Beyond Coding

Patrick Akil
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  • TECNOLOGÍA
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For software engineers ready to level up. Learn from CTOs, principal engineers, and tech leaders about the skills beyond coding: from technical mastery to product thinking and career growth. Created by Patrick Akil

  1. What Separates Cracked Engineers From Everyone Else Today

    6 MAY

    What Separates Cracked Engineers From Everyone Else Today

    Reddit Reacts is back. I'm taking the most controversial takes on software engineering from Reddit and giving you my unfiltered perspective on what's happening, from juniors leveraging AI tools, to the culling of engineers who refuse to adapt, to whether you should take a gap year after a layoff. In this episode, we cover: How to become technically "cracked" and what really separates great engineersWhy juniors learning with AI have an edge over 20-year veteransThe future of writing code by hand (and why fulfillment is shifting)Vibe coding, security holes, and what happens after 6 monthsThe brutal reality of layoffs, gap years, and AI-driven hiringIf you're an engineer trying to figure out where this industry is going and how to stay competitive, this one is for you. Mentioned in the episode:⁠ADP List⁠ - free mentorship from senior engineers Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:54 - How to Become Technically Cracked in 2026 00:05:35 - Will Juniors Who Only Code with AI Get Stuck? 00:09:26 - Will Senior Engineers Stop Writing Code By Hand? 00:11:11 - I Vibe Coded for 6 Months and It's a Disaster 00:15:04 - Why Leaders Demand Screen Sharing on Incident Calls 00:17:34 - "I Don't Do Anything and Still Get Promoted" 00:20:33 - Have the Best Engineers Stopped Applying? 00:25:39 - The Future of Software Engineering in the AI Era 00:32:15 - Are Most Programmers Actually Bad? 00:34:58 - Should You Take a Gap Year After a Layoff? #softwareengineering #aicoding #techcareers

    39 min
  2. AI Engineering Fundamentals You Need to Know To Succeed As Software Engineer (Microsoft Trainer)

    29 ABR

    AI Engineering Fundamentals You Need to Know To Succeed As Software Engineer (Microsoft Trainer)

    Most engineers are using AI coding tools without understanding what they actually are and it's costing them. Microsoft Certified Trainer Rob Bos has trained thousands of engineers on AI tooling, and he sees the same gaps in fundamentals show up again and again, regardless of seniority. This is what you need to know: What an LLM actually is (and why understanding this changes how you use it)Why prompt engineering isn't optionalHow AI magnifies your existing technical debt instead of fixing itThe 6-month learning curve nobody warns you aboutWhy your role as an engineer was never about writing codeThe environmental cost behind every promptWhether you're skeptical of AI tools or already living in agent mode, these are the fundamentals that separate engineers who get real value from those who get burned by the hype. Connect with Rob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bosrob References:Token tracker: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=RobBos.copilot-token-tracker Dev survey: https://www.activestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ActiveState-Developer-Survey-2019-Open-Source-Runtime-Pains.pdf Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:43 - The #1 Thing Engineers Get Wrong About AI 00:02:09 - How Much LLM Theory Do You Actually Need? 00:03:58 - Why Pair Programming Is Still the Best Way to Learn AI 00:05:26 - Why Rob Skips Tab Completion and Lives in Agent Mode 00:07:03 - The "AI Doesn't Increase Productivity" Debate 00:08:29 - Why Your Real Job Was Never Writing Code 00:09:14 - The 2-Hours-of-Coding Problem No One Talks About 00:11:02 - More Code = More Pressure on Your Review Process 00:12:21 - Why AI Magnifies Existing Technical Debt 00:13:39 - The Customer Who Couldn't Start AI With Developers Yet 00:15:11 - The Future Engineer: Reviewer, Not Writer 00:17:00 - Convincing the AI Skeptic Who Tried It Years Ago 00:19:17 - LLMs Explained Without Visuals (Attention & Semantics) 00:22:41 - Why Prompt Engineering Actually Matters 00:24:20 - From Zero to Hero: The 6-Month Learning Curve 00:26:18 - Is This Confrontational for 20-Year Veterans? 00:29:30 - Becoming a Better Engineer by Thinking in Systems 00:31:26 - Will AI Stop Working as Innovation Slows? 00:34:26 - The Lost Art of Pair Programming with AI 00:35:44 - Tribalism in AI Tools (And Why It's Pointless) 00:37:33 - Tool Agnostic: Start With the Foundations 00:39:40 - Is the IDE Still Relevant? 00:40:50 - The Bluescreen Story That Changed His Mind 00:41:47 - The Hidden Environmental Cost of AI Coding 00:44:15 - 36 Million Tokens in 30 Days: What Does It Mean? 00:45:47 - Running LLMs at the Edge to Cut the Footprint 00:46:48 - Why You Should Be Allowed to Wait Five Minutes Longer 00:47:05 - Outro #githubcopilot #aicoding #softwareengineering

