Leadership is an important if often-overlooked quality in the technology industry. However, it is also a complex and multi-faceted thing: it isn't a discrete set of skills, but rather an ability to respond and adapt to the needs of a situation, team or individual. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Ricardo Cavalcanti (Caval) and Arturo Santos from Thoughtworks Brazil join hosts Alexey Boas and Scott Shaw to discuss their experiences of leadership and offer their perspective on the value of building a diverse repertoire of leadership styles.

Leadership is an important if often-overlooked quality in the technology industry. However, it is also a complex and multi-faceted thing: it isn't a discrete set of skills, but rather an ability to respond and adapt to the needs of a situation, team or individual. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Ricardo Cavalcanti (Caval) and Arturo Santos from Thoughtworks Brazil join hosts Alexey Boas and Scott Shaw to discuss their experiences of leadership and offer their perspective on the value of building a diverse repertoire of leadership styles.

Leadership styles in technology teams

Design leader and Thoughtworks alumnus Emma Carter recently published her second book, DesignedUp. In it, she explains how designers can win a seat at the leadership table inside technolology organizations and become effective evangelists and advocates for good design principles and practices. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Emma joins hosts Rebecca Parsons and Scott Shaw to discuss her new book and talks through some of the challenges designers face in even the most forward-thinking technology companies. She highlights that design is, today, far more than just UI design — it can, and should, touch many parts of an organization, ensuring that products and services are properly aligned with the aims, goals and needs of users. You can find Emma's book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/DesignedUp-Emma-Carter/dp/1032202017/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=

Design leader and Thoughtworks alumnus Emma Carter recently published her second book, DesignedUp. In it, she explains how designers can win a seat at the leadership table inside technolology organizations and become effective evangelists and advocates for good design principles and practices. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Emma joins hosts Rebecca Parsons and Scott Shaw to discuss her new book and talks through some of the challenges designers face in even the most forward-thinking technology companies. She highlights that design is, today, far more than just UI design — it can, and should, touch many parts of an organization, ensuring that products and services are properly aligned with the aims, goals and needs of users. You can find Emma's book on Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/DesignedUp-Emma-Carter/dp/1032202017/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/DesignedUp-Emma-Carter/dp/1032202017/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=</a>

Making design matter in technology organizations

Thoughtworks recently established a new role — Chief AI Officer. Taking up the position is Mike Mason, a veteran of Thoughtworks with over 20 years at the company, in technology roles spanning developer to technology strategist and author (and occasional Technology Podcast host). Mike will help guide Thoughtworks AI strategy and ensure that we're equipped to support clients trying to leverage AI.  In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Mike talks with hosts Neal Ford and Prem Chandrasekaran about his new role and explains why it's important that the company has someone leading on AI. He also discusses the hype, opportunities and risks of generative AI that — high on everyone's agenda at the moment — and explores how it might change knowledge work in general and software engineering more specifically. Listen as Mike talks through some of his own experiments with ChatGPT and offers his perspective on its likely impact on jobs in the months and years to come.

Thoughtworks recently established a new role — Chief AI Officer. Taking up the position is Mike Mason, a veteran of Thoughtworks with over 20 years at the company, in technology roles spanning developer to technology strategist and author (and occasional Technology Podcast host). Mike will help guide Thoughtworks AI strategy and ensure that we're equipped to support clients trying to leverage AI.  In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Mike talks with hosts Neal Ford and Prem Chandrasekaran about his new role and explains why it's important that the company has someone leading on AI. He also discusses the hype, opportunities and risks of generative AI that — high on everyone's agenda at the moment — and explores how it might change knowledge work in general and software engineering more specifically. Listen as Mike talks through some of his own experiments with ChatGPT and offers his perspective on its likely impact on jobs in the months and years to come.

Generative AI and the future of knowledge work

It seems obvious to say that mobile usage has grown dramatically over the last decade, but for businesses that have to move to accomodate this type of user behavior, it presents many challenges. While some have successfully gone all-in on mobile experiences, for others, trying to build effectively for multiple channels is as much an organizational challenge as it is a product one. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, hosts Scott Shaw and Birgitta Böckeler are joined by Head of Technology Alexandra Lovin and Principal Mobile Consultant Andres Kievsky to discuss the current state of play in mobile development. They discuss the challenges of scaling mobile delivery, taking in everything from addressing privacy issues to application architecture.

