Modern CTO

Is the Specialist Executive Dead? with Mahesh Guruswamy, COO at Kajabi 20.07.2026 41мин

We were told to specialize endlessly…now, AI is here. Today, we're talking to Mahesh Guruswamy, COO of Kajabi. We discuss why the specialist executive is becoming extinct as tech gets commoditized, how "AI fatigue" is really grief over eroding craft rather than exhaustion, and why the biggest threat to the AI boom might be economics, not technology. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!  To learn more about Mahesh's course, check it out here.

Tech Titans: Go From Burnt Out to Fired Up with Justin Fanelli, Department of Navy CTO 16.07.2026 16мин

If you’re feeling burnt out, it’s not the work you’re doing. It’s the mission you’re on. Today, we're talking to Justin Fanelli, Chief Technology Officer of the Department of the Navy. We discuss why direct communication is fuel rather than friction, how the most driven government workers are often the ones who've already "made it" elsewhere, and why burnout has almost nothing to do with hours worked and everything to do with whether you feel connected to something bigger. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! 

Can this Company Fix America’s Broken Food System? with Luiz Beling, CEO of Apeel Sciences 13.07.2026 38мин

Why did a smear campaign almost take out this anti-food waste company? Today, we're talking to Luiz Beling, CEO at Apeel, about how a company that captured 60% of the U.S. avocado market can lose it almost overnight to a coordinated smear campaign. We discuss why narrative security now matters as much as cybersecurity, how a childhood kidnapping in Brazil quietly shaped his approach to crisis leadership, and why the real fix for food waste isn't more supply. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Apeel, check out their website here.

Confronting Plummeting Birth Rates & Banning Superintelligence with Connor Leahy, US Director at ControlAI 09.07.2026 56мин

He’s 31, and nobody he knows is having kids. Tech is to blame, but what’s the solution? Today, we're talking to Connor Leahy, US Director at ControlAI. We discuss why plummeting birth rates look eerily similar to what happens when zoo animals stop breeding, how ideas can spread and cause real harm the same way diseases do, and why the safest path with superintelligence might be to ban it outright rather than pretend we already understand it. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about ControlAI, check out their website here

Are Engineers Redundant Now? with Hrishi Dixit, Co-Founder & CTO of Autonomy Finance 06.07.2026 56мин

Developers, how confident are you in the future of your job? Today, we're catching up with Hrishi Dixit, cofounder and CTO of Autonomy Finance, about what actually happens when you hand the keys to AI in a regulated industry — why the first pass of AI-generated code is never shippable, how a commingled client data hallucination can end a company overnight, and why the engineers who survive the AI wave won't be the ones who write the most code, but the ones who know exactly when the machine is about to get someone killed. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Autonomy Finance, check out their website here.

Where Do We Draw the Line on Letting AI Build? With Zach Goldberg, CEO at Gruntwork 02.07.2026 47мин

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.

Why do 81% of Mature AI Programs Get Rolled Back? with Daniel Morris, CPO at Sinch 29.06.2026 46мин

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.

How Snapchat is Evolving in the Age of AI with Saral Jain, SVP, Head of Engineering 25.06.2026 28мин

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!

Why Kubernetes Still Feels So Hard & What to Do About It with Steve Francis, CEO of Sidero Labs 22.06.2026 52мин

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.

Why Does AI Momentum Stall in Large Organizations? with Kyle Lagunas & Allyn Bailey 18.06.2026 54мин

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.

Are Apps Going to Get Axed by Conversational AI? with Jacques Klick, Director of Market Strategy at Sinch 15.06.2026 52мин

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.

When Will Robots Live With Us? Inside 1X's NEO with Dar Sleeper, VP of Design & Product 11.06.2026 49мин

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

The 5 Levels of AI Coding & the Collapse of Human-Written Code with Trevor Hinesley, Co-Founder & CTO at Soundstripe 08.06.2026 47мин

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.

Marty Cagan on Product Management Theater in the Age of AI 04.06.2026 48мин

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.

From Mammoths to Humans: The Case for Gene Editing with Eriona Hysolli 01.06.2026 52мин

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.

Why Your AI Has No Idea What's Happening in the World with Campbell Brown, CEO & Co-Founder of PredictHQ 28.05.2026 42мин

Understanding the real world is the biggest potential advantage of AI. Today, we're talking to Campbell Brown, CEO and cofounder of PredictHQ, about the layer of real-world intelligence that AI models are still missing. We discuss why 65% of unexplained demand spikes come down to something most businesses completely ignore, how a New Zealand car rental company became the data backbone for Uber and Expedia, why the era of reading API documentation is effectively over, and what it actually means to "eat stress" as a founder — and why reconciling it matters just as much. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about PredictHQ, check out their website here.

Are Our Brains Wired Together? The Power of the Mind in Business & Beyond with Moran Cerf, Neuroscientist & Professor 25.05.2026 59мин

If you understand this about your brain, you’ll be unstoppable. Today, we're talking to Moran Cerf, neuroscientist and professor, about why the hidden signals shaping human behavior have more in common with ants and fish than we'd like to admit, how smell — not vision — may be the most underestimated force behind the decisions we make, why brains in the same room quietly synchronize whether their owners agree or not, and what it actually means when an alien looking down from the moon asks what the humans are building. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Moran's work, check out his website here.

Why Being the Best at Your Job Is Holding You Back with Bill Tingle, Executive Coach for Tech Leaders 21.05.2026 35мин

If you’re trying to get ahead and you’re the best at your job, then we have bad news for you. Today, we're talking to executive coach Bill Tingle. We discuss why being the best at your job is actually holding you back, how executive presence goes far deeper than confidence or gravitas, and why building the right relationships matters more than any result you'll ever deliver. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Bill's coaching, check out his website here.

Tech Titans: Learn How to Remix as a Leader with Michael Grinich, founder at WorkOS 18.05.2026 20мин

Every product and piece of art you love is a ripoff…and that’s a good thing. Today, we're talking to Michael Grinich, founder of WorkOS. We discuss why copying great work is a sign of maturity rather than weakness, how the best builders draw inspiration from wildly different industries, and why the most enduring motivation in tech is really just a form of suffering. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about WorkOS, check out their website here.

Tech Titans: Your Team Should be Acting or Arguing with Brendan Wovchko, CTO at Ramsey Solutions 14.05.2026 22мин

If you’re not arguing with your team, you might be making a big mistake. Today, we're bringing you timeless advice from Brendan Wovchko, CTO at Ramsey Solutions. We discuss why most organizations have a shared urgency problem and what to do about it, how the "act or argue" principle can transform your team culture, and why the best technologists are still driven by mission instead of money or status. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast! To learn more about Ramsey Solutions, check out their website here.