    47 min
  3. How to Master Your Skills and Get Hired Without Applying (Terraform Core Contributor)

    22 ABR

    How to Master Your Skills and Get Hired Without Applying (Terraform Core Contributor)

    Most engineers approach open source the wrong way. They write code, open a PR, and wonder why it never gets merged. Bruno Schaatsbergen, Terraform core contributor and ex-HashiCorp engineer, breaks down the real craft behind contributions that actually land, and why AI is quietly breaking the ecosystem we all depend on. In this episode, we cover: Why pull requests get ignored (and the counterintuitive fix)How AI slop is killing open source from the insideUsing AI agents without losing your identity as an engineerWhy open source beats a tailored resume in today's marketHow consistent contributions can reshape your entire career If you've ever wanted to contribute to open source but didn't know where to start, this episode gives you a clear perspective from someone who's been on both sides. Connect with Bruno: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bschaatsbergen OUTILNE 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:04 - How Open Source Shaped My Entire Career 00:02:14 - Why I Take Pride in Every PR I Write 00:03:16 - Open Source vs Personal Projects: The Real Difference 00:04:18 - Why Your PRs Get Ignored (And How to Fix It) 00:05:41 - Know Your Audience: The Counterintuitive PR Hack 00:06:35 - Dealing With Imposter Syndrome as a Contributor 00:07:10 - Read Code Like a Writer Reads Books 00:09:31 - My First Contribution (And How It Changed My Career) 00:10:51 - Should You Contribute to Open Source Early in Your Career? 00:12:46 - The Dark Side: When Contributions Become Noise 00:13:44 - Killed With Kindness: The AI Slop Problem 00:16:17 - How Maintainers Are Fighting AI Slop 00:18:02 - How I Actually Use AI Agents in My Workflow 00:19:11 - Don't Outsource Your Thinking to AI 00:20:11 - Who's Liable for AI-Generated Code? 00:21:16 - Earned Rights: Why Trust Matters in Open Source 00:22:52 - How to Approach People at Tech Conferences 00:24:52 - Open Source Is Not a Democracy 00:26:04 - Why Open Source Beats a Tailored Resume 00:27:12 - Never Contribute With the Goal of Getting Hired 00:28:38 - The Real Reason Consistency Pays Off 00:29:30 - Admitting I'm a University Dropout 00:30:42 - Why I Haven't Contributed in Weeks (And That's Okay) 00:32:07 - The Trap of Chasing Contributor Rankings 00:34:32 - Open Source Lets You Work With Anyone in the World 00:35:52 - Final Advice: Don't Let AI Steal Your Identity