It seems obvious to say that mobile usage has grown dramatically over the last decade, but for businesses that have to move to accomodate this type of user behavior, it presents many challenges. While some have successfully gone all-in on mobile experiences, for others, trying to build effectively for multiple channels is as much an organizational challenge as it is a product one. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, hosts Scott Shaw and Birgitta Böckeler are joined by Head of Technology Alexandra Lovin and Principal Mobile Consultant Andres Kievsky to discuss the current state of play in mobile development. They discuss the challenges of scaling mobile delivery, taking in everything from addressing privacy issues to application architecture.

Scaling mobile delivery

A changing regulatory environment has made it more important than ever for organizations to embed privacy in their data infrastructure. Doing so, however, can be complicated — that means data scientists have an vital role to play in ensuring privacy is a key concern from both a technical and commercial perspective.  Thoughtworker and data scientist Katharine Jarmul is eager to help fellow data scientists master privacy principles and techniques. Her new book, Practical Data Privacy, covers everything from the fundamentals of governance and anonymization through to advanced approaches to data privacy like federated learning and encrypted computation. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Katharine joins hosts Rebecca Parsons and Birgitta Böckeler to discuss the book and explain why data scientists need to be on the frontline in the fight for privacy.  Find Practical Data Privacy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Data-Privacy-Enhancing-Security/dp/1098129466

A changing regulatory environment has made it more important than ever for organizations to embed privacy in their data infrastructure. Doing so, however, can be complicated — that means data scientists have an vital role to play in ensuring privacy is a key concern from both a technical and commercial perspective.  Thoughtworker and data scientist Katharine Jarmul is eager to help fellow data scientists master privacy principles and techniques. Her new book, Practical Data Privacy, covers everything from the fundamentals of governance and anonymization through to advanced approaches to data privacy like federated learning and encrypted computation. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Katharine joins hosts Rebecca Parsons and Birgitta Böckeler to discuss the book and explain why data scientists need to be on the frontline in the fight for privacy.  Find Practical Data Privacy on Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Data-Privacy-Enhancing-Security/dp/1098129466" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Data-Privacy-Enhancing-Security/dp/1098129466</a>

Making privacy a first-class citizen in data science

When cloud first hit the mainstream more than a decade ago, its attraction was rooted, in part, in its apparent elegance and simplicity. As it has become an established norm in the industry, such simplicity has given way to more fragmentation and complexity. The growth of "multi-cloud" and adjacent terms such as "hybrid cloud" and "poly cloud" mean that cloud is a field that needs to be sensitively navigated by technology leaders and their organizations. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, hosts Neal Ford and Prem Chandrasekaran discuss multi-cloud with Thoughtworks colleagues Rashmi Tambe and Sunit Parekh, who co-lead the Enterprise Modernization, Platforms and Cloud service line. In the episode they discuss terminology, the challenges of migrating to multiple cloud platforms, governance issues and some common antipatterns. They also offer advice for teams considering exploring the potential of multi-cloud.

When cloud first hit the mainstream more than a decade ago, its attraction was rooted, in part, in its apparent elegance and simplicity. As it has become an established norm in the industry, such simplicity has given way to more fragmentation and complexity. The growth of "multi-cloud" and adjacent terms such as "hybrid cloud" and "poly cloud" mean that cloud is a field that needs to be sensitively navigated by technology leaders and their organizations. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, hosts Neal Ford and Prem Chandrasekaran discuss multi-cloud with Thoughtworks colleagues Rashmi Tambe and Sunit Parekh, who co-lead the Enterprise Modernization, Platforms and Cloud service line. In the episode they discuss terminology, the challenges of migrating to multiple cloud platforms, governance issues and some common antipatterns. They also offer advice for teams considering exploring the potential of multi-cloud.

Multi-cloud: Exploring the challenges and opportunities

Global craft marketplace Etsy has grown at an impressive rate in recent years. From 2019 to 2021 sales and revenue tripled. This growth has been enabled by a significant technology modernization project which, amazingly, was completed just weeks before the Coronavirus pandemic erupted in March 2020, the start of a period in which millions of people took to Etsy to purchase cloth face masks. Without the modernized systems and infrastructure, Etsy would have struggled to cope with consumer demand. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Mike Mason is joined by Etsy's Chief Architect Keyur Govande, the company's former CTO Mike Fisher and Thoughtworks North America Technical Director Tim Cochran to discuss how Etsy tackled the challenge of scaling to meet the needs of its expanding market. They talk through the technical challenges and the organizational focus required to scale in a way that was sustainable for the business yet impactful for Etsy's users. Read Tim Cochran's article about evolving Etsy's culture on martinfowler.com:  https://martinfowler.com/articles/bottlenecks-of-scaleups/etsy-product-delivery-culture.html  ...And his piece on using the cloud to scale: https://martinfowler.com/articles/bottlenecks-of-scaleups/etsy-cloud-scale.html Learn more about Thoughtworks partnership with Etsy: https://www.thoughtworks.com/clients/retail-ecommerce/etsy-scaling

