Our Best Advice on Communication and Hiring Strategies with Mark Porter, CTO at dbt Labs
This is some of the best advice we’ve ever heard on managing teams. Today, we're talking to Mark Porter, CTO at dbt Labs. We discuss why knowing your audience is the foundation of effective communication, how to create psychological safety for escalation without surprises, and why hiring remarkable talent requires unconventional tactics like asking for negative references and spending six hours with final candidates. Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud and powerful AI that’s built to scale, check out Digital Ocean here. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To get learn more about dbt Labs, check out their website here.
27 Nov 25min
The Father of the Cable Modem on Broadband, AI & Hype with Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard
When he went to investors, nobody believed that the internet would be a big deal. Today, we're talking to Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, the Father of the Cable Modem. We discuss how he invented broadband when no one believed home internet would succeed, why letting your product do the talking beats PowerPoint presentations, and how to distinguish between technology hype and delivery reality in the age of AI. Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud and powerful AI that’s built to scale, check out Digital Ocean here. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To get a copy of Rouzbeh's book, The Accidental Network, buy it here on Amazon. To check out Rouzbeh's YAS Foundation, visit their website here.
24 Nov 56min
How to Complete an AI Transformation in 18 Months with Rebecca Carr, CEO at SmartRecruiters
THIS is how you can actually leverage AI to transform your business in a realistic timeframe. Today, we're talking to Rebecca Carr, CEO at SmartRecruiters, about how she led a complete AI transformation of her company in eighteen months without asking the board for permission. We discuss why 58% of job applications are now completed by AI agents, how she threw out her entire product roadmap to build an AI-native recruiting platform, and why traditional jobs won't exist in five years. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about SmartRecruiters, check out their website here.
20 Nov 55min
Leadership Lessons from Business and Church with Jay Owen, CEO at Business Builders
It’s lonely at the top. But being lonely is actually a choice. Today, we're talking to Jay Owen, CEO at Business Builders. We discuss how leading in ministry has changed his approach to business leadership, why loneliness at the top is actually a choice, and how AI tools like vibe coding are enabling agencies to build $50,000 solutions in just one week for a few hundred dollars. Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud and powerful AI that’s built to scale, check out Digital Ocean here. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Business Builders, check out their website here.
17 Nov 52min
Web3 Was a Failure…Will Gaming Save it? with Chris Hewish, President at Xsolla
Web3 crashed and burned when it first rolled out. But now, it’s picking up steam in gaming. Today, we're talking to Chris Hewish, President at Xsolla. We discuss why the first wave of Web3 gaming collapsed into pyramid schemes, how blockchain technology is being reimagined to enhance gameplay instead of replace it, and why creator economies and decentralized ownership could finally solve the cold start problem that's been holding back mass adoption. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Xsolla, check out their website here.
13 Nov 49min
From 2 Guys in a Garage to 700+ Employees with Scott Henderson, CTO & Co-founder at Celigo
He walked away from a cushy job to build products in his garage. Here’s how he made it work. Today, we're talking to Scott Henderson, CTO and Co-founder at Celigo. We discuss why AI needs minimal autonomy instead of maximum freedom, how the future of SaaS is chat-to-validate rather than click-to-execute, and why the most expensive AI mistake is adopting it too slowly rather than spending too much. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Celigo, check out their website here.
10 Nov 52min
The AI Coding Arms Race is Transforming Software with Henrik Plate & Amod Gupta of Endor Labs
Everyone is rushing to master AI, but what does that mean for software security? Today, we're talking to Henrik Plate and Amod Gupta from Endor Labs about their State of Dependency Management report. We discuss how AI coding assistants are introducing new security vulnerabilities, why 90% of security issues exist in code you're not even using, and how malware is now hijacking local AI agents to steal credentials. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To read Endor Labs' State of Dependency Management Report, check it out here!
6 Nov 50min
How The Telegraph is Redefining the News with AI with Dylan Jacques, CPTO
Is journalism being threatened or enhanced by modern technology? Today, we're talking to Dylan Jacques, Chief Product and Technology Officer at The Telegraph. We discuss how AI is transforming news consumption patterns, why maintaining journalistic standards is critical in the age of LLMs, and how publishers can adapt by shipping features faster while preserving the human element of journalism. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! Thank you to Digital Ocean for sponsoring this episode. For simple cloud and powerful AI that’s built to scale, check out Digital Ocean here. To learn more about The Telegraph, check out their website here.
3 Nov 42min
