Diary of a CTO

Himanshu Saxena
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Diary of a CTO, formerly known as The Engineering Success Podcast, is a show about the real stories behind technology leadership. Hosted by Himanshu Saxena, the podcast features candid conversations with CTOs, engineering leaders, founders, and technical operators on scaling teams, making hard technical decisions, adopting AI, improving developer productivity, and leading through uncertainty. It is less about polished success stories and more about what actually happens behind the scenes when technology leaders build, break, learn, and grow.

  1. 01/17/2025

    What CEOs Actually Want From Their CTOs | Shailesh Hegde, CEO Hubilo | Diary of a CTO Ep 11

    Shailesh Hegde went from QA engineer to CEO of Hubilo. He knows both sides of the table. In this episode, he breaks down what CEOs expect from CTOs, how to report without losing trust, and where most engineering leaders get alignment wrong. Topics: CEO-CTO alignment, CTO communication, engineering leadership, technical debt, startup scaling. Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO

  2. 12/28/2024

    Why Platform Engineering Is a Cost Strategy, Not Just an Ops Function | Alper | Diary of a CTO S2 Ep 10

    Alper, Head of Platform Engineering at Choco, built his career from freelance game dev to leading infrastructure at a Berlin food-tech startup. In this episode, he breaks down cost capitalisation, what metrics actually matter in platform engineering, and how to improve developer experience without adding complexity. Topics: platform engineering, cost capitalisation, developer experience, infrastructure scaling, engineering metrics. Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO

  3. 12/28/2024

    DORA Metrics Decoded: What Every Engineering Leader Gets Wrong | Nathen Harvey, Google Cloud | Diary of a CTO S2 Ep 9

    Nathen Harvey leads the DORA research program at Google Cloud. In this episode, he cuts through the noise on engineering productivity, explains why rework rate and change failure rate matter more than velocity, and shares how AI is reshaping software delivery performance. Practical and research-backed. Topics: DORA metrics, engineering productivity, DevOps, developer experience, software delivery performance. Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO

  4. 11/12/2024

    Engineering at Scale for Real-Money Gaming: Lessons From Daily Traffic Spikes | Pranabjyoti Bordoloi, Junglee Games | Diary of a CTO Ep 8

    Junglee Games handles traffic spikes every single day that most companies only see on Black Friday. Pranabjyoti Bordoloi, AVP of Engineering, breaks down how they build for speed, quality, and scale simultaneously, what real-money gaming demands from engineering leaders, and why business acumen is now non-negotiable for senior engineers. Topics: gaming engineering, high-traffic systems, real-money gaming, engineering at scale, AI in gaming. Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO

  5. 10/14/2024

    From Shy Student to Engineering Leader: How to Build High-Performing Teams | Daniel Barrow, Valocity | Diary of a CTO S2 Ep 7

    Daniel Barrow went from a quiet university student to leading multiple engineering teams across Australia and New Zealand at Valocity. In this episode, he shares how feedback shaped his leadership style, what it takes to manage managers, and how to keep remote teams engaged and high-performing. Topics: engineering leadership, people-first leadership, remote team management, feedback culture, agile practices. Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO

  6. 10/08/2024

    A Mining Engineer Who Became CTO? Varun Pandey on Scaling Teams 10x and Betting on AI Early | Diary of a CTO S2 Ep 6

    Varun Pandey had no business becoming a CTO. He studied mining engineering. Then he built a citizen journalism platform, scaled FieldAssist's engineering team from a handful to 100+, and led a full microservices overhaul mid-pandemic. In this episode, he shares what actually works when scaling teams fast and why he's all-in on AI and open source. Topics: CTO journey, engineering team scaling, microservices architecture, AI in SaaS, open source technology. Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO

  7. 09/09/2024

    Urgent vs Important: How the Best Engineering Leaders Decide What Gets Done First | Toshita Pandey | Diary of a CTO S2 Ep 5

    Every engineering leader drowns in urgent work. Few protect what's actually important. Toshita Pandey, who has led teams across startups and MNCs, shares how she draws that line, keeps her team focused on high-impact work, and builds a culture that doesn't burn out under pressure. Topics: engineering prioritisation, urgent vs important, engineering management, team culture, tech leadership. Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO

  8. 09/08/2024

    The Secret to Self-Organising Engineering Teams That Actually Deliver | Shalabh Aggarwal, CTO CredFlow | Diary of a CTO S2 Ep 4

    Most engineering teams need constant direction. Shalabh Aggarwal, CTO of CredFlow, has figured out how to build teams that don't. In this episode, he shares how he went from hands-on engineer to CTO, what it actually takes to build autonomous high-performing teams, and how to tie engineering work directly to business outcomes. Topics: self-organising teams, engineering leadership, CTO journey, team autonomy, engineering and business alignment. Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO

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About

Diary of a CTO, formerly known as The Engineering Success Podcast, is a show about the real stories behind technology leadership. Hosted by Himanshu Saxena, the podcast features candid conversations with CTOs, engineering leaders, founders, and technical operators on scaling teams, making hard technical decisions, adopting AI, improving developer productivity, and leading through uncertainty. It is less about polished success stories and more about what actually happens behind the scenes when technology leaders build, break, learn, and grow.

Information

  • Creator
    Himanshu Saxena
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Himanshu Saxena
  • Show Website
    Diary of a CTO