We Built What? Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:05:15 -0400 en-us © 2026 We Built What? yes fbbe1092-7086-5de1-8694-e4994d7884cd julia@augmentcode.com Augment Code episodic false The podcast for engineering leaders building in the agentic era. Brought to you by Augment Code. 

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) Augment Code julia@augmentcode.com https://storage.buzzsprout.com/8bz8yax9cdb0qwmvcpzsl7eoy6sb?.jpg We Built What? If you can ship anything, you shouldn't ship everything. With Pranay Prakash, engineering leader at Vercel If you can ship anything, you shouldn't ship everything. With Pranay Prakash, engineering leader at Vercel Writing code isn't the bottleneck anymore. So what is? Pranay Prakash, engineering leader at Vercel, has a clear answer: taste.

In this episode, Pranay and host Emma Webb get into what it means to ship tasteful software in an era where you can ship almost anything, how Vercel maintains its famously high bar for developer experience at nearly 800 people, and why the answer to scaling taste across an org isn't more process. It's obsession.

They also get into durable agents and what Vercel Workflows unlocks for teams building long running agentic systems, what a taste linter actually looks like in practice, and Pranay's surprisingly calming take on the pace of change: the fundamentals haven't changed. Go to Nicaragua for a year. You'll be fine.

If you're an engineering leader thinking about quality, taste, and what it means to build well in the agentic era, this one's for you. Have someone you want us to interview or a topic you want us to cover? Let us know on X or LinkedIn.

]]> Writing code isn't the bottleneck anymore. So what is? Pranay Prakash, engineering leader at Vercel, has a clear answer: taste.

In this episode, Pranay and host Emma Webb get into what it means to ship tasteful software in an era where you can ship almost anything, how Vercel maintains its famously high bar for developer experience at nearly 800 people, and why the answer to scaling taste across an org isn't more process. It's obsession.

They also get into durable agents and what Vercel Workflows unlocks for teams building long running agentic systems, what a taste linter actually looks like in practice, and Pranay's surprisingly calming take on the pace of change: the fundamentals haven't changed. Go to Nicaragua for a year. You'll be fine.

If you're an engineering leader thinking about quality, taste, and what it means to build well in the agentic era, this one's for you. Have someone you want us to interview or a topic you want us to cover? Let us know on X or LinkedIn.

]]> Augment Code Buzzsprout-19327216 Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0500 1525 4 full false How AI is changing the engineering leader's job with Rob Zuber CTO at CircleCI How AI is changing the engineering leader's job with Rob Zuber CTO at CircleCI Rob Zuber has been CTO at CircleCI for nearly 12 years, watching software engineering evolve through the SaaS era, the mobile era, and now the agentic era. This time, he says, the rate of change is different. And so is what it means to lead.

In this episode, Rob and host Emma Webb get into what happens to an engineering leader when their expertise is suddenly irrelevant, why Rob's answer was to get hands-on and start building again, and why being AI native isn't a destination you ever actually reach.

They also cover the CI debate nobody can agree on, the token cost tension every engineering leader is quietly navigating, and how CircleCI is hiring differently in the agentic era.

Rob's closing thought: we're not going to plan the new way of working. We're going to live it.

If you lead an engineering org trying to figure out how your role and your team need to evolve, this one's for you. Have someone you want us to interview or a topic you want us to cover? Let us know on X or LinkedIn.

]]> Rob Zuber has been CTO at CircleCI for nearly 12 years, watching software engineering evolve through the SaaS era, the mobile era, and now the agentic era. This time, he says, the rate of change is different. And so is what it means to lead.

In this episode, Rob and host Emma Webb get into what happens to an engineering leader when their expertise is suddenly irrelevant, why Rob's answer was to get hands-on and start building again, and why being AI native isn't a destination you ever actually reach.

They also cover the CI debate nobody can agree on, the token cost tension every engineering leader is quietly navigating, and how CircleCI is hiring differently in the agentic era.

Rob's closing thought: we're not going to plan the new way of working. We're going to live it.

If you lead an engineering org trying to figure out how your role and your team need to evolve, this one's for you. Have someone you want us to interview or a topic you want us to cover? Let us know on X or LinkedIn.

]]> Augment Code Buzzsprout-19213288 Fri, 22 May 2026 09:00:00 -0500 1509 4 full false We thought we were AI native. We weren't. A conversation with Vinay Perneti, VP of Eng at Augment Code We thought we were AI native. We weren't. A conversation with Vinay Perneti, VP of Eng at Augment Code Even if you work at an AI company, being truly AI native is harder than it sounds. Vinay Perneti, VP of Engineering at Augment Code, knows this firsthand.

In this episode, Vinay and host Emma Webb share Augment's own AI native journey. They get into what triggered the realization that the team wasn't AI native enough, how the definition of AI native keeps moving, and what it actually looks like to build an engineering org around agents rather than just alongside them.

They also cover what Augment learned from surveying 219 engineering leaders about the excitement and fear they're holding at the same time, why 54% of leaders are worried about losing shared understanding of the codebase and how Augment is solving it, and why the model you're using today is the worst model you'll use for the rest of the year.

