Latest
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AI-generated abandonware is hollowing out open source
When everyone can build, the scarce resource becomes maintainers.
Editor’s picks
What is a staff engineer? Technical leaders who aren’t managers
Staff engineers are technical leaders who have deep domain knowledge, walking the line between tech and the business.
New York • September 15 & 16, 2026
Delivering AI results without a playbook?
Find what’s working at LDX3
Essential reading
On our StaffPlus playlist
How to master the four Staff archetypes and elevate your impact
While the specifics of the job can vary widely, Will Larson has famously categorized the Staff+ experience into four archetypes: Tech Lead, Architect, Solver, and the Right Hand.
Understanding the role as a Staff engineer
How to define, develop and deliver in your role on the technical track.
How to balance technical direction and leadership work
But as is often the case in business, priorities constantly shift and where you focus your efforts will too. So how do you strike the right balance between working on the technical direction of the business and those tasks that require you to put your leadership hat on?
Start with an exit in mind: How to be effective by being selfish as a staff engineer
Staff engineers often get overwhelmed by long-term ownership of critical projects. This talk explores how to avoid burnout by starting every project with an exit strategy—whether transferring ownership, pausing or bootstrapping a team.
The festival for modern engineering leadership
New York • September 15 & 16, 2026
More for Staff engineers
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“Vibe hacking” signals seismic shift for engineering leaders
Blackhat hackers have an addition to their armoury. Here’s how engineering leaders can safeguard their systems and stay on high alert.
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Where staff+ engineers can move the needle
As you become more senior in your role, the pressure to expand your impact grows. Here are some ways to get the ball rolling.
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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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4 ways to manage the lows 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 unions are (finally) coming for big tech
After decades of taking a back seat, the rise of AI, layoffs, and industry-wide burnout has led to a call for more prominent tech unions.
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Tech CEOs reckon with the impact of AI on junior developers
CEOs are concerned that the rise of AI tools like Copilot and GPT is causing junior developers to lose touch with core coding skills.
Videos for Staff engineers
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One silver bullet: Adaptability
Hire for adaptability over pedigree, and build teams that can learn, grow, and deliver in a changing industry.
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In partnership with incident.ioDon’t wait for an outage to improve your reliability
A reliable system isn’t just about your infrastructure. Learn to effectively leverage game days to train engineers and build resilience before real incidents force you to.
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In partnership with Skiller WhaleAI productivity at enterprise scale
Turning AI adoption into real productivity gains requires changing habits, building skills, and scaling learning across the entire organization.
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Taming the legacy system monster
Learn how to document, stabilize, and modernize legacy systems without risky rewrites or single-person dependencies.
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In partnership with DockerShip 10x code safely with agents
Learn how to safely turn AI-generated code into shipped software without slowing developers or compromising enterprise governance.
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The Staff Engineer’s playbook: Intellectual shift to systemic impact
A practical framework for making the Staff Engineer leap, shifting from solving tasks to defining strategy and delivering lasting systemic impact.
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Building resilient engineering teams when failure is the default
How teams operating under constant failure build resilient systems and cultures by assuming outages are normal, not exceptional.
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Updatable repos: Duolingo’s journey to a golden path
A real-world story of reducing microservice sprawl by embedding best practices into templates that teams actually want to adopt.
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What does a CTO even do?
A reverse-engineering framework to help engineering leaders broaden impact, break growth ceilings, and develop the skills required for senior technical leadership.
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How we introduced quality engineering and made everything better!
How modern quality engineering reduced deployment time dramatically while improving developer experience through iterative, sustainable change.
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Moving accessibility from debt to done at giffgaff
How accessibility became part of everyday engineering, improving inclusion and business impact without slowing delivery.
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Crowdsourcing platform engineering
How Cash App built a culture of shared ownership in platform engineering–where empathy, collaboration, and visibility drive developer experience and delivery velocity.