Overcommitted | Software Engineering and Programming Insights

overcommitted.dev | Women in Tech and Tech Mentorship

Join Overcommitted for insightful conversations with women in tech, software engineers, and programming experts focused on advancing software engineering careers. Explore topics such as software ethics, system reliability, infrastructure resilience, programming best practices, and agentic AI development. Our hosts share career insights and tech mentorship to boost developer productivity and code quality for passionate programmers and software engineers alike.

  1. Why AI Coding Agents Keep Guessing | Context Gap & Code Intelligence with Dennis Pilarinos

    5d ago

    Why AI Coding Agents Keep Guessing | Context Gap & Code Intelligence with Dennis Pilarinos

    Summary Dennis Pilarinos has spent nearly two decades building developer tools at Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Buddybuild (acquired by Apple). Now CEO of Unblocked, he's tackling the critical problem holding back agentic AI development: context intelligence. Why do AI coding agents keep guessing? Because they lack the organizational and business context behind the code. In this episode, the Overcommitted hosts dig into how developers and AI agents can truly understand the "why" behind codebases, not just the "what"—and why this matters for code quality, productivity, and shipping reliable tools. Links Dennis' email: dennis@getunblocked.comUnblocked: https://dub.sh/IeI82Vx Dennis on X: https://x.com/dennispilarinosDennis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennispi/ Hosts Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.devBethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.comErika Eggemeyer: https://github.com/eggyhead

    41 min
  2. Agentic AI Development | Shipping Real Tools with Sterling Chin

    Jun 2

    Agentic AI Development | Shipping Real Tools with Sterling Chin

    Summary What does it actually look like to hand 90% of your workday over to an AI agent you built yourself? Sterling Chin, founding DevRel at Inngest and creator of Marvin, an open-source AI chief of staff with nearly 1,000 GitHub stars, has been doing exactly that for months. In this episode, Sterling joins Brittany to talk through how Marvin works, why he built it, and what he's learned about the real friction points in AI adoption that most people don't talk about. Sterling came into tech through a coding bootcamp after studying elementary education at BYU, landed at Postman where he led the R&D labs team, went viral on LinkedIn for posts about their AI assistant PostBot, and accidentally became a DevRel engineer because of it. Now at Inngest, he's the founding DevRel hire, and still building in public constantly. Links Sterling's Website: https://sterlingchin.com/Sterling's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sterlingchin/ Sterling on GitHub: https://github.com/SterlingChinSterling on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sterlingchin.bsky.socialSterling on Twitter: https://x.com/SilverJaw82Marvin: https://github.com/SterlingChin/marvin-templateSterling on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SterlingChinSterling on Substack: https://sterlingchin.substack.com/Web Dev Challenge Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2sEoZG8EIw&list=PLz8Iz-Fnk_eTkZvSNWXW_TKZ2UwVirT2M&index=17Inngest: https://www.inngest.com/AI Crimes in Production: https://ai-crimes-in-production.com/ Hosts Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.devBrittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com

    41 min
  3. AI Code Quality: The New Software Engineering Bottleneck

    May 26

    AI Code Quality: The New Software Engineering Bottleneck

    AI is generating more code than ever, but most engineers aren't verifying it. Sonar Staff AI Researcher Joe Tyler shares breakthrough findings from his LLM Leaderboard research on code quality, the hidden "coding personalities" of different models, and why the real bottleneck in software engineering isn't writing code: it's securing and reviewing it. Discover the gap between developer distrust and actual verification practices, plus how to position yourself for the verification-first future of software development. Topics: AI code quality, LLM research, software engineering careers, code verification, developer tools Show links: Sonar LLM Leaderboard: https://www.sonarsource.com/the-coding-personalities-of-leading-llms/leaderboard/Sonarqube: https://www.sonarsource.com/products/sonarqubeSonarsweep: https://www.sonarsource.com/products/sonarsweep/Joe's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-tyler-a668051b1/Latent Space: https://www.latent.space/Turing Post: https://www.turingpost.com/Nathan Lambert: https://substack.com/@natolambert Cameron Wolfe: https://substack.com/@cwolferesearchSebastian Raschka: https://substack.com/@rasbtAndrew Ng: https://www.andrewng.org/

    40 min
  4. Design Engineering, Interviews & Job Search | Career Growth with Adam Argyle

    May 19

    Design Engineering, Interviews & Job Search | Career Growth with Adam Argyle

    Summary Software engineering career moves don't have to be a lottery. In this episode, Adam Argyle breaks down why the technical interview process is fundamentally broken, how design engineering skills actually transfer across roles, and the tactical job search playbook that works today. Whether you're navigating a career pivot, re-entering the market, or just frustrated with the hiring gauntlet, this conversation cuts through the noise on what really matters for career growth and staying sane. Links Adam’s Website: https://nerdy.dev/ Adam’s CascadiaJS 2025 talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW6GECIzvsw 10 powerful ways to use CSS variables article: https://nerdy.dev/custom-prop-categories Sizzle Rizzle: https://nerdy.dev/sizzle-rizzle Hosts Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.dev Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.comErika Eggemeyer: https://github.com/eggyhead

    47 min
  5. Building the Decentralized Social Web: From Collective Social to OpenSocial

