Latest
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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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Why introverts get overlooked (and what to do about it)
Introverts have natural abilities that can make them the strongest leaders, but getting the visibility on these skills is the key.
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.
Deadline: January 4, 2026
Call for Proposals for London 2026 is open!
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
London • June 2 & 3, 2026
More for Staff engineers
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AI-first hiring is everywhere and it’s not slowing down
Engineers might start being penalized for not using AI in technical interviews.
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Why untested AI-generated code is a crisis waiting to happen
Here’s why the sector should embrace the principle of more haste, less speed.
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MCP and the future of AI tools
What is the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and how does it simplify data access, enhance AI reliability, and accelerate development?
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How AI will change software engineering
No one can agree how AI will change software engineering. Here’s how to prepare anyway.
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7 principles for balancing agility and durability
Engineering is a game of trade-offs – move fast and break things, or build slow and last forever? Know when to do which.
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Be the best ally to your business development team
As a staff+ engineer, being the bridge between engineering and the business development team isn’t always straightforward.
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The 6 warning signs of overengineering
How to look for the signs of overengineering in software, why it happens, and how to prevent unnecessary complexity to build maintainable systems.
Videos for Staff engineers
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Lessons from the other side: What your VP is actually thinking
Learn how to build a partnership with your VP by sharing unfiltered reality and gaining the context you need.
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The altitude slider: Knowing when to dive into code vs. drive the strategy
Practical cues and rituals that help senior ICs oscillate between architectural vision and hands-on execution.
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Are we arguing or are we architecting?
Guiding technology decisions at scale is daunting for senior ICs. Spirited debates often feel like conflict, but they’re crucial. Learn to turn these clashes into collaborative, well-informed decisions. Are we arguing or architecting?
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Engineering excellence: New product development in medical devices
Lessons from leading a seven-year development of a NextGen SPECT/CT scanner, focusing on innovation, compliance, and team leadership.
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Reimagining the image pipeline at Squarespace
This talk explores the evolution of Squarespace’s image pipeline—why change was needed, how the architecture adapted for scale and flexibility, and the unique challenges faced along the way.
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Un-becoming the bottleneck
The biggest obstacle to team growth is often Staff+ engineers themselves. Breaking this pattern requires more than just “org-wide impact” it calls for deep, deliberate focus on growing 2-3 key engineers around you.
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Building Figma Draw
Explore how a small, scrappy team at Figma turned a big product vision into a major launch through smart execution.
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In partnership with UnblockedAI won’t fix developer productivity (unless you fix context first)
Discover how context engineering unlocks real developer productivity, making AI tools effective by connecting decisions, history, and code.
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AI-accelerated migrations at scale
Learn how Airbnb has been using AI and self-serve tools to enable seamless, large-scale migrations, and some of the hurdles we’ve faced to get there.
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The magic of crisis
Discover how Staff+ engineers can use moments of crisis to drive lasting technical change and strengthen organizational systems.
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Scaling LinkedIn’s search infrastructure: Key decisions and engineering challenges
Explore the key engineering decisions and challenges behind scaling LinkedIn’s search infrastructure to support billions of daily queries.
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Compiler makeover: How technical debt created happier developers
Tired of endless patches and quick fixes to your developer tools? So were we. Learn how we at WSO2 turned our outdated Ballerina compiler into a driver of innovation, community growth, and happier developers.