Scaling software systems: Building speed, structure and sustainability in the AI era

Scaling a software system isn’t just about writing more code – it’s about balancing people, processes, and platforms in ways that can survive rapid growth. In this episode, we talk with Gemma Whitehouse, a seasoned CTO and advisor to VC- and PE-backed startups, about the realities of scaling products and teams when everything is moving fast.

Drawing on two decades in tech, Gemma shares candid lessons from guiding startups through the messy middle of growth: when technical debt starts to bite, when processes creak under pressure, and when culture makes the difference between resilience and collapse. We also explore how AI is reshaping the challenges of scale; speeding up some problems while magnifying others.

If you’re building or leading software in a scaling environment, and wondering how to grow without breaking what already works, this conversation is for you.