https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/diary-of-a-cto--7095855enTechnologyCopyright Himanshu Saxenahttps://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/ea783770f0064c06b903209348e3fadc.jpghttps://www.spreaker.com/podcast/diary-of-a-cto--7095855Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:02:45 +0000Himanshu SaxenaHimanshu Saxenahimanshu@firstprinciples.todayDiary 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...falseeda1e302-938a-5f1c-acde-a382cb7b90e5episodichttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-ceos-actually-want-from-their-ctos-shailesh-hegde-ceo-hubilo-diary-of-a-cto-ep-11--72453187
Topics: CEO-CTO alignment, CTO communication, engineering leadership, technical debt, startup scaling.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>ebd108e1-449a-41c0-9ba7-1c1d594f8100Fri, 17 Jan 2025 10:08:00 +0000Himanshu SaxenaShailesh 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:...
Topics: CEO-CTO alignment, CTO communication, engineering leadership, technical debt, startup scaling.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>3121·,a,alignment,ceo,communication,cto,debt,diary,engineering,hegde,leadership,mindset,of,podcast,product,scaling,shailesh,startup,tech,technicalfalse211fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/why-platform-engineering-is-a-cost-strategy-not-just-an-ops-function-alper-diary-of-a-cto-s2-ep-10--72453192
Topics: platform engineering, cost capitalisation, developer experience, infrastructure scaling, engineering metrics.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>cf37380b-bf59-4a51-b0f5-7059b84c8637Sat, 28 Dec 2024 01:57:42 +0000Himanshu SaxenaAlper, 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,...
Topics: platform engineering, cost capitalisation, developer experience, infrastructure scaling, engineering metrics.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>1799·,a,alper,capitalisation,cost,cto,developer,diary,engineering,experience,food,infrastructure,leadership,metrics,of,platform,podcast,scaling,startup,techfalse210fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/dora-metrics-decoded-what-every-engineering-leader-gets-wrong-nathen-harvey-google-cloud-diary-of-a-cto-s2-ep-9--72453190
Topics: DORA metrics, engineering productivity, DevOps, developer experience, software delivery performance.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>612650e5-c550-4f5b-9733-afbc8b0d1595Sat, 28 Dec 2024 01:56:53 +0000Himanshu SaxenaNathen 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...
Topics: DORA metrics, engineering productivity, DevOps, developer experience, software delivery performance.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>3079·,2024,change,cloud,delivery,developer,devops,dora,engineering,experience,failure,google,harvey,leadership,metrics,nathen,performance,productivity,rate,softwarefalse29fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/engineering-at-scale-for-real-money-gaming-lessons-from-daily-traffic-spikes-pranabjyoti-bordoloi-junglee-games-diary-of-a-cto-ep-8--72453194
Topics: gaming engineering, high-traffic systems, real-money gaming, engineering at scale, AI in gaming.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>da71295d-35e3-43a3-8ad5-90de12aebbcdTue, 12 Nov 2024 12:46:19 +0000Himanshu SaxenaJunglee 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...
Topics: gaming engineering, high-traffic systems, real-money gaming, engineering at scale, AI in gaming.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>2811·,ai,at,diary,engineering,games,gaming,high,in,ipl,junglee,leadership,money,of,podcast,real,scale,systems,tech,trafficfalse28fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-shy-student-to-engineering-leader-how-to-build-high-performing-teams-daniel-barrow-valocity-diary-of-a-cto-s2-ep-7--72453201
Topics: engineering leadership, people-first leadership, remote team management, feedback culture, agile practices.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>b7be5247-faf6-4634-952f-08762467fa9fMon, 14 Oct 2024 06:10:19 +0000Himanshu SaxenaDaniel 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...
Topics: engineering leadership, people-first leadership, remote team management, feedback culture, agile practices.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>3849·,agile,culture,diary,engineering,feedback,high,leadership,management,managers,managing,of,people-first,performing,podcast,remote,team,teams,tech,valocityfalse27fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-mining-engineer-who-became-cto-varun-pandey-on-scaling-teams-10x-and-betting-on-ai-early-diary-of-a-cto-s2-ep-6--72453191
Topics: CTO journey, engineering team scaling, microservices architecture, AI in SaaS, open source technology.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>93437152-5c66-4a9c-b3c9-5d8074baa05aTue, 08 Oct 2024 07:47:18 +0000Himanshu SaxenaVarun 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,...
Topics: CTO journey, engineering team scaling, microservices architecture, AI in SaaS, open source technology.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>3435false26fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/urgent-vs-important-how-the-best-engineering-leaders-decide-what-gets-done-first-toshita-pandey-diary-of-a-cto-s2-ep-5--72453189
Topics: engineering prioritisation, urgent vs important, engineering management, team culture, tech leadership.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>4701f08c-0520-4591-abad-83f48ab55b2dMon, 09 Sep 2024 04:41:23 +0000Himanshu SaxenaEvery 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...
Topics: engineering prioritisation, urgent vs important, engineering management, team culture, tech leadership.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>2383·,aspiring,cto,culture,engineering,important,leadership,management,manager,mnc,pandey,prioritisation,startup,team,tech,tips,to,toshita,urgent,vsfalse25fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-secret-to-self-organising-engineering-teams-that-actually-deliver-shalabh-aggarwal-cto-credflow-diary-of-a-cto-s2-ep-4--72453198
