Beyond Coding

Latest Episodes:

Top Tier Architect: Software Engineering Is About Battling Complexity Mar 18, 2026

Show notes

Most architects stop coding... and that's exactly where they lose their edge. Dennis Doomen has been a hands-on coding architect for 30 years, and his take is blunt: if you're not in the code, you can't make good architectural decisions. Period.

In this episode, we get into the real causes of codebase rot, why dogmatic pattern-following destroys teams, how Dennis uses AI tools to build open source projects without compromising his standards, and why documentation and decision records might be the most underrated investment a software team can make.

This one is for software engineers and architects who want to stay sharp, stay relevant, and build systems that actually last.

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:05 - Why Dennis Refuses to Stop Coding (After 30 Years)

00:02:54 - The Only Way to Be an Effective Software Architect

00:04:43 - What Happens When Teams Copy Patterns Without Understanding Them

00:06:23 - Software Engineering Is About Battling Complexity

00:08:20 - When to Break Consistency to Reduce Complexity

00:09:24 - The Problem with Overzealous SOLID Principles

00:11:06 - The Future Where We Don't Care About Code Anymore

00:12:07 - How Dennis Built an Open Source Library with GitHub Copilot

00:14:18 - Accepting AI-Generated Code That Doesn't Meet Your Standards

00:16:39 - How to Use AI Without Losing Code Quality

00:17:41 - The Execution Is Accelerating — What Actually Matters Now

00:20:19 - Why Tests Are Your Safety Net in an AI-First World

00:23:44 - Lessons Learned from Letting AI Run Unsupervised

00:26:46 - Should Teams Standardize Which AI Tool They Use?

00:27:32 - Junior Devs and AI: Learning Skills vs. Speed

00:29:21 - How to Stay Curious and Critical in an AI-Assisted Team

00:33:43 - How to Build a Software Engineer from Scratch Today

00:34:38 - Dennis's Emoji-Based Pull Request Review System

00:36:45 - What AI Still Can't Do: Holistic Architectural Thinking

00:38:38 - Why Your Git History Is More Valuable Than You Think

00:40:44 - Decision Records: The Architecture Investment That Pays Off

00:43:16 - When Documentation Saved Dennis from a Bad Management Decision

00:44:47 - The Tailwind Layoffs and the Open Source Business Model Crisis

00:46:27 - Guidelines for Consuming Open Source Responsibly

00:49:51 - Why You Should Open Source Your Own Projects

Guest: Dennis Doomen - Microsoft MVP, open source creator (FluentAssertions and more), and coding architect at Aviva Solutions.

#softwaredevelopment #softwarearchitecture #softwareengineering

Uber Engineering Manager: Why Clarity Beats Seniority Mar 11, 2026

Show notes

Sendil Nellaiyapen, Engineering Manager at Uber, has built systems that scale to millions of users. In this episode he shares what most engineers get wrong about both system design and the move into engineering management

In this episode, we cover:

Ingredients for designing systems that scale to millions of users
How to know when to compromise on architecture
The trade-offs of going from IC to engineering manager and why the role is harder than it looks
How to handle opinionated engineers, set team guardrails, and build high-performing engineering culture

Whether you're a senior engineer weighing the move into management, or already leading teams and looking to sharpen your system design thinking, this one's for you.

OUTLINE:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:05 - The Ingredients for Building Systems at Scale

00:02:23 - When to Compromise on Your Foundation

00:03:42 - Scaling from 2,000 to 5 Million Users

00:06:37 - Why Clarity Beats Seniority Every Time

00:08:27 - The Danger of Muscle Memory in Engineering

00:10:25 - MVP Mindset: What You Can and Can't Compromise

00:13:22 - How High-Performing Teams Handle Growing Complexity

00:15:04 - Who Owns the Assumptions? Shared Team Responsibility

00:17:04 - Building Open Frameworks Instead of Closed Rules

00:19:53 - Latency Is Overrated (Here's Why)

00:22:52 - Recipes for Disaster: The Biggest System Design Pitfalls

00:24:17 - The Scala Horror Story: When Elegance Kills Velocity

00:26:52 - How to Handle Opinionated Engineers on Your Team

00:29:03 - Setting Guardrails: The Manager's Design Responsibility

00:32:01 - The Hardest Trade-Off Going from IC to Engineering Manager

00:34:35 - Should Great Engineers Stay IC or Go into Management?

