hr 8 min
June 30, 2025#222 - Closing the Knowledge Gap in Your Legacy Code with AI - Omer Rosenbaum
What if your most critical systems run on code that no one fully understands?
In this episode, Omer Rosenbaum, CTO and co-founder of Swimm, explains how to use AI to close the knowledge gap in your legacy codebase. Discover the limitations of AI in understanding legacy code and learn novel approaches to automatically document complex systems, ensuring their critical business logic is preserved and understood within the organization. Beyond legacy systems, Omer also shares practical advice for how junior developers can thrive in the AI era and how teams and organizations can conduct more effective research.
Key topics discussed:
How junior developers can thrive in the age of AI
The danger of shipping code you don’t fully understand
Why AI can’t deduce everything from your code alone
How writing documentation becomes more critical now with AI
How to analyze code that even LLMs struggle to read, like COBOL
How to keep your organization’s knowledge base trustworthy and up to date
The real danger of letting AI agents run unchecked
A practical approach to conducting more effective research
Timestamps:
(00:00) Trailer & Intro
(02:10) Career Turning Points
(05:24) What Juniors Should Do in the Age of AI
(11:05) Junior Developer’s Responsbility When Using AI
(14:50) AI and Critical Thinking
(16:20) Understanding & Preserving Domain Knowledge
(18:11) The Importance of Written Knowledge for AI Usage
(21:51) Limitations of AI in Understanding Knowledge Base
(26:34) The Limitations of LLM in Navigating Legacy Codebases (e.g. COBOL)
(32:38) Effective Knowledge Sharing Culture in the Age of AI
(34:54) Keeping Knowledge Base Up-to-Date
(36:55) Keeping the Organization Knowledge Base Accurate
(39:08) Fact Checking and Preventing AI Hallucination
(41:24) The Potential of MCP
(43:24) The Danger of AI Agents Hallucinating with Each Other
(45:00) How to Get Better at Research
(53:41) The Importance of Investing in Research
(57:18) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom
_____
Omer Rosenbaum’s Bio
Omer Rosenbaum is the CTO and co-founder of Swimm, a platform reinventing the way engineering organizations manage internal knowledge about their code base. Omer founded the Check Point Security Academy and was the Cyber Security Lead at ITC, an educational organization that trains talented professionals to develop careers in technology. Omer has a MA in Linguistics from Tel Aviv University and is the creator behind the Brief YouTube Channel.
Follow Omer:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/omer-rosenbaum-034a08b9
Twitter – x.com/Omer_Ros
Swimm – swimm.io
Email – [email protected]
📚 Gitting Things Done – buymeacoffee.com/omerr/extras
▶️ Brief – youtube.com/@BriefVid

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/222.
Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Buy me a coffee or become a patron.
1 hr 1 min
June 23, 2025#221 - Writing for Developers: How to Create Content People Read and Share - Piotr Sarna
Feeling like you have valuable technical insights to share but struggle to put them into words? You’re not alone.
In this episode, Piotr Sarna, author of “Writing for Developers” and an experienced open-source maintainer, shares the common hurdles developers face in writing and provides practical tips to get started. Discover how cultivating a writing habit can not only boost your personal brand but also improve your technical skills and create new career opportunities.
Key topics discussed:
The Writing Challenge: Why many developers who have interesting things to say don’t write and the importance of writing culture in a company.
Finding Your First Topic: How to identify valuable topics from your daily work, even if you think they’re not interesting enough or have already been written about.
Overcoming Writer’s Block: Practical tips to overcome the fear of writing, including dealing with imposter syndrome and language concerns.
Leveraging AI for Writing: How to effectively use AI as a reviewer to find logical fallacies, get feedback, and improve your writing without sacrificing authenticity.
Proven Blog Post Patterns: Learn about effective patterns like the “Bug Hunt” to create engaging and educational content.
Promoting Your Writing: Strategies to get your work in front of a larger audience, from company blogs to social media and content aggregators.
Beyond the Blog Post: Discover how writing can open doors to speaking at conferences and even writing a book.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Trailer & Intro
(02:06) Career Turning Points
(04:30) The Challenge of Writing for Developers
(06:08) The Importance of Writing Culture
(08:36) Piotr’s Journey to Writing Books
(11:19) The Impact of Writing on Engineering Culture
(13:39) How to Overcome Common Excuses for Not Writing
(16:32) Finding The First Blog Post Topic
(20:32) Tips on How to Start Writing
(22:19) The Importance of Goal and Perspective in Writing a Draft
(24:55) The Use of AI in Writing
(29:01) AI Prompts to Improve Your Writing
(30:14) The Best LLM Model for Writing
(31:53) The Best Workflow Working with AI
(33:41) Blog Post Pattern: Bug Hunt
(37:16) Blog Post Pattern: Thoughts on Trends
(40:13) The Importance of Promoting Our Writing
(42:47) How to Promote Your Writing Independently
(45:00) Future Opportunities of Writing
(47:55) Writing as a Developer
(49:02) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom
_____
Piotr Sarna’s Bio
Piotr Sarna is a software engineer who is keen on open source projects and the Rust and C++ languages. He previously developed an open source distributed file system and had a brief adventure with the Linux kernel. He’s also a long-time contributor and maintainer of ScyllaDB, as well as libSQL and Turso. Piotr graduated from University of Warsaw with a Master’s degree in computer science.
Follow Piotr:
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/sarna-dev
Twitter – x.com/sarna_dev
GitHub – github.com/psarna
Website – bio.sarna.dev
Write That Blog! – writethat.blog
Interview with Tech Bloggers – writethatblog.substack.com
📚 Writing for Developers – https://www.manning.com/books/writing-for-developers

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/221.
Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Buy me a coffee or become a patron.
52 min

About Tech Lead Journal

From the publisher's feed

Great technical leadership requires more than just great coding skills. It requires a variety of other skills that are not well-defined, and they are not something that we can fully learn in any…