
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
Cut through the hype.
Find what works at LDX3 New York
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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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.
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How AI generated code compounds technical debt
“I don’t think I have ever seen so much technical debt being created in such a short period of time”
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How DeepSeek upended everything
The Chinese AI model has called into question a whole host of assumptions for the tech industry.
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Factorio and the promise of better software engineering
Just why is the complex factory-building video game so appealing to software developers and can it help them get better at their jobs?
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From false urgency to strategic leadership
Move away from false urgency and instill a culture of strategic influence.
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Is IaC broken?
Complex rollouts and rigid procedures have taken the shine off of Infrastructure as Code. Can it be fixed?
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An introduction to vector databases
They underpin most generative AI applications, but what do you need to know about vector databases?
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What engineering managers need to know for 2025
Here are 9 things you need to know as we move into 2025.
Videos for Staff engineers
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In partnership with HarnessUnlocking ROI through development, release, and experimentation velocity
Learn how faster, more reliable delivery pipelines can unlock experimentation ROI, improve release confidence, and drive compounding gains across teams.
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Detecting the dip: Turning noisy metrics into reliable production signals
How to move from noisy alerts to trusted signals by detecting the dips that actually matter to customers.
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Dojo’s leap from 90 clusters to one golden path
How a single golden path replaced massive platform sprawl, delivering self-service, safer defaults, and real operational leverage.
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Designing neuro-inclusive incident management
Learn how small, intentional changes to incident management reduce cognitive load, support neurodivergent engineers, and strengthen system reliability.
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AI killed the coding interviews. Here’s what Meta built instead
How Meta replaced traditional coding interviews with AI-native hiring that measures adaptability, communication, and real-world engineering judgment.
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In partnership with SoftwireTechnology advances; history repeats itself
Learn how to protect engineering culture, leadership judgment, and technical depth as AI and rapid change reshape the industry.
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Lessons from 100 P0 incidents
Hard-won patterns for designing systems and leading teams to detect failures sooner, respond faster, and limit the blast radius.
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In partnership with VercelAgentic triage for tackling technical debt
A practical look at using agents to separate urgent system issues from backlog noise, without removing human judgment.
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Engineering leadership in 2026
Explore what 600+ engineering leaders revealed about how their roles, priorities, and challenges are changing in 2026.
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We doubled engineering productivity at eBay, but couldn’t change culture
Learn how to use stories to improve your influence as a leader.
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Look for the helpers
This is a talk about showing up for each other, in the work we do and in our communities at home.
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Engineering at scale: Why developer experience is your competitive advantage
How reducing developer friction at scale boosts velocity, quality, and retention, and becomes a real competitive edge in the AI era.

