Becoming CTO: Transitioning from technical expert to strategic leader

 ► Is it possible to be a hands-on CTO while driving your company’s business strategy?

As companies scale, the CTO's role becomes more complex. In today’s episode, we’re joined by Dawid Adach, a seasoned CTO who has navigated the tough decision many face: Should a CTO stay hands-on with the tech or step back and focus on business strategy? Dawid will unpack the key moments when CTOs need to redefine their roles to support the company's growth.

► Our guest 🌟

Dawid Adach 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawid-adach/ 

CTO, tech leader, and startup advisor with a passion for scaling companies and solving technical challenges.

► In today’s episode:

• How the CTO role differs between startups and large organizations.
• When CTOs should shift focus from technical work to business strategy.
• The impact of AI on the CTO role and how it’s changing tech leadership.
• Signs it’s time to delegate coding and focus on growth and scalability.
• Common fears CTOs face when stepping away from the technical side.
• Strategies for balancing technical responsibilities with business leadership.
  
  

► Decoding the timeline:

00:00 – From engineer to executive: The CTO's path of transformation

25:54 – The CTO's view: Perspectives on leadership and decision-making

42:35 – CTO 2.0: How the role is evolving in AI age

55:33 – AI impact on leading, learning & programming

01:01:58 - Adapting CTO role to modern challenges

► Materials mentioned: 

• What Got You Here Won't Get You There (Marshall Goldsmith)
• Scaling Up (Verne Harnish)
• Rework (Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson)
• The hard thing about hard things (Ben Horowitz)

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The Dev is in the Details is a podcast where we talk about technology, business and their impacts on the world around us.

Łukasz Łażewski 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukasz-lazewski/
Write to us 👉 podcast@llinformatics.com