    May 12

    Building the Decentralized Social Web: From Collective Social to OpenSocial

    Brittany shares her journey building Collective Social - a Goodreads-style app for all kinds of media built entirely on the AT Protocol - and how it led her to create OpenSocial, a service that lets any app on the decentralized web share group functionality like book clubs. The episode covers the challenges of representing groups when the protocol has no native concept of group identity, using conference talk deadlines as motivation to ship side projects, and rating real-world systems on how well they'd work in a decentralized context. Erika also shares her experience building an interpreter in Go. Show links: Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.comCollective Social: https://collectivesocial.appOpenSocial: https://opensocial.communityCollective Social on GitHub: https://github.com/collectivesocial"Representing groups in ATProto" blog post (Brittany's site)AtmosphereConf speaker profile: https://news.atmosphereconf.org/3mfpjx5luuc2mGitHub Blog - Build a Personal Organization Command Center with GitHub Copilot CLI: https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/build-a-personal-organization-command-center-with-github-copilot-cli/"The art of saying yes" blog post: https://brittanyellich.com/say-yes-do-all-the-things/"Living in the inflection point" blog post: https://brittanyellich.com/living-in-the-inflection-point/Nick Gerakines episode (EP19 - AT Proto, MCP, and Open Source): https://overcommitted.dev/ep-19-at-proto-mcp-and-open-source-with-nick-gerakinesPDX ATProto talk: https://youtu.be/xFdak3HbDmM?si=rZoPfyYYoP2awADJ&t=2302AtmosphereConf talk: https://youtu.be/GVOywon3X-Q?si=yzKLfFNF8bzNT9-eThe ATProto Store: https://atstore.fyipdsls.dev: https://pdsls.devAtmosphere Community: https://atmosphere.communitynpmx.dev: https://npmx.devTangled: https://tangled.ioThis is for Everyone by Tim Berners-Lee: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222376492-this-is-for-everyone Topics: AT Protocol, Decentralized Social Media, Side Projects, Open Source, Software Engineering

    39 min
  6. There are no shortcuts | Craft & career growth with Salma Alam-Naylor

    May 5

    There are no shortcuts | Craft & career growth with Salma Alam-Naylor

    Summary In this episode, Erika talks with Salma Alam-Naylor about software engineering craft, programming best practices, and why the long game beats shortcuts. As AI coding tools proliferate and everyone chases speed, Salma digs into deliberate practice, sustainable career strategies, and building genuine expertise that compounds over time. Perfect for engineers feeling burnout from the hype cycle. Links Salma’s website: https://whitep4nth3r.com/ 2021 Jamstack Jammies (Community Creator Award) https://2021.jamstackconf.com/jammies/ Fat bear week website: https://explore.org/fat-bear-week Hell.com wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell.com Hosts Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.devErika (Eggyhead): https://github.com/eggyhead

    47 min
  7. Build Real Tools, Skip LeetCode: Systems Programming for Career Growth with John Crickett

    Apr 28

    Build Real Tools, Skip LeetCode: Systems Programming for Career Growth with John Crickett

    Tech careers don't need to mean grinding LeetCode. In episode 57, John Crickett — 30+ year engineer, Coding Challenges creator (90K+ subscribers) — makes the case that programmer productivity skyrockets when you build real tools instead. We dig into why your own Redis, Git, or shell beats practice problems, how Coding Challenges went from $17 domain to viral sensation (1,500 signups in one weekend), and what it means to level up through systems programming. Links Coding Challenges (Newsletter): https://codingchallenges.substack.com/Coding Challenges Website: https://codingchallenges.fyiFrom The Challenges - Git: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/p/from-the-challenges-gitWill AI Kill Coding?: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/p/will-ai-kill-codingUsing AI To Solve A Coding Challenge: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/p/using-ai-to-solve-a-coding-challengeTech Lead Journal #178 — John Crickett: https://techleadjournal.dev/episodes/178/Confessions of a Data Guy — What Makes Great Engineers: https://www.confessionsofadataguy.com/decades-in-software-engineering-what-actually-makes-great-engineers-john-crickett/Coding Chats Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/59GU7gzyK2RdIDVkhNS2ntJohn Crickett on GitHub: https://github.com/johncrickettJohn Crickett on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/johncrickettJohn Crickett on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johncrickett.bsky.socialJohn Crickett on X: https://x.com/johncrickett Hosts Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.devBethany: https://trustyduck.devBrittany Ellich: ⁠https://brittanyellich.com ⁠Erika: ⁠https://github.com/eggyhead

    43 min
  8. Run Toward Something - Career Growth, Mentorship & Work-Life Balance with Dave Schwantes

    Apr 21

    Run Toward Something - Career Growth, Mentorship & Work-Life Balance with Dave Schwantes

    Summary Career growth through mentorship and work-life balance with Dave Schwantes, Senior Software Engineer at GitHub. Brittany and Dave explore why running toward meaningful work beats running from burnout, how mentorship became his primary form of engineering leverage, and what career happiness actually looks like across different life stages. From Instacart and Couchsurfing to building in-house bootcamps, Dave shares how sustainable engineering culture beats individual productivity hacks—and his take on how AI tools reshape what engineers really need to master. Links Dave's personal site: https://dinosaurseateverybody.comDon't Break Prod (bite-sized career advice): https://dontbreakprod.comGrave Danger (Dave's spooky ska band) on Bandcamp: https://gravedangerskath.bandcamp.comDave on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dorkrawk.bsky.socialDave on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidschwantesDave on GitHub: https://github.com/dorkrawkWeb Dev Challenge Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2sEoZG8EIwThe Engineer Manager Pendulum article: https://charity.wtf/2017/05/11/the-engineer-manager-pendulum/ Host Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.devBrittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com

    39 min
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Join Overcommitted for insightful conversations with women in tech, software engineers, and programming experts focused on advancing software engineering careers. Explore topics such as software ethics, system reliability, infrastructure resilience, programming best practices, and agentic AI development. Our hosts share career insights and tech mentorship to boost developer productivity and code quality for passionate programmers and software engineers alike.

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