Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Latest Episodes:

617: Lexxy, Basecamp, and the Joy of Building with Jorge Marubia Aug 06, 2026

Show notes

Will is back in the host seat this week to chat to Jorge Marubia, Principal Programmer at 37signals, about his previous experience using Lexxy and Basecamp.

In this episode, Jorge goes into depth about BaseCamp 5, how his team got through a memory leaking situation after its launch, and Lexxy being open source, before diving into the question on everyone’s lips recently - what his thoughts are on AI and how it will affect Junior Developers.

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Our guest for this episode has been Jorge Marubia. If you'd like to get in touch with Jorge, or to keep up to date with his work, you can find him via LinkedIn - X - or through his website.

Your host for this episode has been Will Larry, you can find and connect with Will over on LinkedIn.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky

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616: What’s Really Going On with AI Data Centres with Dr. Victoria Plutshack Jul 30, 2026

Show notes

Sami is back this week with Gender, Climate and Energy Specialist Dr. Victoria Plutshack, as they dive into what’s really going on with AI Data Centres in Scotland and the UK.

Make sure you’ve popped your kettles on as Victoria discusses the impact of large data centres on both the environment and women in the workplace, whether it’s possible to use AI and have the data centres source their energy responsibly, before taking Sami through how they are going to cause problems with the National Grid.

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Our guest for this episode has been Dr. Victoria Plutshack. If you'd like to get in touch with Victoria, or to keep up to date with her work, you can do so through LinkedIn or through her website

Also mentioned in today’s episode:
APRS Data Centres Campaign
Opinionated thoughtbotter episode ‘AI Does More Harm Than Good’
Giant Robots Episode 605 with Lord Chris Holmes

Your host for this episode has been Sami Birnbaum. Sami can be found through his website or via LinkedIn.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky

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615: Harvey AI and the Future of Law Jul 23, 2026

Show notes

Our host Sami is joined this week by Joe Cohen, Legal Innovation Partner at Harvey AI, to discuss the use of AI within the legal and professional services, and how it could impact the speed, quality and efficiency of lawyers doing legal work.

Joe dives into his career journey, Harvey AI’s adoption rate success within law firms, what the future career growth could look like for Junior Partners being taught by AI, and the comparison between AI use in the modern age vs the introduction of email in the 80’s.

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Our guest for this episode has been Joe Cohen. If you'd like to get in touch with Joe, or to keep up to date with his work, you can do so through LinkedIn

Your host for this episode has been Sami Birnbaum. Sami can be found through his website or via LinkedIn.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky

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614: AI Code Audits Jun 18, 2026

Show notes

Our hosts Chad and Sami team up this week to discuss AI code bases and whether they can be built to be developer friendly and with best practices in mind.

After a brief chat about the World Cup (and how it may affect the June thoughtbot event in London!) Sami dives into a recent code audit he did on a base that was built with AI using Spec Driven Development. Chad covers security concerns and why it’s important to have human oversight when generating codes.

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You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel and Sami through his website. You can also connect with our duo via their LinkedIn pages - Chad - Sami.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.

Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky

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613: Preserving Companies and Design with Andy Budd Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

Chad talks with guest Andy Budd, Design Leadership Coach & Venture Partner at Seedcamp, as they look back over Andy’s time at Clearleft, the company he co-founded back in 2005.

Andy discusses employee trust ownership, how it both benefits and protects your employees, and has the potential to keep your business going for generations to come rather than living and dying by the founders interest. Chad also announces that thoughtbot is moving into a Purpose Trust model.

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Our guest for this episode has been Andy Budd. If you'd like to get in touch with Andy, or to keep up to date with his work, you can do so through BlueSky, LinkedIn, or through his website.

If you are a Medium user, you can also follow Andy at The Design VC

See Andy’s panels at Evolve at the Brighton Centre, 26th June.

