Why most companies are getting AI wrong and how to build a culture that actually adapts
Coding ChatsShow Notes
Coding Chats episode 69 - John Crickett and Sairam Sundaresan discuss the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for learning, software development, and organizational culture. Sairam emphasizes the importance of bridging the gap between technical and business perspectives on AI, advocating for a hands-on approach to learning. They explore the hype surrounding AI, particularly large language models (LLMs), and the need for a cultural transformation within organizations to effectively adopt AI technologies. The discussion also touches on the future of software engineering in an AI-driven world, highlighting the blurred lines between roles and the necessity for continuous learning and adaptation.
Chapters 00:00 Bridging the Gap: Understanding AI for Everyone 03:44 Learning AI: A Practical Approach 06:29 The Evolution of AI: From Hype to Reality 09:33 Generative AI: The Current Landscape and Future Directions 12:35 Transformative Use Cases: Beyond Basic Applications 15:23 The Art of Questioning: Engaging with AI Effectively 18:36 Navigating Large Codebases: AI as a Tool for Engineers 21:24 Writing and Coding: Learning from the Masters 27:42 Harnessing Subagents for Efficiency 29:48 Bridging the Gap Between Business and Tech 31:35 Cultural Transformation in AI Adoption 34:22 Understanding AI Fundamentals for Better Collaboration 36:11 The People Problem in AI Implementation 39:26 Evolving Roles in Software Engineering 42:26 The Resurgence of Software Engineering 44:37 Leading an AI-First Organization 49:16 Learning by Doing in AI 52:03 Navigating the Landscape of AI Research and Publications 54:05 Exploring Related Content
Sairam's Links: Book- AI for the Rest of Us:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F29THNLT Substack Gradient Ascent: https://newsletter.artofsaience.com
John's Links: John's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncrickett/ John’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johncrickett John's Twitter: https://x.com/johncrickett John's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johncrickett.bsky.social
Check out John's software engineering related newsletters: Coding Challenges: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/ which shares real-world project ideas that you can use to level up your coding skills.
Developing Skills: https://read.developingskills.fyi/ covering everything from system design to soft skills, helping them progress their career from junior to staff+ or for those that want onto a management track.
Takeaways AI is essential for modern products and services. Bridging the gap between business and engineering is crucial. Learning AI requires a hands-on approach, not just theory. Cultural transformation is necessary for successful AI adoption. Understanding the basics of AI is vital for all roles. The hype around AI often overshadows other important areas. Software engineering is evolving with AI technologies.AI tools can enhance productivity but require thoughtful use. Continuous learning is key in the fast-paced AI landscape. The roles within organizations are becoming more integrated.
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Coding Chats Episode 83 - In this episode, VB from OpenAI’s developer experience team explains why he thinks plan mode is obsolete and how coding agents have shifted from step-by-step instructions to outcome-driven, long-running work. We cover how to write a good agents.md, why tests still matter when agents write the code, spec-driven development, and why cloud agents may be the future of dev tooling.
Coding Chats Episode 82 - John talks with Dave Westgarth, head of delivery at a Databricks consultancy. Dave shares his path from a psychology degree and McDonald's into tech, and they discuss why the Scrum Master role is so misunderstood, how it differs from a delivery manager, and whether either needs to be technical.They also look at how AI is changing delivery work. Faster code just moves the bottleneck upstream, John argues there's no AI-specific skill you can't learn in a day, and engineering fundamentals are what make AI useful.
Coding Chats Episode 81 - Ben Howdle talks to John Crickett about being a first time CTO in a start-up. Ben, author of The First CTO, shares what changes when you move from building technology to leading a technical team: the pressure, the trade-offs, and the realization that writing code is only part of the job.Drawing on startup experience and lessons learned the hard way, Ben discusses how to balance quality against runway, manage people, and communicate technical decisions in terms that founders and other non-technical stakeholders can understand. He also explores why resourcefulness, resilience, and comfort with ambiguity matter so much—and why CTOs often spend more time selling ideas than they expect.Whether you’re stepping into your first CTO role or leading a technical team at an early-stage company, this conversation offers candid insights into the realities of technical leadership.
Coding Chats Episode 80 - start-up advisor Alexander Berkovich shares his expertise on building successful start-ups, hiring strategies, CTO roles, and the importance of communication between technical and business teams. Discover practical tips for navigating the challenges of early-stage companies and how to align technical excellence with business goals.
Coding Chats Episode 79 - Richmond Alake, Director of AI Developer Experience at Oracle, joins John to discuss agent memory — how AI agents store, retrieve, and adapt to information. He argues that developers building memory on flat files are naively reinventing the database, and that once you factor in concurrency, security, and scalability, a proper database is inevitable. The conversation covers the full memory stack and how Oracle's AI database keeps embeddings and data together without shipping sensitive information to external providers.