Stay ConnectedModern CTO is the #1 place where technology leaders and CTOs hang out. We live to bring tech leaders value. Listen in on our fun, intelligent and engaging podcast. We hang out with interesting and popular CTOs in Aerospace, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics + Many more industries. All of this, right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast.
What do you think of the show? Let us know here!
Copyright: © All rights reserved
What happens when the worst among us get their hands on the most powerful tools?
Today, we're talking to Zach Goldberg, CEO at Gruntwork, about the messy edges of AI adoption. We discuss why "vibe coding" has created a new category of disposable, single-purpose software that never would have existed before, why the line between AI you can trust to read data and AI you can trust to write to production may be the most important distinction in enterprise tech right now, and why the real bottleneck on AI misuse has shifted from access to intelligence itself.
All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!
To learn more about Gruntwork, check out their website here.
Confidence and readiness are actually NOT the same thing.
Today, we're talking to Daniel Morris, CPO at Sinch, about why 81% of mature companies roll back their AI programs even as 89% of leaders claim they're fully prepared, how the shift from SMS to rich messaging is rewriting the rules for how brands connect with customers, and why the next evolution of authentication might mean your phone silently proves who you are without you ever seeing a prompt.
All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!
To learn more about Sinch, check out their website here.
This is how Snapchat sets itself apart in the social media space: they’re not a social media company.
Today, we're talking to Saral Jain, SVP and Head of Engineering at Snapchat, about how one of tech's most underestimated companies is quietly outpacing giants. We discuss why Snapchat has always refused to call itself a social media company and what that distinction means for every product decision they make, how AI is actually changing the day-to-day reality of software engineering through autonomous coding agents like their internal tool Casper, and why the skills that matter most in the AI era have less to do with writing code and everything to do with taste, judgment, and the willingness to raise your hand.
All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!
What if you didn’t have to solve problems? You can just remove them entirely.
Today, we're talking to Steve Francis, CEO at Sidero Labs, about why the most dangerous thing running in your infrastructure might be the operating system itself. We discuss how eliminating features rather than adding them is the real path to security, why the promise of multi-cloud portability turned out to be a lesson in what customers actually care about, and why "extreme ownership" remains the most empowering philosophy a leader can adopt.
All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!
To learn more about Sidero Labs, check out their website here.
Understanding these key points is what actually moves the needle on AI gains.
Today, we're talking to Kyle Lagunas, analyst and founder at Kyle & Co, and Allyn Bailey, senior director of communications at SmartRecruiters, about why AI momentum in HR is stalling and what's actually moving the needle. We discuss why the organizations leading on AI aren't doing anything flashy, how the most boring red-tape work turns out to be the biggest unlock, why HR's instinct for risk avoidance is exactly the wrong posture for this moment, and what a surprising finding about EU companies under heavy regulation reveals about the relationship between guardrails and speed.
All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!
To learn more about SmartRecruiters, check out their website here.
To read Kyle and Co's full AI Momentum Model, check it out here.
We’re putting more and more trust into AI. Will it all blend into one app?
Today, we're talking to Jacques Klick, Director of Market Strategy & Product Marketing at Sinch. We discuss why the app store era is quietly ending and what replaces it, how a 62% enterprise AI adoption rate is hiding a 74% rollback problem, and what RCS actually is and why it might be the most underutilized channel in marketing right now.
All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!
To learn more about Sinch, check out their website here.
To read Sinch's full report on The AI Production Paradox, check it out here.
Would you live with a humanoid robot? Could you beat one in a fight?
Today, we're talking to Dar Sleeper, VP of Design, Product, and Marketing at 1X, the company building Neo, a humanoid robot designed to live and work alongside humans in the home. We discuss why the home is actually the most strategic beachhead in humanoid robotics, how world models are collapsing the gap between robots that follow instructions and robots that genuinely learn, why consumer adoption may be the unlock that industrial deployments can never be, and what it feels like to have a 60-pound robot in your house long before the rest of the world can get one.
All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!
To learn more about 1X, check out their
His company policy is: there will be absolutely no human-written code.
Today, we're talking to Trevor Hinesley, Cofounder and CTO at Soundstripe. We discuss the five levels of AI-written code and what it actually looks like to operate at the highest ones, why Trevor's team has a strict policy of zero human-written code, how the "dark factory" concept is reshaping what engineers actually do, and why a company built on AI-powered development still bets everything on human-made music.
All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!
To learn more about Soundstripe, check out their website here.
Product managers are FORGETTING that they’re problem solvers.
Today, we're talking to Marty Cagan, product management author and founder of the Silicon Valley Product Group. We discuss why most tech companies are unknowingly running a model that almost guarantees shipping things that don't matter, how AI is simultaneously exposing and accelerating that problem, why the real bottleneck was never your engineers, and how large language models might finally solve the product coaching gap that's held back a generation of product people.
All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!
To learn more about Marty, connect with him on LinkedIn.
Can today’s technology really prevent tomorrow’s diseases? Today, we're talking to Eriona Hysolli, biologist and co-founder of Manhattan Genomics. We discuss why preventing genetic disease before birth is a more powerful idea than treating it in adulthood, how the UK quietly pioneered a procedure that most of the world still considers off-limits, why the loudest opposition to gene editing often comes from bioethicists rather than the public, and what it would actually take to engineer traits — from woolly mouse hair to human limb regeneration — with enough certainty to act on.
To learn more about Eriona, connect with her on LinkedIn.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
