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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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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
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New study suggests major productivity boost when using Cursor’s coding agent
Is this the massive productivity benefit we’ve been waiting for?
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How to go back to being a technical engineering manager
A guide for getting back to hands-on management.
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Shadow AI is leaving software teams dangerously exposed
Two thirds of organizations report exploits involving vulnerable LLM code.
Deadline: January 4, 2026
Call for Proposals for London 2026 is open!
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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Why 70% of engineers avoid measuring lines of code
And four other key findings from the 2024 LeadDev Engineering Team Performance report.
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Is agile manifesting or preventing AI adoption?
In the rush to adopt AI, many organizations have forgotten – or conveniently overlooked – the fundamentals of agile software delivery.
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Why everyone’s suddenly talking about AI agents
What exactly are AI agents and how are they different from AI assistants?
Videos for managers of managers
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Debugging self-doubt: A framework for building confidence
Explore a practical framework for tackling self-doubt with a debugging mindset to build lasting confidence and stronger teams.
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The twin mandate: What leaders still don’t get about observability
Learn why many teams miss observability’s full potential and how leaders can unlock exceptional engineering performance through it.
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The joy of being wrong
Discover how rethinking assumptions drives better decisions, strengthens leadership, and builds more adaptive, collaborative teams.
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Target architecture – Align. Execute. Deliver.
Explore how defining a clear target architecture boosts alignment, speeds up execution, and scales teams through better decision-making.
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Machine learning in production. The hidden effort
Uncover the hidden engineering work behind real-world ML products, from scaling and orchestration to cost control and team alignment.
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Couple’s therapy for product and tech
Learn how to build a strong, lasting partnership between product and tech through alignment, trust, and intentional collaboration.
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Journeys in diversity – what difference really means
Discover what true inclusion means by exploring practical ways to support neurodivergent colleagues and create genuinely diverse teams.
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We brought AI into our sprints, here’s what changed
Explore how integrating AI into product sprints changed team habits, improved delivery, and revealed what works and what breaks in practice.
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Rethinking interviewing in an AI era
Explore how to redesign technical interviews for an AI era by focusing on real-world thinking, communication, and human-centered evaluation.
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Migrations done right: Success stories and lessons learned
Learn proven strategies for executing large-scale system migrations safely, using incremental rollouts, clear planning, and strong stakeholder communication.
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Latency, load, and leadership: Building a team nervous system
Discover how to build feedback systems that detect early stress signals, enabling healthier, more resilient, and productive teams.
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Building AI into critical systems: Lessons learned
Learn how the Financial Times built AI into paywalls and retention systems, navigating trade-offs, risks, and real-world complexity at scale.