    38 min
  4. Software Expert: This Is How You Design Systems That Survive

    15 ABR

    Software Expert: This Is How You Design Systems That Survive

    What separates software that survives from software nobody wants to touch? Nico Krijnen has spent 30 years building systems, coaching teams, and learning why some projects thrive while others quietly become the legacy code everyone avoids. In this episode, he shares why the real work starts after you ship, what actually turns a system into legacy, and why the knowledge in your team's heads matters more than the code itself. In this episode, we cover: Why production is where the real learning beginsThe team composition that consistently delivers resultsPeter Naur's Theory Building and why documentation alone falls shortHow knowledge leaving your team turns working systems into legacyWhy assuming you're wrong leads to better architectureWhether you're a senior engineer rethinking how you build or earlier in your career trying to understand what really matters, this episode will change how you think about software that lasts. Connect with Nico: https://realworldarchitect.dev TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:17 - Why He Keeps Choosing Engineering Over Management 00:04:01 - Three Seniors Solved in Three Weeks What Management Couldn't 00:05:14 - The Signals You Miss When You're Not in the Team 00:06:26 - The #1 Skill Behind Every Successful Project 00:08:04 - Why Production Is the Starting Line, Not the Finish 00:10:13 - The Habit Most Teams Skip After Deploying 00:11:28 - Why the Best Teams Mix Designers and Engineers 00:14:36 - Finding the Right People for the Job at Hand 00:17:01 - What Juniors Bring That Seniors Can't 00:20:57 - How to Handle Ideas You Disagree With as a Senior 00:24:21 - A Simple Technique to Surface Everyone's Best Ideas 00:27:09 - What Makes a System Survive Long-Term 00:30:53 - What Actually Makes a System "Legacy" 00:35:01 - The Knowledge That Keeps Software Alive 00:36:06 - Peter Naur's Theory Building: Why Documentation Isn't Enough 00:40:06 - How Knowledge Loss Is Killing Your Codebase 00:42:42 - The Hidden Risk of AI Tools for Team Knowledge 00:48:14 - Why You Should Assume Everything You Build Is Wrong 00:51:31 - Make Hard Things Easy to Change #SoftwareEngineering #SystemDesign #TechPodcast

    54 min
  5. Top Microsoft Advisor: "Coding Is Cheap, Software Is Expensive." You're Focused on the Wrong Thing

    8 ABR

    Top Microsoft Advisor: "Coding Is Cheap, Software Is Expensive." You're Focused on the Wrong Thing

    Suzanne Daniels is a Top Microsoft Advisor who works with CTOs and engineering leaders across EMEA on developer productivity, GitHub, and AI adoption. Her take: the industry is obsessing over coding speed, but that was only ever level one. The real shift is in who defines the solution, not who writes the code. In this episode, we cover: Why the "55x faster coding" marketing misses the point entirelyThe counterintuitive research showing junior engineers adopt AI faster than seniors"Coding is cheap, software is expensive" and what that means for your careerHow the boundary between product and engineering is disappearingWhy most AI coding tools are 80% the same and what to focus on instead Whether you're early in career and struggling to land a role, or a senior engineer rethinking where your value lies, Suzanne breaks down what actually matters when the coding part becomes cheap. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:15 - Is AI Productivity the Whole Story? 00:03:26 - Why Outcomes Matter More Than Code Output 00:04:13 - The Real Value Was Never in the Coding 00:06:06 - The Product-Engineering Boundary Is Disappearing 00:07:37 - Why Junior Engineers Are Actually in High Demand 00:09:41 - Research Says Juniors Adopt AI Faster Than Seniors 00:11:31 - The Rise of Comb-Shaped Engineers 00:12:32 - The Energy Juniors Bring That Teams Need 00:14:06 - How Seniors Codify Knowledge for Agents and Humans 00:16:35 - Advice for Early Career Engineers Right Now 00:19:04 - Old Principles Getting a New Polish 00:21:13 - Coding Is Cheap, Software Is Expensive 00:22:52 - Will Agentic Development Change Your Programming Language? 00:24:53 - What Even Is an Application in the Agent Era? 00:28:34 - The Authenticity Paradox of AI-Written Content 00:30:12 - Why Your AI Output Needs a Human Value Add 00:32:12 - Is Open Source at Risk Because of AI? 00:35:09 - When Your Favorite Tool Doesn't Follow You to the Next Job 00:36:45 - Most AI Coding Tools Are 80% the Same 00:38:15 - What Engineering Leaders Should Enable Beyond Licensing 00:42:58 - Should You Leave If Your Company Won't Let You Experiment? 00:45:16 - Platform Engineering as the Foundation for AI Adoption Guest: Suzanne Danielshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/suzannedaniels #SoftwareEngineering #AICoding #BeyondCoding

