About the Speaker

Maximilian Werk is head of Engineering at Jina AI, a leading technology company in Germany and Europe. With a background in software engineering and a proven track record of successfuly leading teams, Max brings a wealth of expertise to the field of leadership. Throughout his career, Max has demonstrated exceptional communication skills, making him a highly effective leader.

Synopsis

In this episode of The Technology Leadership Podcast, we are joined by Maximilian Werk, head of Engineering at Jina AI. Max shares his thoughts on the importance of leadership in the space, offering valuable insights and tips for career growth. Max shares his journey from being a software engineer all the way through to becoming head of department. Max emphasises the significance of social intelligence in understanding and effectively communicating with team members as well as building trust and creating a purely collaborative work environment.

Key Takeaways

• When faced with disagreements, it is essential to create a calm and relaxed atmosphere within a team to facilitate productive discussions.
• Making the time to understand the motivations and goals of individual team members can be paramount for collective performance
• Observing how people communicate and interact with each other allows leaders to better assess the dynamics within a team.
• Taking time to self reflect helps you identify areas of improvement within your leadership and communication

Episode Outline

[00:09] Meet Max
[03:08] Effective communication and conflict resolution in a business setting.
[11:59] Managing upwards in a workplace
[15:27] Leadership, communication, and understanding team members' states
[20:32] Social intelligence, and project ownership in tech..
[26:14] Career growth and effective work habits.
[31:06] Leadership lessons and time management struggles.

About Georgij

Georgij Georgij Oroschakoff is the Head of Product and IT at Frootss, a digital asset management company based in Vienna. With a background in business development, Georgij brings a unique perspective to his role as a product leader. He believes in the power of problem-solving and simplifying complex issues into manageable tasks. Georgij is passionate about creating open and collaborative environments within cross-functional teams. As a non-functional CTO, he focuses on understanding system architecture and making pragmatic technology decisions.


Synopsis

In this episode of The Technology Leadership Podcast, we are joined by Georgij Oroschakoff, head of Product & IT at Froots, A digital asset management company. Georgij shares his insights on product management, the challenges of being a non-functional CTO and the importance of problem-solving in the field. Alongside this, Georgij emphasises the need for clear and concise product strategy, the ability to translate business needs into technical requirements and the importance of collaboration with cross-functional teams.


Key Takeaways

• By grasping the underlying principles of a system, product managers can make technology decisions to solve business problems effectively.
• Empower your teams to make decisions and find solutions on their own accord. This approach fosters a collaborative environment and encourages innovation.
• Before building a product, it is crucial to define the purpose, mission and core values at the centre of the company
• Starting with a large vision and breaking it down into small achievable goals and objectives. This approach coupled with strategic alignment allows the team to focus on the most critical aspects of production.

Episode Outline

[00:09] Meet Georgij
[06:54] Product management and technology leadership.
[16:07] Product development process and infrastructure planning.
[18:27] Agile methodologies and team empowerment as a tech company.
[24:05] Design thinking workshops and empowering engineers.
[29:43] Involving developers in product roadmapping and decision-making.
[35:06] Tech challenges in 2023 for SaaS companies.

About Thorsten

Thorsten Spieker ,Director of Engineering at Avi Medical, is a seasoned engineering leader with a strong background in building and empowering engineering teams. With over 10 years of experience in Silicon Valley and Germany, Thorsten has worked with both large companies and startups, honing his skills in software development and product engineering.

Synopsis

In this episode of the Technology Leadership Podcast, Thorsten Spieker, Director of Engineering at Avi Medical discusses the importance of building an empowered engineering culture. Thorsten shares his journey from being a back-end engineer to becoming a director and highlights the differences between Silicon Valley and German-based tech companies. He emphasises the need for engineers to be involved in the entire software development lifecycle and shares his experience transforming Avi's engineering culture.

Key Takeaways

• The importance of execution, building things quickly and shipping them to increase learning cycles.
• Invest in high quality software to avoid future challenges and enable faster development
• Empowering engineers to take responsibility for the success of the company and the software they build
• Recognising the importance of automating processes to reduce errors and improve efficiency.
• Establishing a culture of continuous learning by involving engineers in decision making and promoting a strong feedback loop.

Episode Outline

[00:09] Meet Thorsten
[05:02] Building an empowered engineering culture
[09:04] Engineering values and culture for fast learning and product development
[15:42] Empowering engineering culture and overcoming initial challenges
[21:03] Prioritising customer needs in a non-tech first company
[26:38] Prioritising technical debt in a startup
[32:044] Engineering culture, product development, and technology trends