Global craft marketplace Etsy has grown at an impressive rate in recent years. From 2019 to 2021 sales and revenue tripled. This growth has been enabled by a significant technology modernization project which, amazingly, was completed just weeks before the Coronavirus pandemic erupted in March 2020, the start of a period in which millions of people took to Etsy to purchase cloth face masks. Without the modernized systems and infrastructure, Etsy would have struggled to cope with consumer demand. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Mike Mason is joined by Etsy's Chief Architect Keyur Govande, the company's former CTO Mike Fisher and Thoughtworks North America Technical Director Tim Cochran to discuss how Etsy tackled the challenge of scaling to meet the needs of its expanding market. They talk through the technical challenges and the organizational focus required to scale in a way that was sustainable for the business yet impactful for Etsy's users. Read Tim Cochran's article about evolving Etsy's culture on <a href="http://martinfowler.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">martinfowler.com</a>: <a href="https://martinfowler.com/articles/bottlenecks-of-scaleups/etsy-product-delivery-culture.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://martinfowler.com/articles/bottlenecks-of-scaleups/etsy-product-delivery-culture.html</a> ...And his piece on using the cloud to scale: <a href="https://martinfowler.com/articles/bottlenecks-of-scaleups/etsy-cloud-scale.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://martinfowler.com/articles/bottlenecks-of-scaleups/etsy-cloud-scale.html</a> Learn more about Thoughtworks partnership with Etsy: <a href="https://www.thoughtworks.com/clients/retail-ecommerce/etsy-scaling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.thoughtworks.com/clients/retail-ecommerce/etsy-scaling</a>

Scaling up at Etsy

When we think about machine learning today we often think in terms of immense scale — large language models that require huge amounts of computational power, for example. But one of the most interesting innovations in machine learning right now is actually happening on a really small scale. Thanks to TinyML, models can now be run on small devices at the edge of a network. This has significant implications for the future of many different fields, from automated vehicles to security and privacy. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, hosts Scott Shaw and Rebecca Parsons are joined by Andy Nolan, Director of Emerging Technology at Thoughtworks Australia, and Matt Kelcey of Edge Impulse, to discuss what TinyML means for our understanding of machine learning as a discipline and how it could help drive innovation in the years to come.

When we think about machine learning today we often think in terms of immense scale — large language models that require huge amounts of computational power, for example. But one of the most interesting innovations in machine learning right now is actually happening on a really small scale. Thanks to TinyML, models can now be run on small devices at the edge of a network. This has significant implications for the future of many different fields, from automated vehicles to security and privacy. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, hosts Scott Shaw and Rebecca Parsons are joined by Andy Nolan, Director of Emerging Technology at Thoughtworks Australia, and Matt Kelcey of Edge Impulse, to discuss what TinyML means for our understanding of machine learning as a discipline and how it could help drive innovation in the years to come.

TinyML: Bringing machine learning to the edge

We often describe our high-tech and digitally mediated world as "complex" but we rarely spend much time considering how that complexity can be cleverly deployed as a means of duping or manipulating us. However, trends like NFTs have brought this into clearer view. This is not to say it's a novel phenomenon — from dark patterns in UX design to pages and pages of end-user license agreements (EULAs), leveraging complexity for nefarious ends has long been an unsavory aspect of the technology industry. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Mike Mason and Neal Ford are joined by Thoughtworks designer Kate Linton and Thoughtworks North America Head of Legal Jeremy Gordon to discuss what they describe as "the weaponization of complexity." Together, they grapple with the cynicism at the center of such activities and discuss some of the ways we can tackle it.