    46 min
  6. AI Expert: Most Software Engineers Aren't Ready for What's Coming

    1 ABR

    AI Expert: Most Software Engineers Aren't Ready for What's Coming

    The role of the software engineer is shifting from execution to orchestration, and it's happening faster than most of us realize. Dennis Vink, Principal Consultant at Xebia, breaks down how he approaches code modernization with AI, why fundamentals and system design matter more now than ever, and what the engineering role is actually becoming. In this episode, we cover: Why you need to mature your old codebase before you can migrate away from itHow to prove feature parity between legacy and modern systemsWhy vibe coding without architecture knowledge gives you zero controlThe shift from execution-focused engineering to orchestrationWhy Dennis worries about the next generation of engineersWhether you're sitting on legacy code at work or wondering how your role as an engineer is evolving, this conversation will make you think about where you need to invest your time next. Timestamps:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:51 - Dennis's Early AI Engineering Assignments00:02:23 - Side Projects: Reviving a 20-Year-Old Game in Rust00:04:36 - Why Vibe Coding Without Fundamentals Fails00:05:15 - The Fundamentals You Need for Code Migration00:06:45 - Proving Feature Parity with Automated Testing00:08:12 - Writing Tests First as Risk Mitigation00:10:13 - How Much Should You Care About Code Structure?00:11:18 - Migrating in Small Pieces of Value00:12:26 - Will Engineers Still Find Fulfillment in Building?00:14:01 - How to Actually Start Side Projects (ADHD Brain)00:15:34 - Why Pivoting Is No Longer Painful00:16:12 - Prompting as the New Bottleneck00:17:23 - Parallelizing Work Across Projects00:19:08 - Why System Design Is the #1 Audience Demand00:20:19 - AI as a Differentiator for Strong Architects00:21:11 - Why the New Generation Should Worry00:23:01 - Are Bootcamps Still Worth It?00:25:15 - The Shift from Collaboration to Business Understanding00:27:56 - Infrastructure as a Core Competency Bet00:30:15 - Deterministic vs Non-Deterministic Code Generation00:32:16 - Can This Approach Scale to Million-Line Codebases?00:34:20 - Why a Finger-Snap Migration Would Scare You00:37:01 - Where to Start with Your Own Legacy Codebase00:38:43 - Which Languages Do AI Models Struggle With?00:40:24 - Building Around Hallucination with Scaffolding00:42:30 - Spec-Driven Development as the Future Way of Working00:43:30 - Turning a Non-Technical Colleague into a "Developer" in an Hour00:46:21 - When the House Is on Fire, That's When You Need Real Engineers Projects we discussed:Agent designer - hurozo.com Game project - Zorlore.com (https://github.com/zorlore/)Vibe coded solar system simulation - spacehaste.com #SoftwareEngineering #SystemDesign #AIEngineering

    48 min
  7. If You've Been At The Same Company 3+ Years, You're Already In A Box

    25 MAR

    If You've Been At The Same Company 3+ Years, You're Already In A Box

    Most senior engineers don't realize they're stuck until it's too late. The longer you stay, the more people around you have already decided who you are and what you're for. Ian Miell, CTO at Container Solutions, breaks down why this happens and how understanding the system around you is the first step to growing beyond it. In this episode, we cover: Why staying too long gets you put in a box (and how to escape it)How your software architecture is shaped by money flowsThe 30% rule: why you should feel uncomfortable at work and what it means if you don'tHow to pitch to senior leadership and actually get buy-inWhy AI makes distribution the real challenge, not buildingIf you're a senior engineer trying to grow beyond your current ceiling, this one is worth your time. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:42 - How to Pitch to Senior Leadership and Get Buy-In 00:03:26 - Why You Should Feel Uncomfortable 30% of the Time 00:06:33 - How to Break Through a Seniority Ceiling 00:08:24 - The Burden of Context: Why Being the Go-To Person Traps You 00:10:16 - How Ian Became CTO Without Trying To 00:13:40 - Why a CTO's Job Is Mostly Coaching Now 00:18:20 - Understanding Incentives: The Key to Navigating Any Org 00:23:08 - Startups vs. Large Companies: Completely Different Rules 00:25:00 - Why AI Makes Distribution the Real Problem, Not Building 00:28:16 - The Hidden Maintenance Risk of Vibe-Coded Software 00:30:13 - Security and Compliance: More Nuanced Than Engineers Think 00:36:54 - Where "Architecture Follows the Money" Came From 00:42:36 - The Wrong Number of Customers: A Systems Thinking Story 00:47:23 - Why Engineers Think Individually Instead of Systemically 00:51:53 - How to Start Thinking in Systems 00:57:50 - How to Create Cross-Pollination in Consulting Teams 00:59:39 - What CTOs Actually Look for When Hiring 01:00:34 - Outro #softwareengineering #systemsthinking #careergrowth