Topics: self-organising teams, engineering leadership, CTO journey, team autonomy, engineering and business alignment.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>8e347745-29ee-46f1-9da3-44cbe18ef03bSun, 08 Sep 2024 13:51:48 +0000Himanshu SaxenaMost 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...
Topics: self-organising teams, engineering leadership, CTO journey, team autonomy, engineering and business alignment.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>2331·,aggarwal,alignment,and,autonomy,business,credflow,cto,engineering,high,journey,leadership,organising,performing,podcast,self,shalabh,team,teams,techfalse24fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/20-years-of-engineering-leadership-distilled-cost-capitalisation-team-growth-and-scaling-startups-dhanush-hetti-diary-of-a-cto-s2-ep-3--72453199
Topics: cost capitalisation, engineering flow metrics, startup scaling, engineering team growth, AI in engineering leadership.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>0a1a429d-4246-414f-8986-f94bd9b51349Fri, 09 Aug 2024 06:29:56 +0000Himanshu SaxenaDhanush Hetti has spent over two decades leading engineering teams across the U.S. and Southeast Asia. In this episode, he breaks down cost capitalisation, why engineering flow metrics matter more than most leaders realise, and what it actually takes...
Topics: cost capitalisation, engineering flow metrics, startup scaling, engineering team growth, AI in engineering leadership.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>2786·,ai,asia,capitalisation,cost,cto,dhanush,engineering,flow,growth,hetti,in,insights,leadership,metrics,scaling,southeast,startup,team,techfalse23fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/do-more-with-less-how-to-boost-engineering-team-productivity-without-hiring-shira-haddad-diary-of-a-cto-s2-ep-2--72453193
Topics: engineering productivity, distributed teams, team management, do more with less, engineering leadership.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>15e90133-77ac-4344-8392-6f0240fea7d5Mon, 29 Jul 2024 11:40:48 +0000Himanshu SaxenaHeadcount isn't the answer. Shira Haddad went from QA to engineering leadership across health tech and maritime shipping, and she's mastered keeping distributed teams productive without growing the team. In this episode, she shares how small...
Topics: engineering productivity, distributed teams, team management, do more with less, engineering leadership.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>1384false22fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/why-fast-engineering-teams-aren-t-always-productive-teams-nathan-dench-procurepro-diary-of-a-cto-s2-ep1--72453205
Topics: engineering productivity, startup engineering, small team management, resource allocation, construction tech.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>5347e79f-91c8-4869-9355-deeb726e776bMon, 22 Jul 2024 11:44:37 +0000Himanshu SaxenaSpeed is not productivity. Nathan Dench has founded multiple startups and now leads engineering at ProcurePro in construction tech. In this episode, he breaks down how to build long-term engineering productivity with small teams, limited resources,...
Topics: engineering productivity, startup engineering, small team management, resource allocation, construction tech.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>1737false21fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/how-to-build-trust-in-engineering-teams-without-losing-your-technical-edge-sundi-myint-cars-commerce-diary-of-a-cto-s1-ep-10--72453197
Topics: engineering management, building trust in teams, remote team culture, developer to manager transition, engineering leadership.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>5723d219-6bd0-4f2e-b393-56d499bd0acdWed, 26 Jun 2024 07:15:06 +0000Himanshu SaxenaSundi Myint went from writing Elixir to managing the people who write it. In this episode, she shares how engineering managers can stay connected to their technical roots, build real trust in remote teams, and create a culture where engineers step up...
Topics: engineering management, building trust in teams, remote team culture, developer to manager transition, engineering leadership.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>1544·,building,cars,commerce,culture,developer,elixir,engineering,in,leadership,management,manager,podcast,programming,remote,team,teams,tech,to,trustfalse110fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-sysadmin-to-cto-what-tech-leadership-actually-demands-brad-taylor-former-cto-nursa-diary-of-a-cto-s1-ep-9--72453206
Topics: CTO journey, team health, tech leadership transitions, AI adoption, remote team management.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>38643e8a-4f79-4379-9d03-9a975cff7964Mon, 17 Jun 2024 11:10:52 +0000Himanshu SaxenaBrad Taylor climbed from systems administrator to CTO at Nursa, then moved into consulting for health tech and climate tech. In this episode, he gets honest about what the transition to leadership really requires, how to keep teams healthy while...
Topics: CTO journey, team health, tech leadership transitions, AI adoption, remote team management.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>1317false19fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-20-years-in-tech-teaches-you-about-ai-career-growth-and-engineering-leadership-hunter-powers-diary-of-a-cto-s1-ep-8--72453196
Topics: AI in software development, engineering career growth, developer to leader transition, tech leadership, continuous learning.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>fee504f5-27e7-499f-875b-2d5ab08596d2Thu, 30 May 2024 12:38:18 +0000Himanshu SaxenaHunter Powers has seen enough tech cycles to know what actually matters. In this episode, he shares what the shift from coding to leadership really looks like, how to integrate AI strategically rather than reactively, and the career moves most...
Topics: AI in software development, engineering career growth, developer to leader transition, tech leadership, continuous learning.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>2626false18fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-game-dev-to-ai-powered-agriculture-engineering-leadership-in-unexpected-places-anton-zaides-taranis-diary-of-a-cto-s1-ep-7--72453200
Topics: ag-tech engineering, AI in agriculture, engineering leadership, remote team management, game development to tech leadership.