We often describe our high-tech and digitally mediated world as "complex" but we rarely spend much time considering how that complexity can be cleverly deployed as a means of duping or manipulating us. However, trends like NFTs have brought this into clearer view. This is not to say it's a novel phenomenon — from dark patterns in UX design to pages and pages of end-user license agreements (EULAs), leveraging complexity for nefarious ends has long been an unsavory aspect of the technology industry. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Mike Mason and Neal Ford are joined by Thoughtworks designer Kate Linton and Thoughtworks North America Head of Legal Jeremy Gordon to discuss what they describe as "the weaponization of complexity." Together, they grapple with the cynicism at the center of such activities and discuss some of the ways we can tackle it.

The weaponization of complexity

The Thoughtworks Technology Radar is a snapshot of technologies and practices that the company believes the industry should be interested in, based on the actual experiences of Thoughtworkers working with clients.  With its first edition launched in January 2010, it is now a fixture of the Thoughtworks calendar, released twice a year in the spring and fall.  Although it has been around for more than a decade, we're well aware that people have lots of questions about it. One comes up more than others: how do you actually put it together? Giving a good, short answer is difficult — for those involved, it's a long process involving various stages of writing, debate and deliberation.   However, with the next edition of the Radar — volume 28 — just weeks away, we wanted to give the world an insight into how we put Technology Radar together. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Marisa Hoenig, Perla Villareal and Camilla Crispim join host Neal Ford to discuss the work that goes into producing it and what the experience is like.

The Thoughtworks Technology Radar is a snapshot of technologies and practices that the company believes the industry should be interested in, based on the actual experiences of Thoughtworkers working with clients. With its first edition launched in January 2010, it is now a fixture of the Thoughtworks calendar, released twice a year in the spring and fall. Although it has been around for more than a decade, we're well aware that people have lots of questions about it. One comes up more than others: how do you actually put it together? Giving a good, short answer is difficult — for those involved, it's a long process involving various stages of writing, debate and deliberation.  However, with the next edition of the Radar — volume 28 — just weeks away, we wanted to give the world an insight into how we put Technology Radar together. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Marisa Hoenig, Perla Villareal and Camilla Crispim join host Neal Ford to discuss the work that goes into producing it and what the experience is like.

How we put together the Technology Radar

The Thoughtworks podcast plunges deep into the latest tech topics that have captured our imagination. Join our panel of senior technologists to explore the most important trends in tech today, get frontline insights into our work developing cutting-edge tech and hear more about how today’s tech megatrends will impact you.

Covid-19 unleashed a wave of medical and pharmaceutical research and innovation across the world. In India, the government launched the Drug Discovery Hackathon, an initiative designed to bring together expertise in fields ranging from biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, machine learning and virology to discover new drugs that could help thwart the pandemic.  One team that took part was from Thoughtworks India. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, two of the members — Pooja Arora and Justin Jose — talk to Rebecca Parsons and Ashok Subramanian about a number of projects they worked on during the hackathon. Among other things, they explain how they used reinforcement learning to improve the efficacy of potential drugs in tackling what was, at the time, a virus that was only partially understood.

Covid-19 unleashed a wave of medical and pharmaceutical research and innovation across the world. In India, the government launched the Drug Discovery Hackathon, an initiative designed to bring together expertise in fields ranging from biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, machine learning and virology to discover new drugs that could help thwart the pandemic.  One team that took part was from Thoughtworks India. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, two of the members — Pooja Arora and Justin Jose — talk to Rebecca Parsons and Ashok Subramanian about a number of projects they worked on during the hackathon. Among other things, they explain how they used reinforcement learning to improve the efficacy of potential drugs in tackling what was, at the time, a virus that was only partially understood.

Inside India's Drug Discovery Hackathon

Serverless received significant attention when it first emerged in the middle of the 2010s. And although it has now entered the mainstream and is today used in a diverse range of scenarios and architectures, it nevertheless remains a topic that causes considerable confusion and debate: where should we use it? How should we use it? Sometimes, what even is it, exactly? In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Mike Mason and Prem Chandrasekaran are joined by former Thoughtworker Mike Roberts — author of "the canonical book on serverless," Programming AWS Lambda — to discuss the current state of serverless. They examine the ways that serverless is understood today and explore the impacts and challenges it has for both businesses and software developers.  Read Mike Roberts' book Programming AWS Lambda: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/programming-aws-lambda/9781492041047/ Read Mike's long-read on serverless on martinfowler.com: https://martinfowler.com/articles/serverless.html 