00:37:11 - BFS vs DFS Engineers: Which Type Makes a Better Manager?

00:39:05 - The Real Cost of Becoming a Manager (And Why It's Worth It)

00:41:52 - Outro

#systemdesign #engineeringmanager #softwareengineering

Lead Software Engineer: Why You Can Write the Code in a Day but Ship in a Month Mar 04, 2026

Show notes

Are you over-engineering for a future that might never come? In this episode, we explore why "future-proofing" often leads to wasted time and sunk costs, and how shifting your mindset from opinions to hypotheses can drastically improve your Developer Experience (DevEx).

In this episode, we cover:

The trap of complex architecture decisions like Hexagonal Architecture too early
How to identify and remove friction points in the software development lifecycle
The reality of using AI agents in production and who is actually responsible for the code

If you are a software engineer or tech lead tired of the "Sacred Cloud Committee" and slow processes, this deep dive into DevEx is for you.

Connect with Bas de Groot:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bas-de-groot-635013100

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:00 - The Danger of "Future-Proofing" Your Architecture

00:03:18 - Why You Should Use Hypotheses Over Opinions

00:05:32 - "Shift Left Until There's Only Sh*t Left"

00:08:19 - At What Size Do You Need a DevEx Team?

00:11:02 - How to Measure Developer Friction Effectively

00:15:43 - Using Data to Fix Slow CI/CD Pipelines

00:17:26 - Why Surveys Beat DORA Metrics for Context

00:19:52 - The "Sacred Cloud Committee" Blocking Deployments

00:24:51 - How to Get Buy-In for DevEx Initiatives

00:28:56 - The Role of Hands-On Coding in DevEx

00:31:47 - Will AI Agents Fix Bad Processes?

00:34:44 - You Are Still Responsible for AI-Generated Code

#developerexperience #softwarearchitecture #techlead

How Senior Software Engineers Balance Speed and Quality (Scale-Up Lessons) Feb 25, 2026

Show notes

The difference between a junior and a senior engineer isn't coding speed, it's knowing when to say "no."

"The best code you can write is the code you don't write." In this episode, I sit down with Alessandro Mautone (Senior Software Engineer at Aquablu, ex-WeTransfer) to discuss the reality of engineering at a scale-up: how do you maintain technical excellence when the business demands speed?

We break down why delivering features "fast" pays your salary, but how to negotiate deadlines so you don't drown in technical debt later. If you want to move from writing code to owning product decisions, this conversation is for you.

In this episode, we cover:

- How to push back on features and negotiate deadlines without upsetting stakeholders

- Why chasing "perfect code" can hurt a company in growth mode

- The Generalist vs. Specialist career path: Which one is right for you?

- The potential pitfalls of using AI for unit tests without proper oversight

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:06 - Balancing Technical Excellence With Delivery Speed

00:04:11 - Why Delivering Features Pays Your Salary

00:06:51 - The Importance of Ownership and "Skin in the Game"

00:08:59 - Leaving WeTransfer: When Company Direction Shifts

00:11:49 - The Generalist vs. Specialist Career Path Debate

00:16:46 - How to Attract Top Engineering Talent to Your Team

00:18:50 - Is LeetCode the Right Way to Hire for Scale-Ups?

00:23:16 - Learning to "Say No" is a Sign of Seniority

00:25:17 - Negotiating Scope Without Burning Bridges

00:26:02 - When AI Generates Bad Unit Tests

00:28:14 - Never Compromise on Tests, Even in "Code Red"

00:33:59 - Communicating Technical Concepts to Non-Tech Stakeholders

00:35:35 - The Never-Ending Battle Against Complexity

00:37:26 - When to Build for the Future vs. Ship Now

00:42:30 - A Real-World Example of Refactoring for Simplicity

00:46:48 - The Skill That Will Be Make or Break for Engineers

#SoftwareEngineering #ScaleUp #TechnicalDebt

How to Think About Software Engineering (CTO's Perspective) Feb 18, 2026

Show notes

We are at a unique point in history where there is finally an alternative to human coding. If AI can write the code effectively, what is left for the software engineer?

In this episode, Joris Conijn (AWS CTO at Xebia) argues that the era of "just coding" is over. We discuss why senior developers are safe (for now), why juniors are at risk of never learning the fundamentals, and how "Shadow AI" is forcing companies to change their security strategies.

Most importantly, we break down the difference between a "Programmer" and a "Software Engineer" with the introduction of agentic tools. If you want to future-proof your career and move from writing lines of code to designing systems, this conversation is for you.

