The 13 best podcasts for engineering managers, ranked
The best podcasts for engineering managers: running a team, hiring, performance, working with product, and growing into director and CTO roles. Practical shows only. Ranked for usefulness.
Jerry Li (founder of the Engineering Leadership Community, ELC) and Patrick Gallagher (producer and co-host)
long-form interviews with engineering leaders, plus recorded sessions from ELC events · 35-55 min · weekly (every one to two weeks) · since 2020
Why it is #1: It is one of the few shows built only for software engineering leaders, with guests who currently run engineering at tech companies. The topics match what directors and VPs deal with now.
What it is like: Interviews with VPs, CTOs and heads of engineering about how they run their organizations. Recent episodes focus heavily on rolling out AI tools across engineering teams.
How do I scale AI adoption across a large engineering org without breaking quality?
How do I handle a difficult conversation with a senior engineer?
How do I move from engineering manager to director?
How should engineering leaders think more like general managers?
Start with
Mastering Difficult Conversations With Sarah Clatterbuck, Director of Engineering.The first episode, and still one of its most practical for new engineering managers.
Tackling All Top 10 Engineering Leadership Challenges w/ Farhan Thawar #188.Shopify's head of engineering covers ten common problems in one episode.
Best for: engineering managers, directors and VPs of engineering at software companies
Skip it if: you are not in engineering, or you want basic people-management how-tos
Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne, West Point graduates who founded Manager Tools in 2005; Kate Braun and Sarah Sentes took over as managing partners in 2022
instructional episodes on one management behavior at a time, often split into parts · 20-50 min · weekly · since 2005
Why it is #2: It gives concrete, repeatable procedures for the basic jobs of a manager, with a back catalogue of almost 1,000 episodes going back to 2005. Few shows are this specific about what to say and do on Monday morning.
What it is like: Presenters walk through one specific behavior, such as a one-on-one or a feedback model, step by step, with exact wording to use. It is prescriptive and repetitive on purpose; long topics run across two or three parts.
Luca Rossi, writer of the Refactoring newsletter for engineers and managers and a startup CTO for over 10 years
long-form interviews with engineering leaders and authors · 45-60 min · every two weeks · since 2024
Why it is #3: The guest list is strong for a two-year-old show (Camille Fournier, Michael Lopp, Kent Beck, Pat Kua, Charity Majors), and the host stays on management and team questions. It pairs with a newsletter that many engineering managers already read.
What it is like: A calm interview with one engineering leader or author per episode, on team design, management and, lately, how AI agents change engineering work. Episodes have chapter markers, so it is easy to jump to one topic.
Gergely Orosz, writer of The Pragmatic Engineer newsletter, former engineering manager at Uber
long-form interviews with engineers and engineering leaders · 75-120 min · weekly · since 2024
Why it is #4: The host is a former engineering manager who goes into how teams and organizations actually work inside named companies. It suits engineering leaders who still want technical depth.
What it is like: Long technical and organizational conversations about how software gets built at Big Tech and startups. Management episodes appear regularly, such as one with Will Larson on engineering management.
Henry Suryawirawan, software engineer and tech lead who has run the show independently since 2020
long-form interviews, often with book authors · 55-80 min · every two weeks · since 2020
Why it is #5: Over 280 episodes on the tech lead and engineering manager role, many with the authors of books engineering leaders read. The host prepares well and asks for concrete practices.
What it is like: Long, structured interviews in which the host walks a guest through the main ideas of their book or career. Each episode ends with the guest's three pieces of advice for tech leaders.
Jamison Dance and Dave Smith, two experienced software developers
listener Q&A, two co-hosts · 30-40 min · weekly · since 2016
Why it is #6: It has answered real listener questions from engineers and new engineering managers every week for ten years. Good for the move from senior engineer to manager.
What it is like: Two developers answer two listener questions per episode about work, careers and management, with a lot of jokes. The advice is practical despite the light tone.
Brian Houck, researcher at DX, the developer productivity company Atlassian acquired in 2025; earlier episodes were hosted by DX founder Abi Noda
interviews with engineering leaders and researchers on developer productivity · 40-45 min · every two weeks · since 2022
Why it is #7: It is the most specific show on engineering metrics and productivity, which engineering leaders are asked to report on. Guests share actual numbers and methods.
What it is like: Focused interviews on measuring and improving engineering productivity, with named companies such as Meta, Roblox and Dropbox. Recent episodes are mostly about AI coding tools.