Serverless received significant attention when it first emerged in the middle of the 2010s. And although it has now entered the mainstream and is today used in a diverse range of scenarios and architectures, it nevertheless remains a topic that causes considerable confusion and debate: where should we use it? How should we use it? Sometimes, what even is it, exactly? In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Mike Mason and Prem Chandrasekaran are joined by former Thoughtworker Mike Roberts — author of "the canonical book on serverless," <a href="https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/programming-aws-lambda/9781492041047/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Programming AWS Lambda</a> — to discuss the current state of serverless. They examine the ways that serverless is understood today and explore the impacts and challenges it has for both businesses and software developers. <ul> <li>Read Mike Roberts' book Programming AWS Lambda: <a href="https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/programming-aws-lambda/9781492041047/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/programming-aws-lambda/9781492041047/</a></li> <li>Read Mike's long-read on serverless on <a href="http://martinfowler.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">martinfowler.com</a>: <a href="https://martinfowler.com/articles/serverless.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://martinfowler.com/articles/serverless.html</a></li> </ul>

Serverless in 2023

Rebecca Parsons

Thoughtworks CTO Rebecca Parsons has had a long and varied career in technology. Even before joining Thoughtworks in 1999, she completed a PhD, worked as a postdoc researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory and taught at the University of Central Florida. Becoming CTO in 2007, she has seen Thoughtworks — and the wider tech industry — evolve through a period in which the business mainstream has become increasingly comfortable with cutting-edge innovation. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Neal Ford and Birgitta Böckeler talk to Rebecca about her career, starting from Caterpillar warehouses in Peoria, Illinois, to being awarded the Technical Leadership Abie Award by AnitaB.org. It's the latest episode in our ongoing mini-series of Thoughtworker Journeys, offering an insight into the diverse and sometimes surprising experiences of technologists at Thoughtworks. Learn more about AnitaB.org: https://anitab.org/ Read the new edition of Rebecca's book, Building Evolutionary Architectures:  https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/books/building-evolutionaryarchitectures-second-edition

Thoughtworks CTO Rebecca Parsons has had a long and varied career in technology. Even before joining Thoughtworks in 1999, she completed a PhD, worked as a postdoc researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory and taught at the University of Central Florida. Becoming CTO in 2007, she has seen Thoughtworks — and the wider tech industry — evolve through a period in which the business mainstream has become increasingly comfortable with cutting-edge innovation. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Neal Ford and Birgitta Böckeler talk to Rebecca about her career, starting from Caterpillar warehouses in Peoria, Illinois, to being awarded the Technical Leadership Abie Award by <a href="http://AnitaB.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AnitaB.org</a>. It's the latest episode in our ongoing mini-series of Thoughtworker Journeys, offering an insight into the diverse and sometimes surprising experiences of technologists at Thoughtworks. Learn more about <a href="http://AnitaB.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AnitaB.org</a>: <a href="https://anitab.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://anitab.org/</a> Read the new edition of Rebecca's book, Building Evolutionary Architectures: <a href="https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/books/building-evolutionaryarchitectures-second-edition" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/books/building-evolutionaryarchitectures-second-edition</a>

My Thoughtworks journey: Rebecca Parsons

As an organization matures and grows, silos will inevitably emerge. That can pose problems, particularly in the relationship between product and engineering functions — friction can slow growth and make delivering at speed much more challenging than it was previously. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Thoughtworks CTO Rebecca Parsons is joined by colleagues Rick Kick (Head of Application and Platform Transformation in the Enterprise Modernization team for Thoughtworks North America) and Kennedy Collins (Head of Product and Design for the North America Central Market), alongside Anthony Maitz of Pariveda, to discuss how to manage the various frictions and tensions that can emerge as organizations scale. They cover a wide range of tactics and strategies to improve alignment between product and engineering, and offer an insight into what can actually be done to address a common scale-up growing pain. Read Rick and Kennedy's article discussed in the episode: https://martinfowler.com/articles/bottlenecks-of-scaleups/03-product-v-engineering.html

As an organization matures and grows, silos will inevitably emerge. That can pose problems, particularly in the relationship between product and engineering functions — friction can slow growth and make delivering at speed much more challenging than it was previously. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Thoughtworks CTO Rebecca Parsons is joined by colleagues Rick Kick (Head of Application and Platform Transformation in the Enterprise Modernization team for Thoughtworks North America) and Kennedy Collins (Head of Product and Design for the North America Central Market), alongside Anthony Maitz of Pariveda, to discuss how to manage the various frictions and tensions that can emerge as organizations scale. They cover a wide range of tactics and strategies to improve alignment between product and engineering, and offer an insight into what can actually be done to address a common scale-up growing pain. Read Rick and Kennedy's article discussed in the episode: <a href="https://martinfowler.com/articles/bottlenecks-of-scaleups/03-product-v-engineering.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://martinfowler.com/articles/bottlenecks-of-scaleups/03-product-v-engineering.html</a>