In this episode, we cover:

Why banning AI at work actually increases your security risk
How to use AI to automate the boring parts of the SDLC (requirements & user stories)
The critical difference between "Coding" and "System Architecture"
Why you should check your AI Agents into your Git repository
The 20-year problem: what happens when engineers never learn the fundamentals?

Connect with Joris Conijn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jorisconijn

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:11 - What Keeps a CTO Excited About Tech?

00:02:58 - Stop Being the "Department of No" in Security

00:05:28 - The Real Risk of Banning AI at Work

00:06:32 - When Developers Hold the Organization Hostage

00:08:14 - The Hidden Dangers of Instant AI Code Fixes

00:09:50 - Will Future Devs Understand Object Oriented Programming?

00:11:36 - Using AI to Accelerate Learning vs Copy-Pasting

00:13:17 - Why Testing Matters More When AI Writes Code

00:16:42 - Automating the Boring Parts of the SDLC

00:19:06 - How to Turn Meeting Transcripts into User Stories

00:21:36 - The Critical Skill of Making Implicit Knowledge Explicit

00:23:10 - Why You Should Stop Obsessing Over Story Points

00:27:46 - The "A-Team" Approach to High-Trust Development

00:29:54 - Running Parallel Workflows with AI Agents

00:33:34 - Pro Tip: Check Your AI Agents into Git

00:35:52 - Balancing Autonomy and Governance in Large Teams

00:39:19 - There Is Finally an Alternative to Human Coders

00:41:07 - Programmer vs Software Engineer: What is the Difference?

00:44:45 - How to Teach Software Engineering in the AI Era

#SoftwareEngineering #SystemDesign #AIAgents

How to Build the Best Platforms for Software Engineers Feb 11, 2026

Show notes

Is your internal developer platform actually improving velocity, or is it a bottleneck? We discuss why platform teams building "cool" abstractions is a red flag, and you should aim to create the best platform for software engineers.

In this episode, we cover:

Why "Golden Paths" can turn into roadblocks for developers.
The danger of Shadow IT and why it’s a symptom of a failed platform.
How to measure if your platform is saving time.

Connect with Adnan Alshar:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adnanmalshar92

Connect with Jelmer de Jong:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jelmerdejong-xebia

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:54 - Is DevOps Dead? The Truth About Platform Engineering

00:03:07 - Why Developers Are Drowning in Complexity Today

00:04:37 - Why Having No Platform Is Better Than a Bad Platform

00:07:20 - Treating Software Engineers as Customers of the Platform

00:11:26 - The Exact Moment You Should Start Building a Platform

00:14:18 - Who Should Be on Your First Platform Team?

00:17:33 - Turning Your Angriest Developers Into Platform Evangelists

00:18:57 - Key Metrics: How to Measure Platform Engineering Success

00:21:01 - Why 60% of Companies Don't Measure Platform Success

00:23:35 - Why No Metrics Is the Biggest Red Flag

00:25:23 - The Disconnect Between Executives and AI Readiness

00:31:34 - Integrating AI Tools and Large Language Models Securely

00:34:22 - Shadow IT: The Symptom of a Broken Platform

00:38:03 - How to Scale Without Becoming a Bottleneck

00:41:45 - Don’t Forget the Business Side of Platform Engineering

#PlatformEngineering #DevOps #DeveloperProductivity

Career Advice I'd Give Every Software Engineer Right Now Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

Engineering hasn't become easier, writing code has just become faster. Time to stop fighting symptoms and start thinking in systems. In this Q&A, I break down the career advice I'd give to any engineer, from mastering architecture to knowing when to quit a high-paying job.

In this episode, we cover:

How "Systems Thinking" can be applied in practice
The "Golden Handcuffs": Why high salaries keep engineers in toxic jobs
How to transition into leadership without waiting for a title

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:58 - How to innovate in stubborn legacy companies

00:04:49 - The "Golden Handcuffs": Money vs. Mental Health

00:07:27 - Stop solving symptoms: Systems Thinking explained

00:13:10 - Transitioning from Senior Engineer to Solutions Architect

00:15:08 - Communicating technical risks to non-technical bosses

00:17:48 - Proving leadership before you have the title

00:22:25 - My strategy for dealing with Imposter Syndrome

00:26:12 - Creating a "Zettelkasten" to retain technical knowledge

00:29:12 - The mindset that makes me stress-proof at work

00:33:10 - Learning to code with a product/design background

00:38:40 - Working with international remote teams

00:40:35 - Career Pivot: Software Engineering to Cyber Security

00:43:20 - Solopreneur opportunities in the "Education Gold Rush"