Your host for this episode has been Chad Pytel. You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel, or over on LinkedIn.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.
Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky

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612: Do fish drink? May 28, 2026

Show notes

Chad shares a recent pivot in ReadySetGo’s development, where they see the app entering a founder’s development and what they’re doing to ensure a wide set of features for all users.

Our hosts also pick apart the impact of AI on developers, how valuable is speed when working with AI, is it still a good measure of success when coding, and Sami takes a moment to ask the all knowing ChadGPT about his excessive running and exercise regime.

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If you’d like to meet some of our hosts in person, be sure to check the links below to secure your place at thoughtbot’s UK meet ups over the month of June.

London Tech Leader Meetup - Tuesday June 23rd
Brighton Tech Leader Meetup - Wednesday June 24th
Brighton Ruby - Thursday June 25th
Evolve - Friday June 26th

You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel and Sami through his website. You can also connect with the trio via their LinkedIn pages - Chad - Will - Sami.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.
Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky

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611: Magic is the right word, with Brennan Dunn May 14, 2026

Show notes

Chad talks with a returning guest from the early days of the show, Brennan Dunn, founder of RightMessage. Featuring nearly 600 episodes ago on episode 18 of Giant Robots, Brennan is back to talk about how things have changed for him since his first appearance in 2012.

Brennan reflects on working as a contractor and growing to become a company of one, why the scaling size of a business doesn’t always equate to more productivity, and how he uses AI to keep operating costs down along with the minimal set up involved.

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You can follow Brennan on LinkedIn to keep up to date with his work, or if you’re looking to improve the messaging of your business you can try out RightMessage for free right now.

You can also take a quick step back in time and revisit Brennan’s original episode from 2012.

Your host for this episode has been Chad Pytel. You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel, or over on LinkedIn.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.
Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky

Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

610: It’s Okay Not to Use AI May 07, 2026

Show notes

Sami swims against the tide of AI with Emma Barnes, CEO of Consonance, as they examine the more controversial idea of being anti-AI.

Emma explains why her publishing business is anti-AI and the benefits of coding for yourself, how AI is having a negative impact on different aspects of our daily lives, why big corporations are hyping it up so much, and Sami asks what is it about AI that keeps drawing people in.

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Our guest for this episode has been Emma Barnes, if you’d like to get in touch with Emma you can do so through LinkedIn, or by emailing her directly - emma@consonance.app

If you’re interested in using Emma’s publishing services or wish to be a part of the team, check out her business Consonance, or check out her weekly live stream to stay up to date with the world of publishing.

Your host for this episode has been Sami Birnbaum. Sami can be found through his website or via LinkedIn.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.
Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky

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609: Pennylane is in my ears Apr 30, 2026

Show notes

Sami talks with Quentin de Metz, Co-Founder and CTO of Pennylane, about the journey of building a startup into an established company.

Quentin provides his unique perspective of what it’s like to be a founder with an engineering background, the rapid growth he experienced with Pennylane and the lessons that shape how he now runs the company, and their cautious approach to incorporating AI.

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Our guest for this episode has been Quentin de Metz, who you can connect with via LinkedIn, or check out Pennylane’s website if you’re interested in using their services. Pennylane are also hiring and have a whole host of open positions at the moment, if you'd like to apply, head to their recruitment page for more information.

Your host for this episode has been Sami Birnbaum. Sami can be found through his website or via LinkedIn.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.
Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky

Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

608: Project Updates with Will, Chad and Sami Apr 16, 2026

Show notes

Our hosts provide a peek behind the scenes as they discuss their work on recent thoughtbot projects.

Chad covers the progress being made on thoughtbot’s new “Ready Set Go” app, the hurdles they’ve encountered so far in development, and the things it needs to achieve in order to compete in it’s field effectively.

Will reflects on a week long project with a non-technical founder and examines how clients’ exceptions have shifted because of AI, and Sami shares a brief update on his crypto project.

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You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel and Sami through his website. You can also connect with the trio via their LinkedIn pages - Chad - Will - Sami.

If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website.

Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm

This has been a thoughtbot podcast.
Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky

Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

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