How to tackle friction between product and engineering in scale-ups

It's often said that technology moves quickly, but the decisions we make about it can have long-term consequences. That's why identifying these trends — and understanding what they mean — matters. At Thoughtworks we do that with our Looking Glass report. Our most recent edition was published at the end of 2022; it provides a useful framework for thinking through the major shifts that look set to happen across the industry in 2023.  In this episode of the Technology Podcast, regular hosts Mike Mason and Ken Mugrage take the guest seats to talk to Neal Ford about the six key trends in the latest Looking Glass. They explain why they were chosen before diving deeper into a selection of some of the most hotly debated trends that feature in the report, such as metaverse and Web3.  Explore the latest Looking Glass: https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/looking-glass Read Mike Mason's metaverse article (co-written with Barton Friedland) https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/articles/metaverse-practical-review 

It's often said that technology moves quickly, but the decisions we make about it can have long-term consequences. That's why identifying these trends — and understanding what they mean — matters. At Thoughtworks we do that with our <a href="https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/looking-glass" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Looking Glass report</a>. Our most recent edition was published at the end of 2022; it provides a useful framework for thinking through the major shifts that look set to happen across the industry in 2023.  In this episode of the Technology Podcast, regular hosts Mike Mason and Ken Mugrage take the guest seats to talk to Neal Ford about the six key trends in the latest Looking Glass. They explain why they were chosen before diving deeper into a selection of some of the most hotly debated trends that feature in the report, such as metaverse and Web3. <ul> <li>Explore the latest Looking Glass: <a href="https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/looking-glass" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/looking-glass</a></li> <li>Read Mike Mason's metaverse article (co-written with Barton Friedland) <a href="https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/articles/metaverse-practical-review" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/articles/metaverse-practical-review</a></li> </ul>

Six key technology trends for 2023

Despite the term being coined two decades ago by Eric Evans, domain-driven design has arguably become more relevant than ever in software engineering, thanks to the rise of cloud and highly complex distributed systems. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Alexey Boas and Ashok Subramanian are joined by Prem Chandrasekaran and  Karthik Krishnan — authors of the new book  Domain-Driven Design with Java — to discuss DDD and how it has developed over the last 20 years. They explore how DDD can help us respond to complexity and talk about the perspectives they put forward in their book.

Despite the term being coined two decades ago by Eric Evans, domain-driven design has arguably become more relevant than ever in software engineering, thanks to the rise of cloud and highly complex distributed systems. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Alexey Boas and Ashok Subramanian are joined by Prem Chandrasekaran and  Karthik Krishnan — authors of the new book <a href="https://www.packtpub.com/product/domain-driven-design-with-java-a-practitioners-guide/9781800560734" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Domain-Driven Design with Java</a> — to discuss DDD and how it has developed over the last 20 years. They explore how DDD can help us respond to complexity and talk about the perspectives they put forward in their book.

Tackling system complexity with domain-driven design

The issue of accessibility in relation to technology and software has gained increased attention in recent years. While few would disagree that it's important, it nevertheless remains something that is all too often overlooked or viewed as a luxury when it comes to actually building products. This is unfortunate: taking accessibility seriously throughout the process of development and design will not only help foster a more equitable industry, it will also lead to better products for everyone. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Scott Shaw and Prem Chandrasekaran are joined by Kate Linton and Katie Peterson to discuss the importance of shifting accessibility left — making it a first-order concern that's part of the earliest stage of the product development lifecycle. They explore why many companies are failing on accessibility, how it can be done properly and the wider benefits of such a shift.

The issue of accessibility in relation to technology and software has gained increased attention in recent years. While few would disagree that it's important, it nevertheless remains something that is all too often overlooked or viewed as a luxury when it comes to actually building products. This is unfortunate: taking accessibility seriously throughout the process of development and design will not only help foster a more equitable industry, it will also lead to better products for everyone. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Scott Shaw and Prem Chandrasekaran are joined by Kate Linton and Katie Peterson to discuss the importance of shifting accessibility left — making it a first-order concern that's part of the earliest stage of the product development lifecycle. They explore why many companies are failing on accessibility, how it can be done properly and the wider benefits of such a shift.

