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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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AI coding mandates are driving developers to the brink
Under pressure to embrace AI, developers are growing frustrated by misguided mandates and are left to clean up any collateral damage inflicted on their codebase.
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The importance of supervising your AI coding agents
And 3 other themes from the latest Thoughtworks’ Technology Radar.
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Bringing internal engineering projects to the world
Pia Nilsson, senior director of engineering at Spotify, on how they identify and externalize impactful internal developer tools like Backstage.
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95% AI-written code? Unpacking the Y Combinator CEO’s developer jobs bombshell
Garry Tan says YC startups are launching with 95% AI-written code. What does this mean for the shape and size of engineering teams?
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Executive communication tactics that work for all audiences
The way you communicate with executives – clear, direct, and to the point – should be the standard for all communication.
November 5, 2025
A unique one-day event for Heads, Directors, VPs and CTOs exploring core leadership challenges.
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.
November 5, 2025
A unique one-day event for Heads, Directors, VPs and CTOs exploring core leadership challenges.
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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Why can we still not measure team performance?
Scott Carey & Rebecca Murphey discuss findings from the LeadDev Engineering Team Performance report 2023.
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Master modern hiring: Win the race for tech talent through equity, empathy & efficiency
In this lightning talk, Karat VP of Content Don Gannon-Jones explains how a focus on job readiness will empower you to manage the overflow of applicants and interviews without resorting to outdated tactics that require candidates to do a lot of guess-work and game-playing.
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Tackling Software Engineering Leaders’ Dual Mandate
Operational excellence has been engineering leaders’ mandate since the beginning. But, success in the business world has shifted over the past two decades, making software delivery the key driver. This revenue generation change added a new mandate for the engineering leader: Driving Business Outcomes.
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In partnership with KaratEverything you need to know about hiring engineers in 2023
How has the tech job market changed, and what does your org need to do to keep up?
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Challenges in transforming a multicultural local-only company to a remote-first
Felipe Furlan discusses the most significant challenges and the strategies we use to overcome them. I will also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such a strategy.
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Facilitating Software Architecture: Andrew Harmel-Law in conversation
How can you ensure architects and development teams are working towards the same goal?
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You will ship your org chart: understanding organization structure tradeoffs
Adam Berman talks about how your organization structure has a big impact on your workflows. Learn how to bolster your approach to drive more efficient product development.