How do you build a platform that accelerates innovation by 10x-100x? Eliot Horowitz (CEO & Founder @ Viam) shares how insights from building MongoDB are shaping Viam’s approach to platform ecosystem development, user-centricity and open-source strategy. We explore the origin story behind Viam, principles for platform design for hardware/software development, modular systems, seamless APIs, and finding the right abstraction layers for your product. Plus we cover cultivating developer communities, and frameworks to anchor your business-model and pricing. This episode is packed with insights on platform building, fostering ecosystems, driving user-centric innovation.

Kevin Stewart (SVP of Engineering @ Splice) joins us to discuss organizational transformation, inspiring vision, and empowering teams! We break down how to tackle root issues in leadership and decision-making, diagnose and prioritize org problems, make a compelling case for change to stakeholders, and override learned helplessness. Kevin also shares how Splice’s concept video became a catalyst for alignment, motivation, and a shared north star for their strategy rollout. Plus, we discuss strategies for empowering teams to operate autonomously—freeing you to focus on business objectives and strategic work.

In this episode, we explore how to accelerate your AI learning journey with Maher Hanafi, SVPE @ Betterworks! Maher shares his progression from using LLMs as a proof of concept to tackling real-world use cases and complex challenges like data governance, data flow, enterprise AI, and AI agents. Maher also dissects the importance of team experimentation with real use cases, revisiting AI decisions with your team, when to go horizontal vs. vertical with AI learning, overcoming POC-to-production challenges; and evaluating the ROI of your AI decisions. Special thanks to our guest co-host Corey Coto, a local leader of ELC Seattle!

Jim Palmer (Chief AI Officer @ Dialpad) discusses the current state and future of data governance, scaling AI responsibly, and practical strategies for companies at different stages of AI adoption. We break down the impact of red-teaming / adversarial testing on AI governance, mitigating risk, unexpected positive outcomes from red-teaming, and how to launch and scale adversarial testing efforts. Plus investments in data & governance you should be focusing on, structured data as a cheat code to durability & adaptability, building in data deletion systems and other essential tips & strategies for an evolving AI regulatory and governance environment.

We sit down with James Campbell, CTO & Co-Founder @ Great Expectations, to discuss his founding journey, considerations for starting open source, making community-driven decisions, and navigating the tension between your product vision & product roadmap. We also cover the phases that Great Expectations has cycled through, balancing the role of personal biases when making product / business decisions, how making an open-source product impacts marketing decisions, and James’ best recommendations for building out the product function as a product-involved founder.

In this episode, local ELC chapter leaders break down three essential skills every engineering leader needs to hone! Learn how to craft compelling narratives that showcase your product’s business value, how to apply engineering problem-solving principles to solve complex personal /leadership challenges, and how to level up your hiring practices to identify and attract top talent. Thank you to Divya Alavarthi, Jim Liu & Colleen Tartow for sharing your insights & highlighting our Seattle & Boston communities! 🚀 Check out all of our local chapters & get involved here: [elc.community/home/clubs](https://elc.community/public/clubs)

David Mytton (CEO @ Arcjet & Co-founder @ Console) shares insights on “what makes a great DevTool company!” We unpack lessons on bootstrapping vs. seeking VC funding & why it’s important to stick with one; building prototypes; considerations for selling your company; and his founder journey with Server Density, Console & now with Arcjet. David also highlights GTM practices for finding reliable channels & distribution, why documentation can make a critical impact on dev tool sales, the impact of design, and translating the benefits of dev tools for finance teams vs. developers.

The tech industry and AI landscape evolves fast—so how can engineering leaders help their teams stay agile, innovative, and resilient in the face of rapid change? Melody Meckfessel (CTO @ Jasper) joins us to share how to develop the skill of navigating ambiguity, guide investment decisions on what to build / how, avoid over-complexity, & develop agile communication processes through rapid change. Melody also covers what it means to be an AI-first company,  how to avoid self-limitations & move from prescriptive to inspirational to empower your teams.

In this episode, local ELC chapter leaders share some of their favorite engineering leadership principles, covering practices to build trust! Andy (Chicago) discusses tactics for scaling communication practices in parallel with your org, using humor strategically, and bridging gaps between teams post-M&A. James (South Bay) shares what engineering leaders can learn from the best online courses by making a “Day One” commitment. John (Toronto) shares how to level up your teams & enable them to do more through servant leadership. Thank you Andy Kortz (CTO @ Integra Testing), James Tyack (Senior Managing Engineer @ Coursera), and John Ross (Director of Cloud and Infrastructure @ Kubra) for sharing your insights! Check out all of our local chapters & get involved here: [elc.community/home/clubs](https://elc.community/public/clubs)

Anurag Agarwal (VP, Engineering @ Google Workspace) returns to debrief the latest integrations and rapid releases of AI product experiences across Google Workspace. We discuss strategies to help teams execute / iterate faster; streamlining the decision-making process; questions to ask during prioritization conversations; identifying bottlenecks of inefficiency; gaining user insights & iterating based on that feedback. Plus how to enable easier feature discovery in your product experience. Anurag also shares insights into Google Workspace’s current projects & what he’s most looking forward to in the future!