Exploring the Intersection of Leadership and Technology with Josh Teitelbaum, Senior Engineering Manager at Zendesk

Welcome back to the Anablock podcast!

In our latest episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Josh Teitelbaum, the Senior Engineering Manager at Zendesk. Josh gave us a fascinating glimpse into his role, overseeing teams that handle the core platform with a focus on deploying CICD, performance, reliability, and scalability. He shared his unique journey from physics to software engineering, culminating in his current leadership role. Throughout our conversation, Josh emphasized the importance of maintaining a balanced emotional demeanor as a leader, skillfully navigating the dual responsibilities of technical and managerial roles.

Our discussion also ventured into the realm of AI in software engineering. Josh shared his experiences with AI tools like ChatGPT and their potential application in coding while acknowledging their current limitations. He shed light on his recruitment strategy, emphasizing the value of curiosity and fearlessness in engineers. A key highlight of our chat was Zendesk's innovative use of AI in customer support, where it's used to augment human agents rather than replace them, enhancing the customer experience.

Get in touch with Josh at Linkedin.

Stay tuned for more insightful conversations here at Anablock!

For those in a rush:

00:08:17 - Software engineering, leadership, and career path.
00:18:00 - Leadership, technical skills, and management for an engineering manager.
00:24:51 - Engineering management, code review, and team productivity.
00:33:50 - Engineering curiosity, AI, and software development.
00:43:10 - AI in software engineering and customer support.