Tech Teams Today

Reliability Beats “Cutting Edge” — Scaling Healthcare Engineering w/ Paul Cannon, CTO @ Healthcare IT LeadersWhat does engineering leadership look like when uptime matters more than hype?In this episode, Paul Cannon (CTO, Healthcare IT Leaders) breaks down how he’s scaling a high-growth services org supporting EHR and ERP platforms (Epic, Oracle/Cerner, Workday, UKG)—and why reliability often beats “cutting edge” in healthcare.We cover building a Kansas City Center of Excellence, hiring senior-heavy teams at speed, AI’s impact on interviews and code quality, and why transparency matters more in hybrid organizations.What you’ll learnBuilding a services engine: from staff augmentation to “continuous services” with a tech layer on topReliability beats novelty: why customers reward stability over bleeding edge techHiring at pace: networks, senior talent density, and when to introduce junior devsAI in the funnel: separating signal from noise when candidates use AI on take-homesTrust and AI: where copilots help (tests, docs) and where human judgment stays criticalLeadership shifts: transparency in hybrid teams and the IC→leader transitionKey takeawaysStability wins in regulated, mission-critical environmentsSpeed and quality can coexist—if you set standards and shorten the “prove it” loopEvaluate fundamentals, not just output—AI can mask real gapsTrain for smart AI use; don’t outsource understandingHiring strategy evolves: start senior-heavy, then layer in juniors with intentAbout our guestPaul Cannon is CTO at Healthcare IT Leaders, where he leads engineering for managed/continuous services across major EHR and ERP ecosystems.About the showTech Teams Today is hosted by Lucas Mendes, CEO & Co-founder of Revelo—helping companies build elite engineering teams and improve AI systems with expert data. New episodes weekly.

Be sure to check out Fin, Intercom's AI agent for all of your customer service at fin.aiWhat happens when a product-led growth pioneer bets everything on AI?In this episode, Darragh Curran, CTO of Intercom, shares how his team rebuilt one of SaaS’s most iconic products around artificial intelligence — and why “going all in” was the only choice.From leading through 13 years of hypergrowth to launching Intercom’s AI agent Fin, Darragh opens up about building distributed teams, balancing speed with quality, and how engineering leadership itself is changing in the age of AI.What you'll learn:From builder to CTO: How Darragh’s mindset evolved from coding to leading global teams.Intercom’s PLG engine: The cultural DNA that powered one of SaaS’s biggest product-led growth stories.AI at scale: How Intercom rebuilt itself around Fin — and why most incumbents will struggle.Build vs. buy: How to decide when to leverage large models vs. train your own.Distributed teams: Lessons from scaling R&D across Dublin, London, and San Francisco.Hiring in the AI era: Why curiosity and adaptability now trump narrow specialization.Leadership in waves: What every CTO should learn from the shifts from cloud to mobile to AI.Key takeawaysThe hardest shift for new leaders: from talking to computers to talking to humans.AI success comes from conviction, experimentation, and culture — not hype.Don’t outsource curiosity: the best leaders still get hands-on with new tech.Pragmatism beats purism — build where you differentiate, borrow where you don’t.Quality and understanding still matter; AI can’t fix slop code.About our guestDarragh Curran is Chief Technology Officer at Intercom, where he’s helped scale the company from startup to global SaaS leader. He’s led engineering through every wave of change — from mobile and cloud to the new era of AI-first software.About the showTech Teams Today is hosted by Lucas Mendes, CEO & Co-founder of Revelo, helping companies build elite engineering teams and train better AI systems with expert human data. New episodes weekly.🎧 Subscribe for new insights on engineering leadership in the age of AI

Tech Teams Today: Rethinking Engineering Leadership in the AI Era w/ Susan Reilly (VP Eng, Checkatrade)AI isn't an arms race - it's a tool belt. In this episode, Susan Reilly shares how she's deploying AI across a 100-person org, why "don't reinvent the wheel" no longer fits 2025, and how simple rituals like Async Fridays and Innovation Week can unlock both velocity and trust.What you'll learnAI as a tool belt: How leaders should pick the right tool for the job - and teach teams to guide, not blindly accept, AI output.Rollout that actually works: Where AI saves real time (tests, bug hunts, doc review) and where human judgment must stay in the loop.Hiring in 2025: Why adaptability and curiosity have eclipsed "I'm a X-stack dev," and how Susan assesses true technical depth.Culture that scales: The surprising productivity gains from meeting-free Fridays and why rituals matter more in hybrid orgs.Two contrarian takes: Retire "don't reinvent the wheel," and stop making big decisions behind closed doors.Mentorship beats management: Practical ways to build empathetic teams that ship better software.Key takeawaysYou get what you put in. AI accelerates grunt work, but only if engineers learn to prompt, critique, and iterate on results.Adaptability beats narrow labels. Hire for boldness, curiosity, and collaboration; stacks change, fundamentals don't.Rituals create flexibility. Clear communication and consistent ceremonies enable fewer meetings and more deep work.Experiment time isn't a perk - it's required. Create space to play with new tools or teams will "adopt" nothing.Reinvent selectively. In fast-moving domains like AI, clinging to "the old wheel" is riskier than rethinking it.About our guestSusan Reilly is VP of Engineering at Checkatrade. She's led distributed teams across the UK and Ireland and writes about pragmatic engineering leadership in the age of AI. Best place to connect: LinkedIn (search "Susan Reilly Checkatrade").About the showTech Teams Today is hosted by Lucas Mendes, CEO & Co-founder of Revelo - helping companies build elite engineering teams and improve AI-generated code with expert data. New episodes weekly.AskIf this helped you lead better:Subscribe for more conversations with hands-on leaders.Comment: What's one AI workflow your team won't give up?Share with a peer who's rolling out AI across their org.Keywordsengineering leadership, AI in software engineering, developer productivity, GitHub Copilot, hybrid teams, async work, mentorship, team rituals, system design interviews, innovation week, meeting-free Fridays, leadership mantras, hiring engineers 2025, tool belt not arms race

AI is upending traditional hierarchies in engineering teams. In this episode of Tech Teams Today, we sit down with Robert Egglestone, SVP of Engineering at Trilogy, to explore why junior to mid-level engineers leveraging AI often outperform seasoned seniors, what this shift reveals about hiring and leadership, and how engineering leaders can adapt.

