{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Product Engineers Podcast","title":"Why Your Leadership Style Won't Survive Product Engineers (CTO Coach)","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2740,"description":"Is your leadership style built for an era that's already ending? Stephan Schmidt has seen tech transform three times: home computers, the internet, and now AI. As a CTO coach with 40+ years of experience, he's watched command-and-control crumble, agile get diluted, and now product engineering emerge as the response to AI-accelerated development.\nIn this episode, we explore why the bottleneck was never engineering (it was always product management), how AI is killing waterfall for good, and why CTOs need to evolve into CPTOs or risk becoming obsolete. Stephan doesn't hold back on what it really means to be \"bullish on AI\" and why developers might face the same identity crisis journalists did with social media.\n---\nGUEST\nStephan Schmidt - CTO Coach & Author of \"Amazing CTO\"\nStephan has over 40 years in tech, from writing video games as a kid to coaching CTOs and engineering leaders today. He's been through the home computer revolution, the internet boom, and is now helping leaders navigate the AI transformation.\n---\nFind Stephan:\n- Website: https://amazingcto.com- LinkedIn: Search \"Amazing CTO\"- Book: \"Amazing CTO\" (available on Amazon)\n---\nTIMESTAMPS\n00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome\n01:17 Stefan's Journey into Tech\n02:05 Tech Revolutions Over the Decades\n03:05 Leadership Evolution in Tech\n05:04 The Rise of Agile Methodologies\n07:49 Challenges with Agile Implementation\n09:52 Emergence of Product Engineers\n14:40 Leadership in the Age of Product Engineers\n19:57 The Changing Role of CTOs\n22:47 The Evolving Role of the CTO\n23:31 Defining the CTO's Responsibilities\n25:21 Building Efficient Tech Teams\n28:15 The Importance of AI in Modern Organizations\n32:12 Empowering Non-Technical Leaders with AI\n37:53 The Future of Product Engineers\n41:09 Advice for Leaders Adopting Product Engineering\n44:51 Conclusion and Contact Information\n---\nKEY TAKEAWAYS\n1. The bottleneck was never engineering - it was always product management. AI just makes this obvious.\n2. Waterfall keeps...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/8v5L1kod14AJua78aUC9VQ4Z3kRWRHsqmocpC-JMNJs/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83ODc1/YTcxMTE2YjVlYjYy/MTBjZTBjZTVjZDIy/OTNkMS53ZWJw.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}