Shifting left on accessibility

Data Mesh is one of the most powerful and widely-discussed concepts to emerge from Thoughtworks in recent years. As the world becomes increasingly aware of the risks and challenges data can pose — from the perspective of both privacy and organizational effectiveness — it has only become more relevant. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Zhamak Dehghani (Thoughtworks alumnus and author of O'Reilly's Data Mesh: Delivering Data Driven Value at Scale) and Emily Gorcenski join Rebecca Parsons and Birgitta Böckeler to discuss Data Mesh's place in the industry today, more than three years on from the first time we discussed the topic on the podcast. Together they explore some of the challenges organizations face when adopting it and what its future looks like, as it continues to push the world to rethink data centralization.

Data Mesh is one of the most powerful and widely-discussed concepts to emerge from Thoughtworks in recent years. As the world becomes increasingly aware of the risks and challenges data can pose — from the perspective of both privacy and organizational effectiveness — it has only become more relevant. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Zhamak Dehghani (Thoughtworks alumnus and author of O'Reilly's <a href="https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/books/data-mesh" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Data Mesh: Delivering Data Driven Value at Scale</a>) and Emily Gorcenski join Rebecca Parsons and Birgitta Böckeler to discuss Data Mesh's place in the industry today, more than three years on from <a href="https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/podcasts/technology-podcasts/data-mesh" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">the first time we discussed the topic on the podcast</a>. Together they explore some of the challenges organizations face when adopting it and what its future looks like, as it continues to push the world to rethink data centralization.

Data Mesh revisited

Low-code and no-code development platforms have been heralded in recent years as a solution to engineering talent gaps and as a trend that will properly democratize technology, allowing even non-coders to build applications from scratch. However, despite the marketing rhetoric, such platforms pose considerable challenges: how do they fit alongside existing development projects? To what extent do they enable or restrict our ability to build the kinds of software we want and need?  In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Neal Ford and Mike Mason are joined by Scott Shaw and Xu Hao to discuss the state of play in the world of low-code and no-code. They explore the different types of platforms that have emerged in the space and ask what organizations need to consider before they invest time, energy and money in integrating them.

Low-code and no-code development platforms have been heralded in recent years as a solution to engineering talent gaps and as a trend that will properly democratize technology, allowing even non-coders to build applications from scratch. However, despite the marketing rhetoric, such platforms pose considerable challenges: how do they fit alongside existing development projects? To what extent do they enable or restrict our ability to build the kinds of software we want and need?  In this episode of the Technology Podcast, Neal Ford and Mike Mason are joined by Scott Shaw and Xu Hao to discuss the state of play in the world of low-code and no-code. They explore the different types of platforms that have emerged in the space and ask what organizations need to consider before they invest time, energy and money in integrating them.

Low-code/no-code platforms: The 10% trap and the limits of abstractions

For many who have been part of the recent migration of users from Twitter to Mastodon, their first encounters with the "fediverse" have been puzzling, even disorienting. Given a decade in which we've all grown accustomed to the affordances of corporate social media, it's not surprising people have questions: How does it work, exactly? How am I supposed to use it?  With so much current interest in the platform — and the wider ecosystem of which it is a part — in this special bonus episode of the Technology Podcast, Birgitta Böckeler digs into the technology and culture of Mastodon with the help of Effy Elden, Moritz Heiber and Julien Deswaef, three Thoughtworkers that have been long-time residents of the fediverse. They discuss how Mastodon works, how it sits within the broader decentralized social media landscape and whether this move to Mastodon marks the start of a new chapter in how the world views social media.

For many who have been part of the recent migration of users from Twitter to Mastodon, their first encounters with the "fediverse" have been puzzling, even disorienting. Given a decade in which we've all grown accustomed to the affordances of corporate social media, it's not surprising people have questions: How does it work, exactly? How am I supposed to use it?  With so much current interest in the platform — and the wider ecosystem of which it is a part — in this special bonus episode of the Technology Podcast, Birgitta Böckeler digs into the technology and culture of Mastodon with the help of Effy Elden, Moritz Heiber and Julien Deswaef, three Thoughtworkers that have been long-time residents of the fediverse. They discuss how Mastodon works, how it sits within the broader decentralized social media landscape and whether this move to Mastodon marks the start of a new chapter in how the world views social media.

