Is your engineering team running like the wild, wild west? What does engineering excellence look like in practice?

In this episode, Ganesh Datta, co-founder and CTO of Cortex, explores what it takes to achieve engineering excellence. Ganesh shares lessons from his own journey, from early bug-fixing to building a company focused on engineering excellence.

We discuss how platform engineering and internal developer platforms (IDPs) can help teams scale, improve reliability, and align with business outcomes. Ganesh also explains why culture, leadership, and clear metrics matter more than any single tool.

If you’re looking to make your engineering team a true business driver, this conversation is for you.

Key topics discussed:

• How to define engineering excellence and why it’s tied to business outcomes.
• The critical role of leadership in connecting engineering initiatives to business values.
• When to invest in platform engineering and internal developer platforms as your team grows.
• Common misconceptions about platform engineering.
• The importance of clear metrics, shared language, and transparency for continuous improvement.
• Building a culture that supports operational excellence through rituals and repeated messaging.
• Real-world examples of using generative AI to accelerate platform adoption and incident analysis.

Timestamps:

• (00:00) Trailer & Intro
• (01:56) Career Turning Points
• (07:50) The Practice of Finding the Patterns in Issues
• (11:39) The Definition of Engineering Excellence
• (17:10) The Leader’s Role in Engineering Excellence
• (22:31) Aligning Engineering Excellence with the Business Outcomes
• (26:30) The Importance of Metrics in Engineering Excellence
• (33:35) The Culture that Drives Engineering Excellence
• (39:05) Platform Engineering and Internal Developer Platform
• (45:02) The Biggest Misconception of Platform Engineering or IDP
• (50:36) Cortex as an Engineering Excellence Platform
• (52:39) Generative AI Use Case in Platform Engineering
• (55:26) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom

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Ganesh Datta’s Bio
Ganesh Datta is a Co-Founder & CTO of Cortex. Before co-founding Cortex, he was a Principal Software Engineer at Mission Lane where he was responsible for driving the development of real-time underwriting infrastructure. At LendUp, Ganesh was a Senior Software Engineer leading the development and optimization of the company’s decisioning infrastructure and financial account management system. Ganesh holds a bachelor of science in computer science from the University of California San Diego.

Follow Ganesh:

• LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/gsdatta
• Twitter – x.com/gsdatta
• Website – www.cortex.io
• Email – ganesh@cortex.io
• Join Ganesh & Cortex at IDPCon in NYC – ipdcon.com

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Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/225.
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Is your software development process stuck on a conveyor belt? Discover how to break free from outdated manufacturing mindsets and build truly high-performing, agile teams that “Move Fast and Break Silos.”

In this episode, experienced CPTO, Klaus Breyer, introduces a revolutionary approach to software development. He explains why treating software engineering like a factory assembly line leads to inefficiency, micromanagement, and disempowered teams. Learn how to slice work effectively—from objectives down to delivery—and align small, empowered teams to solve real customer problems and ship value faster.

Key topics discussed:

• Why software development is a design process instead of a manufacturing process
• How Agile and Scrum has become micromanagement tools
• Why ticketing systems can create communication silos
• How to slice work into objectives, problems, solutions, and delivery
• Giving teams problems to solve, not just solutions to build
• The concept of empowered teams that own their outcomes
• Why small, dynamic groups of 2-3 people work best
• Aligning your teams’ work with company goals and business objectives

Timestamps:

• (00:00) Trailer & Intro
• (02:10) Career Turning Points
• (05:26) Critical Key Skills as CPTO
• (07:40) Juggling Between Being Optimistic vs Pessimistic
• (09:15) Move Fast and Break Silos
• (13:08) The Difference Between Manufacturing and Software Development
• (16:51) The Problems with the Status Quo of Software Development Practices
• (23:50) Key Practice 1: Slicing Work
• (25:51) Slicing Objectives
• (28:30) Slicing Problems
• (33:25) Slicing Solutions
• (38:03) Slicing Delivery
• (41:09) Key Practice 2: Aligning Teams
• (43:21) The Effective Teams Alignment Practices
• (48:10) Working in Small Teams at a Time
• (51:07) Alignment with the Value Streams
• (53:15) Mapping the Sliced Work to the Organization
• (56:41) The Importance of Reporting Structure in the Large Organization
• (58:52) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom

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Klaus Breyer’s Bio
Klaus Breyer is an experienced B2B SaaS CPTO who specializes in bridging the gap between technical delivery and agile product strategy, driven by a passion for breaking down silos. His career includes founding and leading the startups Buddybrand (a digital agency) and BuzzBird (a B2B marketplace), as well as building corporate startups and business units for major companies like Voith and edding in the IoT and B2B SaaS sectors.

Based in Berlin, he has extensive experience working with diverse and primarily remote teams. In addition to his leadership roles, he sometimes invests in and advises leadership teams on building effective interdisciplinary teams themselves. He is also a speaker, blogger, and book author who champions the philosophy of “Move Fast And Break Silos!”

Follow Klaus:

• LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/klaus-breyer
• Twitter – twitter.com/klausbreyer
• Website – v01.io
• Email – kb@v01.io

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/224.
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Is AI taking over the craft of coding? Many engineers now face an identity crisis.

In the episode, Distinguished Engineer Annie Vella discusses her research on AI’s impact on software development. She explores the “software engineering identity crisis” as the craft of coding becomes automated. Annie warns that the seductive speed of AI tools can lead to lower quality and delivery instability, a trend supported by reports from DORA and GitClear. She also cautions that over-reliance on AI prevents engineers from gaining the hands-on experience needed for deep skill acquisition.

Key topics discussed:

• How AI is reshaping the software development lifecycle
• The software engineer’s professional identity crisis
• The real danger of over-relying on AI tools
• How to balance the seduction of speed with long-term quality
• Crucial advice for junior engineers entering the industry
• Why leaders must shift focus from speed to quality
• The idea of treating AI as a team member instead of just a tool

Timestamps:

• (00:00:00) Trailer & Intro
• (00:02:32) AI Impact on Career and Software Engineering
• (00:07:00) The Future of AI-Driven Software Engineering
• (00:14:29) The Shift in the Role of Software Engineer
• (00:22:13) When Writing Code is Not the Bottleneck Anymore
• (00:32:04) The Danger of Over-Reliance on AI
• (00:38:51) The Software Engineering Identity Crisis
• (00:48:09) Advice for Junior Engineers in This Challenging Time
• (00:53:34) The Shift in the Role of Engineering Management
• (00:59:46) You Are Not Alone
• (01:00:50) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom

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Annie Vella’s Bio
Annie Vella is a Distinguished Engineer at Westpac NZ with two decades of experience in software engineering and technical leadership across various industries and countries.

Vella has returned to an engineering role after a period in management and is also a part-time Master’s student at the University of Auckland, researching the impact of AI on software engineering. She believes that technologies like Generative AI, LLMs, and Agentic AI will revolutionize the field and problem-solving in general.

Follow Annie:

• LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/annievella
• X – x.com/codefrenzy
• Website – annievella.com/

Like this episode?
Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/223.
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