Survey can be found here: augmentcode.com/resources/state-of-ai-native-engineering-2026

This one is a bit different from our other episodes. It's less outside perspective and more inside look at what it takes to walk the walk. If you're an engineering leader trying to figure out what AI native actually means in practice, this one's for you. Have someone you want us to interview or a topic you want us to cover? Let us know on X or LinkedIn.

]]> Even if you work at an AI company, being truly AI native is harder than it sounds. Vinay Perneti, VP of Engineering at Augment Code, knows this firsthand.

In this episode, Vinay and host Emma Webb share Augment's own AI native journey. They get into what triggered the realization that the team wasn't AI native enough, how the definition of AI native keeps moving, and what it actually looks like to build an engineering org around agents rather than just alongside them.

They also cover what Augment learned from surveying 219 engineering leaders about the excitement and fear they're holding at the same time, why 54% of leaders are worried about losing shared understanding of the codebase and how Augment is solving it, and why the model you're using today is the worst model you'll use for the rest of the year.

Survey can be found here: augmentcode.com/resources/state-of-ai-native-engineering-2026

This one is a bit different from our other episodes. It's less outside perspective and more inside look at what it takes to walk the walk. If you're an engineering leader trying to figure out what AI native actually means in practice, this one's for you. Have someone you want us to interview or a topic you want us to cover? Let us know on X or LinkedIn.

]]> Augment Code Buzzsprout-19160103 Tue, 12 May 2026 11:00:00 -0500 1337 3 full false It's an inventor's time: what AI native engineering really looks like with Andrew Lau, CEO of Jellyfish It's an inventor's time: what AI native engineering really looks like with Andrew Lau, CEO of Jellyfish Everyone says they want to be AI native. Far fewer organizations actually know what that means or how to get there.

Andrew Lau, CEO at Jellyfish, works with engineering teams every day who are trying to close that gap. In this episode, he and host Emma Webb dig into what truly AI native engineering orgs are doing differently. They get into why legacy codebases and established customer bases create a transformation challenge that fresh-start companies simply don't face.

They also cover the token budget problem hitting finance teams everywhere, what the adoption, productivity, outcomes framework looks like in practice, and why becoming AI native forces teams to rethink how product and engineering work together.

Andrew's take: this is an inventor's time. A maker's time. There's never been a better moment to get your hands back in the work.

If you lead an engineering org trying to figure out what AI native really means for your team, this one's for you. Have someone you want us to interview or a topic you want us to cover? Let us know on X or LinkedIn.

]]> Everyone says they want to be AI native. Far fewer organizations actually know what that means or how to get there.

Andrew Lau, CEO at Jellyfish, works with engineering teams every day who are trying to close that gap. In this episode, he and host Emma Webb dig into what truly AI native engineering orgs are doing differently. They get into why legacy codebases and established customer bases create a transformation challenge that fresh-start companies simply don't face.

They also cover the token budget problem hitting finance teams everywhere, what the adoption, productivity, outcomes framework looks like in practice, and why becoming AI native forces teams to rethink how product and engineering work together.

Andrew's take: this is an inventor's time. A maker's time. There's never been a better moment to get your hands back in the work.

If you lead an engineering org trying to figure out what AI native really means for your team, this one's for you. Have someone you want us to interview or a topic you want us to cover? Let us know on X or LinkedIn.

]]> Augment Code Buzzsprout-19100043 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0500 1457 2 full false From FOMO to flow: Justin Reock, CTO at DX on the AI metrics that actually matter From FOMO to flow: Justin Reock, CTO at DX on the AI metrics that actually matter Engineering leaders are drowning in AI hype. Everyone's hearing promises of 5x, 10x productivity gains, and very few are actually seeing them. Justin Reock, CTO at DX (recently acquired by Atlassian), has the data to cut through the noise.

Host Emma Webb and Justin get into what top-performing teams are doing differently, why AI coding tools are only attacking 16% of the problem, and what "AI readiness" really means in practice.

They also cover rubric-based self-validation for agentic code, token cost optimization, and the danger of Goodhart's Law in engineering metrics. Plus a hot take: if developer experience is the leading indicator of developer productivity, agent experience is going to be the leading indicator of agent productivity.

If you lead an engineering team and you're trying to figure out where AI fits and whether it's working, this one's for you.

Have someone you want us to interview or a topic you want us to cover? Let us know on X or LinkedIn.

]]> Engineering leaders are drowning in AI hype. Everyone's hearing promises of 5x, 10x productivity gains, and very few are actually seeing them. Justin Reock, CTO at DX (recently acquired by Atlassian), has the data to cut through the noise.

Host Emma Webb and Justin get into what top-performing teams are doing differently, why AI coding tools are only attacking 16% of the problem, and what "AI readiness" really means in practice.

They also cover rubric-based self-validation for agentic code, token cost optimization, and the danger of Goodhart's Law in engineering metrics. Plus a hot take: if developer experience is the leading indicator of developer productivity, agent experience is going to be the leading indicator of agent productivity.

If you lead an engineering team and you're trying to figure out where AI fits and whether it's working, this one's for you.

Have someone you want us to interview or a topic you want us to cover? Let us know on X or LinkedIn.

]]> Augment Code Buzzsprout-19061268 Thu, 23 Apr 2026 08:00:00 -0500 1505 1 full false