Welcome to the fediverse: Exploring Mastodon, ActivityPub and beyond [Special]

I love ThoughWorks podcasts, this is one of the best ways of learning technology and business directly from the industry experts. For some reason the audio recoding is not consistent or tuned for Podcasts. For example if you listed to Microservices as complex systems podcast - the guest speaker James Lewis. James&#39; voice sounds like he is speaking in a conference room far away from microphone. The listener has to put a lot of effort to listed to these which is not desrirable. Can Thoughworks do some post-processing to enhance the listening experience  before publishing the podcasts ?

audio quality

Thoughtworks Technology Podcast

The allure of cloud, with its promises of cost benefits, greater stability and more recently as the lynchpin of digital transformation, is well understood. But if such promises are to be realized, tech leaders need to think beyond just lifting and shifting on-prem applications into the cloud. In this episode, we’re delighted to welcome a new co-host to our team: Ashok Subramanian, Head of Technology, ThoughtWorks UK. He’s joined by our regular host Alexey Boas and special guest, Alexandre Goedert, Head of Technology, ThoughtWorks Chile. Together they explore what cloud migration means today, now that the big three cloud platform providers have practically met feature parity. They look at the implications of cloud-to-cloud migration and help uncover some of the hidden costs.

The allure of cloud, with its promises of cost benefits, greater stability and more recently as the lynchpin of digital transformation, is well understood. But if such promises are to be realized, tech leaders need to think beyond just lifting and shifting on-prem applications into the cloud. In this episode, we’re delighted to welcome a new co-host to our team: Ashok Subramanian, Head of Technology, ThoughtWorks UK. He’s joined by our regular host Alexey Boas and special guest, Alexandre Goedert, Head of Technology, ThoughtWorks Chile. Together they explore what cloud migration means today, now that the big three cloud platform providers have practically met feature parity. They look at the implications of cloud-to-cloud migration and help uncover some of the hidden costs.

Cloud migration is a journey not a destination

Martin Fowler

In the latest episode, our regular co-hosts Rebecca Parsons and Neal Ford are joined by colleague and software luminary, Martin Fowler, to talk about his journey with ThoughtWorks. Together they explore Martin’s life before ThoughtWorks, how he came to join and what it is that’s persuaded him to stay for more than 20 years. They also delve into how Martin’s bliki emerged as an essential guide to all things software and about his passion for enabling everyone to take more control of their computers — and how to do so while maintaining things like code quality and maintainability.

In the latest episode, our regular co-hosts Rebecca Parsons and Neal Ford are joined by colleague and software luminary, Martin Fowler, to talk about his journey with ThoughtWorks. Together they explore Martin’s life before ThoughtWorks, how he came to join and what it is that’s persuaded him to stay for more than 20 years. They also delve into how Martin’s bliki emerged as an essential guide to all things software and about his passion for enabling everyone to take more control of their computers — and how to do so while maintaining things like code quality and maintainability.

Martin Fowler: my ThoughtWorks journey

Rebecca Parsons talks to Neal Ford and Mark Richards about their new book that promises to become the definitive guide to software architecture. The book provides a concise overview on what's needed to become a software architect.

Rebecca Parsons talks to Neal Ford and Mark Richards about their new book that promises to become the definitive guide to software architecture. The book provides a concise overview on what's needed to become a software architect.

Fundamentals of Software Architecture

Any developer that’s moved from an object-oriented language to a functional one knows how disconcerting the shift can be. It demands a completely different mindset. In this episode, our regular co-hosts Neal Ford and Alexey Villas Boas talk to Gregorio Melo about functional programming. He’s just written a book about functional programming, using Clojure as its basis.  Together they explore why developers choose to learn functional languages and how they can make the learning curve less daunting.

Any developer that’s moved from an object-oriented language to a functional one knows how disconcerting the shift can be. It demands a completely different mindset. In this episode, our regular co-hosts Neal Ford and Alexey Villas Boas talk to Gregorio Melo about functional programming. He’s just written a book about functional programming, using Clojure as its basis.  Together they explore why developers choose to learn functional languages and how they can make the learning curve less daunting.

Getting to grips with functional programming

The best podcasts about ourselves as well as the world through the lense of Science. Specific topics include things about our brain, emotions to biology, physics and more!

Best Episodes on Science, Humans & The World

The best philosophy podcast episodes. Asking questions about how to live a better life, what it means to be and do good, to the idea of God. This topic includes episodes that bring about important questions that everyone should be asking themselves. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!