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Newsletter archive
AI agents and the missing link in DevOps
AI agents arenāt just assistants anymore ā theyāre 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
āThe story isn’t that jobs are vanishing, it’s that the bar for skills is rising.ā
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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, whatās going wrong?
Learning the right lessons from that MIT study
London ā¢ June 2 & 3, 2026
Rands, Nicole Forsgren,Ā
&Ā Matej PfajfarĀ 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.
TheĀ festival for modern engineering leadership
London ā¢ June 2 & 3, 2026
More for managers of managers
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How the AI boom is bringing Silicon Valley back from the brink
Is Silicon Valley so over, or is it back?
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A buyerās checklist for AI coding assistants
Have you been thinking about trying an AI coding assistant?
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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 canāt understand code. Does that matter?
New research highlights how little large language models understand about the code they are churning out. Should we care?
Videos for managers of managers
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No promotion. Now what!?
Explore how to navigate promotion denial with resilience, clarity, and strategy to reignite career growth and fulfillment.
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Try, try again
Learn why intelligent retries are essential for resilient systems, and how to implement them safely with proper limits and timing.
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Your career isnāt stuck ā youāre playing by the wrong rules
Discover what true inclusion means by exploring practical ways to support neurodivergent colleagues and create genuinely diverse teams.
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Onboarding as a manager: How AI changed my first months
Learn how AI can support new engineering managers by accelerating context gathering, easing overwhelm, and enhancing team understanding.
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Taking a seat in the C-Suite: Transitioning from the highest-level operational roles to the executive team
A look at the transition to executive leadership, examining the skills, mindset, and priorities needed to succeed.
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Transforming tradition: The journey to product-led growth
Learn how Dow Jones is embracing a product-first mindset to drive radical transformation and deliver innovative customer and consumer experiences.
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In partnership with DXLeadership in AI-assisted engineering
Explore proven leadership strategies for AI-assisted engineering, fostering adoption, productivity, psychological safety, and measurable organizational impact.
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Building a cost-conscious culture: Technical and team strategies
Discover proven strategies to optimize cloud infrastructure costs and build a cost-aware engineering culture without slowing delivery.
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Build features, not fragile foundations
Learn how to balance feature delivery with technical debt reduction to maintain system health, velocity, and long-term stability.
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In partnership with ReveloEngineering leadership playbook, 2025: Three lessons every engineering leader needs this year
Learn three key lessons to lead AI adoption, build remote teams, and strengthen engineering culture.
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Uncovering silent struggles in leadership roles
A candid session revealing common hidden leadership challenges, with practical strategies to address and overcome them effectively.
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The AI-augmented team: Rethinking roles, skills, and leadership
Explore how AI assistants and agents are reshaping team structures, required skills, and leadership in modern engineering organizations.