00:51:50 - Future Predictions: Vibe Coding vs. Vibe Engineering

#SoftwareEngineering #CareerAdvice #SystemsThinking

The Skills That Matter When AI Writes Your Code Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

The software engineering landscape is shifting rapidly. Coding is becoming "cheap" because of tools like Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Cursor etc. Interviews are evolving to focus on system design over syntax. In this Q&A, I break down exactly which skills matter now, how to negotiate the salary you deserve, and how to deal with difficult personalities on your team.

In this episode:

How juniors can leverage AI tools to reach senior-level output
Real-world salary negotiation tactics from my experience
Why coding skills matter less in modern interviews (and what matters more)
Handling "brilliant jerks" and toxic team culture

Whether you are looking for your first job with no experience or you are a mid-level dev trying to break into a Staff Engineer role, this session is packed with actionable career advice.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:06 - Handling Brilliant Jerks: Toxic Culture vs. High Performance

00:04:13 - How Juniors Can Use AI to Outperform Seniors

00:07:10 - The Future of Coding Interviews: System Design and AI

00:11:20 - The Real Difference Between Good and Great Developers

00:13:00 - One Mistake Mid-Level Developers Make That Stalls Growth

00:15:58 - Salary Negotiation Tactics: How I Got Two Raises in One Year

00:23:44 - Questions You Should Ask to Crush Your Tech Interview

00:27:42 - What Actually Moves the Needle: Side Projects vs. Experience

00:31:05 - Don't Wait for a Perfect Portfolio to Start Applying

00:32:25 - Finding Jobs: Why LinkedIn and Meetups Beat Job Boards

00:35:16 - Should Frontend Developers Worry About Learning Backend Skills?

00:37:39 - Do Tech Certifications Actually Help You Get Hired?

00:39:07 - Mastering Soft Skills: Training Budgets vs. Real Experience

#softwareengineering #careeradvice #techinterviews

Google & AWS Veteran: How To Become a Top Tier Software Architect Jan 21, 2026

Show notes

"Architects shouldn't try to be the smartest people in the room, they should make everybody else smarter."

In this episode, Gregor Hohpe (ex-Google & AWS, author of "The Software Architect Elevator") breaks down exactly how to transition from software engineer to architect. He shares the mental models used at Big Tech to handle complexity, visualize systems, and navigate office politics without losing your technical edge.

We cover:

- Why "lowering risk" is the architect's real value proposition

- The "Phantom Sketch Artist" technique to visualize unclear requirements

- How to gain "political capital" to push back on bad decisions

- Why simple architectures are often the hardest to build

If you want to move beyond just writing code and start designing systems that scale, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Gregor:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ghohpe

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:15 - How to Spot Bad Architects vs. Great Amplifiers

00:03:44 - Why Architects Are Actually Risk Managers in Disguise

00:06:13 - The Truth About Complexity and Simplicity at Scale

00:09:55 - How to Resolve Technical Disagreements Without Arguments

00:13:57 - Why You Should Use Pen and Paper for Architecture

00:17:24 - Mastering the Left-Right Brain Ping Pong Technique

00:20:42 - The "Architect Elevator": Connecting Code to Strategy

00:23:06 - The Rubber Duck Test: Are You a Good Architect?

00:25:41 - The "Phantom Sketch Artist" Method for System Design

00:30:37 - Stop Being a Cartographer, Start Being a Scout

00:34:47 - How to Keep Your Technical Skills Sharp as an Architect

00:44:37 - Navigating Office Politics using the "Court Jester" Strategy

00:48:08 - How to Earn and Spend Political Capital Wisely

00:53:17 - Why the "Big Ball of Mud" Might Be a Good Architecture

00:57:08 - How Executives Spot Gaps in Your Technical Logic

01:00:00 - Why Using AI for Architecture is a Dangerous Trap

#SoftwareArchitecture #SystemDesign #SeniorDeveloper

Own Your Engineering Career (No One Else Will) Jan 14, 2026

Show notes

Are you waiting for a promotion that never comes? In this episode, we break down why relying on your manager to define your growth is a career-limiting mistake and how you can take full ownership of your professional path.

In this episode, we cover: