#128 - From Tickets to Problems: Klaus Breyer // Head of Product & Technology @ Edding
You know how agile transformations always promise better collaboration but somehow teams end up chasing tickets like a factory assembly line? Klaus Breyer from Edding has some thoughts on why this keeps happening—and what actually works instead.
Klaus's path to leading product and technology at Germany's most famous pen company wasn't exactly traditional. Before Edding, he spent years managing 40-person World of Warcraft raids (yes, really) and running startups. Now he's applying those lessons to build software teams that actually solve problems instead of just completing tasks.
The conversation digs into Shape Up methodology, but more importantly, Klaus explains the mindset changes needed to stop treating software development like an assembly line. His team at Edding has built some pretty cool stuff too—like a B2B driver license verification system using invisible conductive ink that smartphones can read.
What you'll learn:
• Why "give me a ticket" thinking kills collaboration (even in tiny teams)
• How 6-week cycles help teams focus on one problem without distractions
• The art of separating problems from solutions before jumping into code
• Why late-stage compromises usually mean your team isn't really collaborating
• When senior teams can ditch tickets entirely and just... work
• Klaus's templates for getting everyone aligned on what problems are worth solving
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#127 - Kelsey Hightower's Unfiltered Truths: 25 Years of Infrastructure, DevOps, and Retiring at 42
What happens when a distinguished engineer who shaped the cloud-native landscape decides to retire at 42? Kelsey Hightower, a pivotal figure in the Kubernetes community and former Google engineer, shares brutally honest insights from his 25-year journey. This isn't a conversation about the next hype cycle; it's a masterclass in the timeless principles of infrastructure, maintenance, and technical strategy.
From the fallacy of technology replacement to the hard business realities that should drive engineering decisions, Kelsey provides a minimalist's guide to navigating complexity. Learn why most companies should embrace managed services, why engineers who can't link commits to revenue are at risk, and what the future of AI really means for the systems we build and maintain.
Technical insights for CTOs and engineering leaders:
- 🏗️ System Accumulation: Why new technology rarely replaces the old, leading to a complex, multi-generational stack that must be maintained.
- ☁️ Managed Services: The economic and expertise-driven argument for outsourcing infrastructure management.
- 🔄 Evolutionary Architecture: How to avoid the trap of making permanent technology decisions on day one.
- 💰 Business-Driven Engineering: The critical need for engineers to understand revenue, and for CTOs to use business metrics to guide technical priorities.
- 🤖 The AI Reality: A grounded take on how AI will impact software, and the fundamental system evolution required for it to reach its true potential."
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#126 - AI Transformation at Scale: Practical Adoption Across 150+ Engineers with Peter Gostev // Head of AI @ Moonpig
How do you drive meaningful AI transformation across 150 software engineers without mandates or force? Peter Gostev, Head of AI at Moonpig, reveals the technical strategies and organizational approaches behind scaling AI adoption from 130 to 400+ users while navigating the gap between industry hype and implementation reality.
From managing complex integration challenges where 80% of AI projects involve traditional software engineering to implementing three-pillar strategies (tool adoption, automation workflows, experimental features), Peter shares hard-earned insights on building AI capabilities through process re-engineering rather than simple automation.
Technical insights for CTOs and engineering leaders:
• 🏗️ Portfolio approach: balancing quick wins with experimental high-impact projects
• ⚡ Prototype-first methodology for validating AI solutions before full development
• 🤖 Reality gap between agentic AI hype and production deployment complexity
• 👥 Organic adoption strategies that scale without top-down mandates
• 🔧 Custom GPT frameworks for non-technical subject matter experts
• 📊 Why most AI work is integration, scaffolding, and deployment—not just AI
• 🔄 Process re-engineering with AI: changing workflows rather than automating existing inefficiencies
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#125 - Two CTO Dinosaurs vs. Today's Tech Hype with Raz Shuty // CTO @ auxmoney
What happens when two experienced CTOs sit down to debunk the latest tech trends? Raz Schweiger-Shuty, CTO at auxmoney, joins Tobi for an unfiltered discussion about the hypes, myths, and wastes of resources that plague modern tech companies.
After taking over a 17-year-old fintech platform with no prior CTO, Raz made controversial decisions that flew in the face of conventional wisdom: stopping a microservices migration, questioning Kubernetes adoption, and focusing on measurable business value over engineering trends. His ""dinosaur CTO"" perspective offers a refreshing antidote to tech hype.
This conversation cuts through the noise with practical insights on:
• 🚫 Why every monolith-to-microservices story ends the same way (spoiler: badly)
• 💰 Reducing cloud costs from €120k to €85k through systematic waste elimination
• 🔧 When Kubernetes complexity becomes a liability rather than an asset
• 📊 Using DORA metrics and cost-per-transaction instead of vanity metrics
• 🏗️ Building modular monoliths with domain-driven design principles
• 👥 Organizing engineering teams around business value streams, not technology stacks
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#124 - The Path to AGI: Inside poolside’s AI Model Factory for Code with Eiso Kant
How do you build a foundation model that can write code at a human level? Eiso Kant (CTO & co-founder, Poolside) reveals the technical architecture, distributed team strategies, and reinforcement learning breakthroughs powering one of Europe’s most ambitious AI startups. Learn how Poolside operates 10,000+ H200s, runs the world’s largest code execution RL environment, and why CTOs must rethink engineering orgs for an agent-driven future.
Acerca de alphalist.CTO Podcast - For CTOs and Technical Leaders
This podcast features interviews of CTOs and other technical leadership figures and topics range from technology (AI, blockchain, cyber, DevOps, Web Architecture, etc.) to management (e.g. scaling, structuring teams, mentoring, technical recruiting, product etc.).
Guests from leading tech companies share their best practices and knowledge.
The goal is to support other CTOs on their journey through tech and engineering, inspire and allow a sneak-peek into other successful companies to understand how they think and act. Get awesome insights into the world‘s top tech companies, personalities with this podcast brought to you by Tobias Schlottke.
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