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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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Testing is a skill. Quality is a discipline.
As quality assurance makes way for quality engineering, how do you change mindsets?
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The great engineer hiring paradox
“The story isn’t that jobs are vanishing, it’s that the bar for skills is rising.”
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Why Zig is moving on from GitHub
A scathing review has broader implications for AI use by major platforms.
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Why AI economics are fundamentally broken
Making money from software is not the same equation in the AI era.
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If 95% of generative AI pilots fail, what’s going wrong?
Learning the right lessons from that MIT study
London • June 2 & 3, 2026
Rands, Nicole Forsgren,
& Matej Pfajfar confirmed
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.
The festival for modern engineering leadership
London • June 2 & 3, 2026
More for managers of managers
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Unlocking performance management for start-ups and scale-ups
Performance management is tricky terrain to navigate, especially when you’re in a start-up or scale-up. Here are some frameworks to help.
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The key to quickly unblocking decision-making
Unlock quick decision-making by evaluating what you know, what you don’t know, and, based on those things, hypotheses you can make.
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In partnership with YLD
How to get started with GenAI
Successful adoption of Generative AI starts with a solid foundation, both with your data and your people.
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Preparing your team for a tense election season
And should we even talk about politics at work in the first place?
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Can you lead a struggling team to success?
Taking a leadership position of a struggling team isn’t exactly a smooth ride. With ups and downs, it can be difficult to see a positive end.
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Retaining engineering talent in a chaotic market
With Bloomberg’s global head of engineering, Adam Wolf.
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How “you build it, you run it” improves team performance
Whether it’s recruiting new talent, team accountability, or streamlining processes, “you build it, you run it” is the philosophy for you.
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In partnership with WorkOS
The engineering leader’s guide to becoming enterprise ready
If you’re responding to enterprise demand, or just preparing for the day, here are three areas to consider to make your products ready.
Videos for managers of managers
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Frictionless movement: How internal mobility transforms engineering culture
Creating an environment that not only makes it easy for people to move teams and roles but encourages that openness.
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Levelling up: Transitioning successfully into a manager of managers role
The talk I wish I’d found when I became a manager of managers. Tips and insights to prepare you for the road ahead.
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Rebuilding at scale: A CTO’s Journey in a high-growth fintech
How a high-growth fintech dealt with a major platform rewrite with 10 years of technical and commercial debt. And, more importantly, my own personal growth journey from tech leader to exec-level CTO.
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Don’t drop the baton, or how a team that communicates well collaborates well
Effective team communication shapes company culture at all levels. In this talk, we’ll explore habits, principles, and frameworks to foster healthy communication patterns.
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In partnership with SoftwireThe five stages of workplace culture
Discover the five key stages that built Softwire’s award-winning culture and motivated top engineering talent.
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From code to commerce: Engineering’s role in driving business growth
Learn how engineering leadership drives business success by linking technical excellence to measurable outcomes, fostering commercial awareness, and optimizing performance at scale.
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Building the AI enablement playbook
Learn how to lead AI adoption by reshaping systems, culture, and operations, not just rolling out tools.
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Don’t get toasted: A leader’s guide to mental well-being
Real tools for managers’ mental well-being – from stress management to parenting wisdom – because leading teams shouldn’t mean burning out.
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In partnership with DXBetter software faster
How the Core 4 framework helps teams measure and communicate productivity gains while balancing delivery pressure.
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Rethinking collaboration: LLMs, teams, and cognitive load
Discover how LLMs can reduce cognitive load, boost team collaboration, and reshape engineering workflows without compromising quality or delivery.
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How to delete everything: The clean-slate approach to technical strategy
Learn how clean-slate thinking can break technical deadlocks, improve system resilience, and inspire actionable strategies for complex engineering challenges.
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Rethinking growing engineers in the age of AI
Explore how to grow future senior engineers in an AI-driven world that sidelines traditional junior roles.