Every Engineering Manager has 5 jobs - most distribute their 100 'attention points' across only 2-3 of them
Engineering managers have a new job description
Why engineering managers are expected to be hands-on again and how AI tools are making it possible to stay technically sharp while still leading.
Overcoming information overload with circular attention economies - Cosmik Labs
The Engineering Leadership Report 2026
Our survey of 600 engineering leaders exploring how the role is evolving, where the challenges lie, and what the future holds for the job.
Scaling Engineering Teams: Lessons from Google, Facebook, and Netflix
After spending over a decade in engineering leadership roles at some of the world’s most chaotic innovation factories—Google, Facebook, and Netflix—I’ve learned one universal truth: scaling e…
Staff Engineer and Public Speaker | Szymon Chudy
Staff engineer who cares about the why, not just the how. Writing about frontend, productivity, and growing in tech.
Rethinking the cognitive foundations of the attention economy
The attention economy is the economic system in which human attention is the scarce resource. This literature takes a particular passage in Herbert Simon’s seminal Chapter Designing Organization fo...
5 Engineering Manager Archetypes
“There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things.” — Phil Karlton Introduction In today’s tech organisations, you find 2 ... Read more
Engineering Leadership Skill Set Overlaps
How Staff Engineer, Engineering Manager (EM), Product Manager (PM), Tech Lead Manager (TLM) and Technical Program Manager (TPM) positions overlap in Big Tech and at high-growth startups – and their di
Engineering Career Paths at Big Tech and High-Growth Startups
Levels at big tech, the most common career paths, and what comes after making it to Staff
Why I Ignore The Spotlight as a Staff Engineer
An alternate path for Staff+ engineers that optimizes for systems over spotlights and stewardship over fungibility.
More! More! More! Tech Workers Max Out Their A.I. Use.
At a number of companies, employees compete on leaderboards to show how much A.I. they’re using. They’re racking up big bills along the way.
Intentions have a surprising amount of detail
Auteur managerialism, the myth of one-shotting, and the chindogufication of engineering
Hiring (and Retaining) a Diverse Engineering Team
Stories from six engineering leaders who succeeded in building and growing diverse teams. Hiring approaches, retention tactics and strategies.
Resetting on engineering expectations in the age of AI
I’m accepting new sponsorships for The Modern Leader for 2026. If you’re interested (or you think your company may be interested), you can learn more here.