    1 h 1 min
  8. How to Battle Complexity Before It Kills Your Software (30-Year Veteran's Take)

    18 MAR

    How to Battle Complexity Before It Kills Your Software (30-Year Veteran's Take)

    Most architects stop coding... and that's exactly where they lose their edge. Dennis Doomen has been a hands-on coding architect for 30 years, and his take is blunt: if you're not in the code, you can't make good architectural decisions. Period. In this episode, we get into the real causes of codebase rot, why dogmatic pattern-following destroys teams, how Dennis uses AI tools to build open source projects without compromising his standards, and why documentation and decision records might be the most underrated investment a software team can make. This one is for software engineers and architects who want to stay sharp, stay relevant, and build systems that actually last. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:05 - Why Dennis Refuses to Stop Coding (After 30 Years) 00:02:54 - The Only Way to Be an Effective Software Architect 00:04:43 - What Happens When Teams Copy Patterns Without Understanding Them 00:06:23 - Software Engineering Is About Battling Complexity 00:08:20 - When to Break Consistency to Reduce Complexity 00:09:24 - The Problem with Overzealous SOLID Principles 00:11:06 - The Future Where We Don't Care About Code Anymore 00:12:07 - How Dennis Built an Open Source Library with GitHub Copilot 00:14:18 - Accepting AI-Generated Code That Doesn't Meet Your Standards 00:16:39 - How to Use AI Without Losing Code Quality 00:17:41 - The Execution Is Accelerating — What Actually Matters Now 00:20:19 - Why Tests Are Your Safety Net in an AI-First World 00:23:44 - Lessons Learned from Letting AI Run Unsupervised 00:26:46 - Should Teams Standardize Which AI Tool They Use? 00:27:32 - Junior Devs and AI: Learning Skills vs. Speed 00:29:21 - How to Stay Curious and Critical in an AI-Assisted Team 00:33:43 - How to Build a Software Engineer from Scratch Today 00:34:38 - Dennis's Emoji-Based Pull Request Review System 00:36:45 - What AI Still Can't Do: Holistic Architectural Thinking 00:38:38 - Why Your Git History Is More Valuable Than You Think 00:40:44 - Decision Records: The Architecture Investment That Pays Off 00:43:16 - When Documentation Saved Dennis from a Bad Management Decision 00:44:47 - The Tailwind Layoffs and the Open Source Business Model Crisis 00:46:27 - Guidelines for Consuming Open Source Responsibly 00:49:51 - Why You Should Open Source Your Own Projects Guest: Dennis Doomen - Microsoft MVP, open source creator (FluentAssertions and more), and coding architect at Aviva Solutions. #softwaredevelopment #softwarearchitecture #softwareengineering

    52 min
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Información

For software engineers ready to level up. Learn from CTOs, principal engineers, and tech leaders about the skills beyond coding: from technical mastery to product thinking and career growth. Created by Patrick Akil

Ficha técnica

  • Creado por
    Patrick Akil
  • Años en activo
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodios
    250
  • Clasificación
    Apto
  • Derechos de autor
    © Patrick Akil
  • Sitio web del podcast
    Beyond Coding

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