Today's guest is Michael Lopp, better known as Rands, who is writer of several popular books about engineering management, including "Managing Humans", which is a personal favorite of mine.

Live at LDX3, we discussed his lifelong writing habit, the importance of giving feedback through stories and the leverage of leadership experience in the AI era.

(00:00) Episode start

(00:40) A live chat with Rands at LeadDev

(02:10) How to collect and write great leadership stories

(03:38) Sponsor break

(05:13) Writing as a habit: from journals to 14,000 readers

(08:09) The power of naming things

(10:20) Using stories to give feedback without being directive

(12:40) Introverts, extroverts, and bringing calm to explosive situations

(15:09) Tinkering with AI: joy, interns, and daily delight

(19:18) "I was wrong" why managers should code again

(21:54) Do we still need middle managers in the AI era?

(27:40) The accountants analogy: why more productivity creates more jobs

(36:25) Managing Robots: the book that's coming

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Today's episode is brought to you by Unblocked.

Unblocked is the context layer for modern engineering teams.

Get a free three-week trial at https://getunblocked.com/refactoring

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You can also find this at:

• 📬 Newsletter: https://refactoring.fm

• 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Luds9dmzZDoDC8Q7EMbSw

• 📱 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/refactoring-podcast/id1719137305

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For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, or appearing as a guest, email: luca@refactoring.club

Today's guest is Lara Hogan, an author, public speaker and coach for managers and leaders across the whole tech industry. And she's had a long career as VP of engineering at FLY, Kickstarter, Director Etsy and more.

So with Lara we talked about her journey in tech, which started with a philosophy degree. And then, taking from her work as a coach, we talked more about how successful teams are adopting AI and what you can do to make engineers feel safe about it. And finally, we explored the Biceps framework and how you can better understand people's needs at work.

(00:00) Episode start

(01:25) Introduction

(02:59) Why nuanced AI takes matter more than slogans

(04:25) Sponsor break

(08:54) From philosophy major to engineering director

(15:09) Becoming a manager

(18:54) Do humanities give you an edge in the AI era?

(22:04) Teams thriving with AI vs teams struggling

(28:03) Setting clear expectations without creating fear

(35:52) The AHA meetings: sharing learnings, not just wins

(41:40) The BICEPS framework

(47:18) When frustration isn't curiosity

(52:58) Reflect back what you hear

—

Today's episode is brought to you by Unblocked.

Unblocked is the context layer for modern engineering teams.

Get a free three-week trial at getunblocked.com/refactoring

—

You can also find this at:

• 📬 Newsletter: https://refactoring.fm

• 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Luds9dmzZDoDC8Q7EMbSw

• 📱 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/refactoring-podcast/id1719137305

—

For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, or appearing as a guest, email: luca@refactoring.club

Today's guest is James Stanier, CTO at Nordhealth, former director at Shopify, an author of several books about engineering management, remote work, and more.

With James, we talked about what senior engineers will look like in the future, taking from a great article he wrote just recently, and then regarding how engineering management is changing, what's expected of managers today, and what you need to thrive.

We also talked about AI adoption in his team, in our personal respective lives, and discussed the state of remote work in 2026.

(00:00) Episode start

(01:25) Introduction

(02:05) Senior engineers in 2035

(05:11) Sponsor break

(06:45) Level of abstraction: from compilers to AI

(10:17) Excited engineers and worried engineers

(12:44) The bifurcation: vibe coders vs platform engineers

(16:51) Engineering managing role changes

(23:21) Managing time with expanding roles

(28:32) Are hierarchies flattening?

(36:25) AI adoption in James' team

(41:27) What's hard in the AI era

(44:36) AI as a personal assistant

(50:05) Remote work in 2026

-

Today's episode is brought to you by Unblocked.

Unblocked is the context layer for modern engineering teams.

Get a free three-week trial at getunblocked.com/refactoring

-

You can also find this at:

• 📬 Newsletter: https://refactoring.fm

• 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Luds9dmzZDoDC8Q7EMbSw

• 📱 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/refactoring-podcast/id1719137305

—

For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, or appearing as a guest, email: luca@refactoring.club