Guest hosted by Daniel Morgan | Diary of a CTO]]>9a402b4f-fab3-496f-9e40-fcbb1c32121aTue, 28 May 2024 07:50:32 +0000Himanshu SaxenaAnton Zaides went from building games to using AI and drone technology to transform agriculture at Taranis. In this episode, he talks about leading engineering in a traditional industry resistant to change, aligning tech projects with business goals,...
Topics: ag-tech engineering, AI in agriculture, engineering leadership, remote team management, game development to tech leadership.

Guest hosted by Daniel Morgan | Diary of a CTO]]>2218false17fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/joomla-co-founder-on-building-10x-engineering-teams-and-what-ai-changes-about-leadership-mitch-pirtle-cto-revdoc-diary-of-a-cto-s1-ep-6--72453207
Topics: 10x engineering teams, CTO role, AI in engineering management, open source leadership, startup to enterprise.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>c877258b-5a1c-4929-9a30-45281d2f796dWed, 15 May 2024 09:56:51 +0000Himanshu SaxenaMitch Pirtle co-founded Joomla, contributed to Postgres, and has spent 20+ years building engineering teams across startups and Capital One. In this episode, he shares what separates good engineering teams from great ones, how the CTO role is evolving...
Topics: 10x engineering teams, CTO role, AI in engineering management, open source leadership, startup to enterprise.

Hosted by Himanshu Saxena | Diary of a CTO]]>2467false16fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/how-engineering-leaders-can-finally-get-a-seat-at-the-business-table-sebastiano-armeli-director-of-engineering-upwork-diary-of-a-cto-s1--72453204
Topics: engineering and business alignment, engineering leadership, KPIs for engineering leaders, remote team management, global engineering careers.