Tobias Schlottke, founder of alphalist, a community for CTOs and tech leaders in Germany, and a former CTO
long-form interviews with CTOs · 55-75 min · every two weeks · since 2020
Why it is #8: Guests are sitting CTOs of named companies and the host is a former CTO, so the talk stays on decisions at the top of an engineering org. It is one of few active shows aimed at CTOs rather than developers.
What it is like: A former CTO talks to a sitting CTO about how they run engineering, from team structure and hiring to AI adoption. Many guests lead European tech companies; some lead US ones such as Mozilla, ServiceNow and Netlify.
How should a CTO structure teams as the company grows?
How do other CTOs decide how far to trust AI coding agents?
How do I hire well while keeping a high bar?
What changes when a CTO moves from a startup to a large company?
Start with
#132 - Clarity Over Tooling: Velocity & Building Teams Without Drama with Loïc Houssier // CTO @ Superhuman Mail.A concrete episode on team speed and structure from a working CTO.
#116 - Exploring Platform Engineering feat. Camille Fournier // CTO @ Open Athena & Author @ O'Reilly Media.Camille Fournier on when and how to build a platform team.
Best for: CTOs and VPs of engineering, especially at startups and European scale-ups
Skip it if: you are a first-line manager looking for one-on-one or feedback advice
Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods at InfoQ, the software news site behind the QCon conferences
interviews on team culture and engineering leadership · 20-35 min · every two to four weeks · since 2016
Why it is #9: It has covered the people side of software teams for ten years in short episodes, starting with one on moving from engineering to management. The transcripts make it easy to skim before listening.
What it is like: Short, focused interviews about how engineering teams work: trust, feedback, team structure and culture. Each episode has a full written transcript on InfoQ.
Dave Stachowiak, founder of the Coaching for Leaders Academy, former senior leader at Dale Carnegie, doctorate in organizational leadership from Pepperdine
interviews with authors and leaders, plus occasional short solo episodes · 35-40 min · weekly (Mondays) · since 2011
Why it is #10: Over 800 episodes, each on one specific leadership problem, with a library searchable by topic on the website. The host says it is produced independently without sponsors.
What it is like: Calm, structured interviews in which Dave pulls two or three usable practices out of each guest's book or research. Episodes stay focused on one leadership problem.
Andrew Zigler, Ben Lloyd Pearson and Dan Lines (co-founder of LinearB); produced by LinearB, a software delivery analytics company
interviews on Tuesdays and a news roundup on Fridays · 30-55 min · weekly or twice a week · since 2020
Why it is #11: It has a long archive of engineering leadership interviews and now tracks how AI is changing engineering teams week by week. Useful for leaders who need to stay current on AI tooling.
What it is like: Interviews with founders and engineering leaders, plus a weekly roundup of AI and software news. Most recent episodes are about AI-native development and agents rather than team management.
Robby Russell, CEO of Planet Argon, a Ruby on Rails consultancy, and creator of Oh My Zsh
long-form interviews with practitioners · 50-55 min · every one to three weeks · since 2019
Why it is #12: It covers the part of a tech lead's job that is about code health and trade-offs, and how to make those trade-offs visible to non-engineers.
What it is like: Conversations about technical debt, legacy code and the team habits that keep software easy to change. Some episodes are directly about tech leads and managers.
Joel Beasley, who founded the show in 2017 and runs ProSeries Media, a podcast production company
interviews with CTOs and technology executives · 15-60 min · twice a week · since 2017
Why it is #13: Over 950 episodes with CTOs and engineering executives, so there is an episode on most CTO topics. It is useful for hearing how CTOs outside software startups think.
What it is like: Short and long interviews with CTOs and other tech executives across many industries, including aerospace and robotics. Topics range widely, from AI agents to hiring to general business.
How do other CTOs handle shadow AI in their company?
Why is software never done anymore, and how do I plan for that?
Should I rip out legacy code or keep it?
Start with
Tech Titans: How to Ask for Help as a Leader with Arnie Katz, CPTO at GoFundMe.A leadership episode with a product and technology chief.
Why Software Is Never “Done” Anymore with Iccha Sethi, SVP of Engineering at Vanta.An engineering executive on planning for software that keeps changing.
Best for: CTOs and aspiring CTOs who want many executive interviews
Skip it if: you want depth on managing engineers; topics vary widely and some guests are vendors talking about their products
Practical depth first: does an episode leave you with something you can use at work on Monday? Then the quality of the hosts and guests, whether the show is still publishing, and how consistent it is. Fame counts for little. Listener numbers are shown only when the show or a credible source has published them, with a link to where; we never estimate them. Facts were checked in October 2026.
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