The conversation dives into the move from writing code to orchestrating AI agents, the danger of over-relying on ceremonies instead of focusing on outcomes, how to raise the hiring bar without slowing down growth, and the new skills leaders need in an AI-driven environment.

Packed with actionable insights for anyone leading (or aspiring to lead) modern engineering teams, this episode is a must-listen for staying competitive in the age of AI.

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In this episode of Tech Teams Today, host Matthieu McClintock welcomes Nan Guo, SVP of Engineering at Zendesk, for a wide-ranging discussion on building high-performing engineering organizations in the era of AI.

Nan shares hard-won lessons from leading teams through hypergrowth and global transformation—covering everything from operationalizing AI infrastructure to building trust across time zones. She opens up about her leadership philosophy, including why psychological safety and a blameless culture are non-negotiables at Zendesk.

Listeners will also hear how Zendesk approaches AI model redundancy, why trust isn’t a feature but a foundation, and how engineering metrics must evolve to reflect modern development realities. Nan gets candid about the rise of AI coding tools, the risks of “vibe coding,” and what she looks for in engineering hires today.

Whether you're navigating distributed teams, hiring in a post-Copilot world, or scaling AI-powered products, this episode delivers both inspiration and tactical insight.

Subscribe to Tech Teams Today on all major podcast platforms for weekly conversations with engineering leaders redefining what great teams look like in 2025 and beyond.

Ivan Herndon, VP of Engineering at Branch, joins Tech Teams Today to share a raw and insightful look at what’s broken in engineering leadership and what needs to change.

In this conversation, Ivan unpacks how high performers are quietly burning out, why unpaid interview work is still far too common, and how AI tools are reshaping the future of junior developers, sometimes for the worse.

He also shares his take on what great leadership actually looks like in 2025, why the “leaders eat last” philosophy may be flawed, and how he’s thinking about the next generation of senior engineers in a world with fewer apprenticeship opportunities.

Whether you’re leading a team today or preparing for your first leadership role, this episode offers grounded, practical advice from someone who’s been in the trenches.

Subscribe to Tech Teams Today on all major podcast platforms for weekly episodes with the engineering leaders shaping the future of tech.

From challenging the value of junior dev roles to redefining what hiring really means, Gene Linetsky (CTO of Embroker) brings a contrarian perspective to engineering leadership.

In this episode of Tech Teams Today, host Matt McClintock and Gene Linetsky dive into:

• Why hiring is more about filtering out the wrong candidates than finding the “perfect” one
• How AI copilots may reshape the developer pipeline
• The difference between a CTO and VP of Engineering
• Scaling teams without losing velocity
• Building culture in regulated industries
• Navigating mergers and acquisitions
• The underrated qualities that make a hire transformational

If you’re looking for straight talk, sharp insights, and a different way to think about leadership in engineering, this episode delivers.

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What makes a great engineering leader in 2025? And are you sure you actually want the job?

In this episode of Tech Teams Today, host Matt McClintock chats with Ross Williams, Director of Application Engineering at Aqfer, about the shifting landscape of engineering leadership.

From the decline of traditional full stack roles to the rise of AI-powered development tools, Ross shares what’s changing, what still matters, and what many engineers overlook when they step into leadership roles.

You’ll hear insights on:

• The real impact of AI on engineering workflows
• How Ross became a 5x AWS DeepRacer champion
• How to spot AI-assisted candidates in interviews
• Whether coding tests are still worth it
• Why team dynamics matter more than tooling

This one’s for every engineer thinking about taking the next step and every leader trying to stay ahead of the curve.

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Kazuki Nishiura’s engineering journey has spanned the polished halls of Google, the breakneck scaling of Bolt, and the unpredictable world of startups.

Now CTO of an AI-powered fraud and compliance platform, he’s rethinking how teams hire, scale, and build in the AI era.

In this conversation on Tech Teams Today, Kazuki shares:

• Why his interviews let candidates use their own laptop, IDE, and AI model
• The one thing you can’t compromise on when scaling teams
• How AI is transforming fraud detection, compliance, and engineering workflows
• The lessons he carried from big tech to hypergrowth to startup leadership

Whether you’re an engineering leader, a developer, or just curious about how AI is reshaping tech teams, this episode is packed with practical insights.

Listen now and subscribe to Tech Teams Today for more conversations with engineering leaders redefining the future of software.

Want to learn more about what Kazuki is working on? Check out www.sardine.ai for more.

Scaling a tech team isn’t just about hiring fast — it’s about building trust, clarity, and calm leadership as you grow.

In this episode of Tech Teams Today, Logan Connors (VP of Technology and CISO at Healthyr) shares how he’s scaled product, engineering, and security orgs across multiple industries — and what he looks for in engineers and leaders today.

We talk about:

• Promoting ICs vs. developing long-term leaders
• Building cross-functional teams across global time zones
• How AI is changing what makes someone a “great” engineer
• Tools and workflows that transformed his team at Healthyr
• The one leadership lesson he no longer believes

A great listen for engineering leaders, startup operators, and anyone scaling remote teams in 2025.

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