Better with Kent

Kent C. Dodds

Solo episodes from Kent C. Dodds on durable skills for people who ship software: judgment, accountability, problem clarity, and what stays valuable as AI takes on more implementation. Kent teaches directly on camera — no guest, one idea at a time. Complements guest interviews on Become a Product Engineer (Chats with Kent). Episode 1 adapts The Last Software Engineer; later episodes cover traps like building the wrong thing faster and skills like making user pain visible. Subscribe for evergreen episodes as the series grows.

Episodes

  1. What Software Engineers Need in 2026

    2 days ago

    What Software Engineers Need in 2026

    Kent maps the durable skills that stay valuable as agents take more implementation: clarity, judgment, empathy, feedback loops, systems thinking, agent fluency, and ownership — with practical homework for each cluster. (00:00) - Intro: Google stat and durable skills (00:20) - Why now (01:08) - Durable skills map (01:25) - Clarity & judgment (03:40) - Wayne Allan: build the right thing first (04:28) - Practice: clarity & judgment (06:01) - User empathy & feedback (07:29) - Practice: empathy & feedback (08:56) - Systems thinking (12:22) - InfoWorld: AI coders need good engineers (18:52) - Agent fluency (20:14) - Practice: agent fluency (21:26) - Ownership (23:03) - Slow down on purpose (27:05) - What to deprioritize (28:04) - Homework Better with Kent — Durable skills for people who ship software. Episode 1 is the map. Agents can implement faster every month; the expensive mistake is building the wrong thing even faster. Kent walks through seven skills that were valuable decades ago and still matter in 2026: problem clarity, domain depth, judgment, empathy, feedback loops, systems thinking (including closing the agent loop), agent fluency, and ownership. Three clusters pair each skill area with concrete practice — stakeholder rooms, wiring daily feedback, building tests and CI so agents can iterate. Kent cites Become an Epic Product Engineer guests (Wayne Allan, Jack Ryan, Aaron Francis, Dillon Mulroy, Swizec Teller, Ruben Casas, and others), reacts to Matt Asay's InfoWorld piece on AI-generated code, and closes with homework you can do this week. Not a tool demo. Not a PM course. Not a framework checklist — just durable skills for people who ship software. Subscribe and comment with topics you want covered. Chats with Kent (Become an Epic Product Engineer) continues with guest interviews; Better with Kent is Kent thinking out loud on camera. Links InfoWorld — AI coders need good software engineers (Matt Asay)The Last Software Engineer (essay)Become an Epic Product Engineer (guest podcast)Better with Kent on kentcdodds.com

    30 min
  2. Introducing Better with Kent

    22 May

    Introducing Better with Kent

    AI is accelerating change for software engineers. Kent introduces Better with Kent — solo episodes on durable skills, judgment, and knowing what to build — plus Chats with Kent guest interviews on Become an Epic Product Engineer. Better with Kent — Durable skills for people who ship software. The landscape is moving fast. Agents can implement more every month, which means the expensive mistake is building the wrong thing even faster. This series is Kent on camera — no guest — on judgment, accountability, problem clarity, and skills that stay valuable as implementation gets cheaper. Also continuing: Become an Epic Product Engineer with guests who blend technical depth and product judgment. Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Comment with topics you want covered — Kent live-streams many recordings. Links Better with Kent on kentcdodds.comBecome an Epic Product Engineer (guest podcast)Kent on YouTube

    5 min

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About

Solo episodes from Kent C. Dodds on durable skills for people who ship software: judgment, accountability, problem clarity, and what stays valuable as AI takes on more implementation. Kent teaches directly on camera — no guest, one idea at a time. Complements guest interviews on Become a Product Engineer (Chats with Kent). Episode 1 adapts The Last Software Engineer; later episodes cover traps like building the wrong thing faster and skills like making user pain visible. Subscribe for evergreen episodes as the series grows.

Information

  • Creator
    Kent C. Dodds
  • Years Active
    2k
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Kent C. Dodds Tech LLC
  • Show Website
    Better with Kent