Guest hosted by Pru | Diary of a CTO]]>4f3813d7-e8a6-47df-a18f-3e21a88a7071Sun, 28 Apr 2024 03:11:56 +0000Himanshu SaxenaSebastiano Armeli has led engineering at Snapchat, Pinterest, PayPal, and Upwork across three continents. In this episode, he breaks down how engineering leaders earn real influence in business decisions, what KPIs actually matter at the leadership...
Topics: engineering and business alignment, engineering leadership, KPIs for engineering leaders, remote team management, global engineering careers.

Guest hosted by Pru | Diary of a CTO]]>1869false15fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/engineering-culture-after-the-zirp-era-what-actually-survives-the-reset-shreyas-balakrishna-engineering-manager-culture-amp-diary-of-a--72453208
Topics: engineering culture, post-ZIRP engineering, engineering management, psychological safety, product-obsessed teams. 

Guest hosted by Pru | Diary of a CTO]]>f0f70839-edaf-4a43-9dc9-2fbbdf0a84c1Thu, 21 Mar 2024 13:16:52 +0000Himanshu SaxenaThe zero interest rate party is over. Shreyas Balakrishna, Engineering Manager at Culture Amp, breaks down what engineering culture and management look like in the post-ZIRP reset. He shares how to stay technically engaged as a leader, build...
Topics: engineering culture, post-ZIRP engineering, engineering management, psychological safety, product-obsessed teams. 

Guest hosted by Pru | Diary of a CTO]]>1997false14fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/what-ai-actually-changes-about-engineering-leadership-manas-p-head-of-engineering-loopr-ai-diary-of-a-cto-s1-ep-3--72453195
Topics: AI in engineering leadership, engineering architecture, high performance teams, business and engineering alignment, innovation in tech.

Guest hosted by Pru | Diary of a CTO]]>91502bc7-addb-4cfa-a8ab-5d6690f3e24eFri, 23 Feb 2024 06:04:52 +0000Himanshu SaxenaAI isn't just changing what engineers build — it's changing how engineering leaders lead. Manas P., Head of Engineering at Loopr AI, shares how AI is shifting the focus toward architecture and design, what it takes to build high-performance teams in...
Topics: AI in engineering leadership, engineering architecture, high performance teams, business and engineering alignment, innovation in tech.

Guest hosted by Pru | Diary of a CTO]]>1354false13fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-silicon-valley-to-india-what-the-move-teaches-you-about-ai-and-engineering-leadership-sarvesh-vp-of-ai-accurate-s1-ep2--72453202
Topics: AI trends, Silicon Valley vs India tech, product development, engineering leadership, future of AI.

Guest hosted by Pru | Diary of a CTO]]>8d775826-5f3d-4386-876d-304bffadbbccFri, 16 Feb 2024 15:41:30 +0000Himanshu SaxenaSarvesh made the jump from Silicon Valley to leading AI and tech teams in India. In this episode, he shares what that shift reveals about how AI is actually being built and deployed, where product development is heading, and what engineering leaders...
Topics: AI trends, Silicon Valley vs India tech, product development, engineering leadership, future of AI.

Guest hosted by Pru | Diary of a CTO]]>1618false12fullhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/why-fintech-engineering-fails-without-domain-expertise-varun-bhanot-tata-digital-diary-of-a-cto-s1-ep-1--72453209
Topics: fintech engineering, domain expertise in tech, engineering to leadership, AI in finance, financial services technology.

Guest hosted by Pru | Diary of a CTO]]>28f18f22-d843-465a-8af1-a67f82b42713Sun, 11 Feb 2024 15:52:44 +0000Himanshu SaxenaVarun Bhanot has worked across BlackRock, Fidelity International, Grip, and now Tata Digital. In this episode, he makes the case for why technical skills alone are not enough in fintech — and how engineers who understand finance build fundamentally...
Topics: fintech engineering, domain expertise in tech, engineering to leadership, AI in finance, financial services technology.

Guest hosted by Pru | Diary of a CTO]]>1882false11full