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Newsletter archive
AI agents and the missing link in DevOps
AI agents aren’t just assistants anymore – they’re making decisions. Are engineers ready for the shift or are they just too skeptical?
Carving out time for large-scale engineering chores
Determine what to prioritize, set out a path, and be prepared for some hiccups along the way.
Encouraging a passion for productivity
In this edition of DirectorPlus, Neha Batra, VP of Engineering at GitHub, explains how she creates a culture of productivity.
Framing AI rollouts in the right light
How can you introduce AI into teams in a way that doesn’t invite unrest within your org? It starts with presenting it in the right light.
Latest
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Is GitHub’s coding agent your newest junior dev?
GitHub’s new coding agent has some perks, but is still showing signs of significant growing pains. What are the current pain points?
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AI coding trackers are here. Proceed with caution
Companies are finally starting to track AI usage within their engineering orgs. Should we be worried or remain cautiously optimistic?
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Navigating the emotional rollercoaster of leadership
Any well-seasoned leader will know that it’s not always an easy journey. The key is to tackle the low moments with the right approach.
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5 AI agent frameworks for developer teams
If you’re thinking of dipping your toes into the agentic pool, here are some frameworks you could explore.
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Your go-to professional growth model
When you’re an engineering leader, finding the time to upskill is almost impossible. Following the S-curve model might keep you on track.
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The right way to make AI part of your tech strategy
With everyone scrambling to bake AI into their technical strategy, leaders may be resorting to unreliable and unscalable methods.
October 15 & 16, 2025
Agendas for New York events are live! 🙌
Essential reading
What is a Director of Engineering? The glue keeping engineering together
A director of engineering is responsible for keeping an entire engineering function humming. Find out what skills you need to climb the ladder to this vital position.
On our DirectorPlus playlist
Strategies to hone commercial awareness and drive business outcomes
Learn effective strategies for enhancing commercial awareness in tech teams, turning engineering into a business driver through alignment, impactful initiatives, and stakeholder engagement.
The path from Director to CTO: How to follow it, or how to mentor it
This talk is aimed at both aspiring Chief Technology Officers and those who are in a position to mentor future CTOs. Explore the journey from a Director of Engineering role to a CTO, focusing on the skills and experiences needed for this transition and how experienced leaders can guide others on this path.
Making the manager of manager’s mindset
Suzan Bond covers the difference between the two roles and the key mindset shifts leaders need to make to manage managers.
Agendas for New York events are live!
Lineup includes Addy Osmani, Kevin Goldsmith, Robin Bonatesta, and more…
New York • October 15 & 16, 2025
More for managers of managers
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In partnership with Multiverse
Embrace apprenticeships to uncover hidden developer talent
Three lessons learned from two recent Meta apprentices.
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PostgreSQL: The database that quietly ate the world
How the open source database slowly but surely infiltrated the enterprise as a go-to, developer-friendly choice.
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AI models can’t understand code. Does that matter?
New research highlights how little large language models understand about the code they are churning out. Should we care?
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In partnership with X-Team
A beginner’s guide to building a sustainable learning culture
Software moves fast, how can you build a culture ready to keep up?
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In partnership with X-Team
Cultivating a culture of learning
Establishing a genuine learning culture takes time and attention, from all levels of the organization.
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How Zalando uses its own Tech Radar to make better technology choices
A tech radar can help track emerging technologies and make better adoption decisions.
Videos for managers of managers
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Alignment, autonomy, accountability
Explore essential management principles that build trust, enhance team engagement, and support smooth progress, equipping leaders with strategies to guide without micromanaging.
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It’s time to pay off your management debt
Explore management debt’s impact on organizations, uncovering inefficiencies and missed opportunities. Learn actionable strategies to identify, track, and eliminate management debt for sustainable growth.
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Culture, Clarity, Velocity
This session explores how leaders can examine proposed changes and prepare their teams to move from a culture that impedes progress to one that enables strategic change.
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From cost to impact: Leading through infrastructure investment decisions
This session explores tools like SLOs, KPI Trees, and the FinOps culture to make cost management a shared responsibility across the organization.
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Modernizing legacy systems: A technical strategy for evolving monoliths into modern architectures at HelloFresh
Gain insights into transforming legacy systems into scalable architectures, with practical strategies for balancing stability, managing technical debt, and enabling growth opportunities at HelloFresh.
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Strategies to hone commercial awareness and drive business outcomes
Learn effective strategies for enhancing commercial awareness in tech teams, turning engineering into a business driver through alignment, impactful initiatives, and stakeholder engagement.
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From engineer to executive: Leading the shift and inspiring business-minded tech teams
Explore the journey from engineering leader to CTO, with insights on bridging technology and business strategy, leading with influence, and fostering business-minded tech teams.
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What we talk about when we talk about leadership
Exploring key leadership themes from years in tech, this talk offers guidance and practical strategies to help engineers become the leaders they want to be.
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Ice, confusion, and the 38,000ft crash
Uncover the critical lessons from AF 447’s final moments – how small factors spiraled into disaster and what it teaches us about building resilient systems.
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Estimates as probabilities
This talk introduces a probability approach to estimations, aiming to transform delivery discussions into stress-free, trust-based conversations between tech teams and stakeholders.
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How games brought our Engineering Principles to life
See how games transformed Engineering Principles into memorable practices for engineering teams, offering ideas for engaging team-building activities.
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Launching a Gen AI powered travel companion: A case for tiger teams
Explore Booking.com’s journey in launching a Gen AI travel companion in 3 months, powered by a tiger team approach for rapid, focused product development and innovation.