"I'm a Software Engineer, What Next?" is a podcast for software engineers at a career crossroads. Hosted by tech recruiter James Wilson and veteran engineer Matt Sinclair, it offers insights into navigating career transitions, from individual contributor roles to management and beyond. Featuring discussions on personal growth and leadership this podcast is a guide for engineers seeking direction and growth in their careers. Join us to explore the paths and possibilities that lie ahead in the tech industry.
The AI-pilled engineer: most in demand, most exhausted
Are AI-pilled engineers the most in-demand people in tech, and also the most exhausted? James and Matt dig into agentic coding, running multiple AI agents, burnout, and what AI-native hiring and interviews now look like for software engineers.
Part one of two.
🎙 Hosts Matt: https://matthewsinclair.com
Matt: linkedin.com/in/matthewsinclair/
James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-wilson-92170656/
🌐 More from us: https://whatnext.dev/
https://quantumfaxmachine.com/
17 Aug 2026
Is software engineering management a one-way door?
Welcome back to I'm a Software Engineer, What Next? The podcast for devs figuring out their next move. Hosted by James Wilson and Matt Sinclair, we talk honestly about what it takes to build a meaningful career in tech.
Season one is done. Season two kicks off a little differently: shorter, looser episodes with just Matt and James in between the usual guests, each one built around a topic that's on a lot of engineers' minds right now. First up, the line doing the rounds: management is a one-way door. James isn't convinced it's true. Matt turned up with three reasons it was never the door everyone thinks it is.
In this episode, we cover:
Span of control going from a "big" 7–12 to Facebook's 20, now reportedly aiming at 50, and what that does to the org chart
The shift from pyramid to hourglass, and why the middle is getting gutted instead of the bottom
ICs out-earning managers (the reported average salary at Anthropic is $750k; UK junior starting salaries near £240k)
"The cost of readmission": why agentic coding makes the door back to IC cheaper than it used to be
The super IC: Matt doing five-to-six people's worth of work solo since September, and the one scaling question he still can't answer
Why the real risk of agentic coding isn't that you can't code, it's that you can't tell what's good
The tax bomb nobody's pricing in: gut the highly paid middle and a chunk of government revenue goes with it
Why Matt is building micro-businesses for his 20 and 21 year old kids instead of sending them job hunting
Show NotesCharity Majors, "Engineering Management: The Pendulum or the Ladder": https://charity.wtf/2019/01/04/engineering-management-the-pendulum-or-the-ladder/ (https://charity.wtf/2019/01/04/engineering-management-the-pendulum-or-the-ladder/)Matt on LLM-powered programming as a mech suit: https://matthewsinclair.com/blog/0178-why-llm-powered-programming-is-more-mech-suit-than-artificial-human (https://matthewsinclair.com/blog/0178-why-llm-powered-programming-is-more-mech-suit-than-artificial-human)
HostsMatt: https://matthewsinclair.com (https://matthewsinclair.com)James: linkedin.com/in/james-wilson-92170656
More from us:https://whatnext.dev/ (https://whatnext.dev/)https://quantumfaxmachine.com/ (https://quantumfaxmachine.com/)
28 May 2026
From IT support to co-founding BorrowMyDoggy: Les Cochrane on his road to becoming a CTO
Welcome back to I'm a Software Engineer ~ What Next? The podcast for devs figuring out their next move. Hosted by James Wilson and Matt Sinclair, we talk honestly about what it takes to build a meaningful career in tech.This week we're joined by Les Cochrane, CTO at Practice Toolkit, building software for GPs inside the NHS. Les started in hardware, networks and second-line IT support, switched to interactive media at uni, did UX before anyone called it UX, taught himself the backend on a Rails app he built to replace the FTP site at a marketing agency, and then co-founded BorrowMyDoggy on the back of a weekend hackathon. After that: contracting, leading 24 engineers in sports data at IMG Arena, including being the employee rep when they had to let go of about 180 of them, and now CTO at a healthcare startup learning what compliance means for the first time.In this episode, we cover:- Validating his startup that he co-founded, BorrowMyDoggy, by sticking posters up on Hampstead Heath and having someone in Exeter sign up within 24 hours- What happens when 4,500 people sign up in an hour to a landing page that doesn't have a working search yet- Why "I need help" is the wrong way to ask for help, and what to say instead- Product engineer vs T-shaped vs Kent Beck's paint-drip people, and why time matters in the metaphor- Going from leading 24 engineers to being the employee rep during a 180-person redundancy- AI as a force multiplier "for good or evil" — and why introducing it into a six-month-release shop won't help- The LLM-generated PR quiz that makes you answer 10 questions about your own checked-in code before it merges- Centaur chess, supertanker captains, and Kahneman's type-3 thinking: cognitive offload and what we lose🔗 Links- YouTube: https://youtu.be/GGFYCT9m7hU- Spotify: TODO- Apple Podcasts: TODO🗒️ Show Notes- Stop Writing Documents Nobody Reads: https://tech.loveholidays.com/stop-writing-documents-nobody-reads-68842f59f28c- Paul Ingles — LinkedIn posts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pingles/recent-activity/all/- Elixir's With Statement: https://www.openmymind.net/Elixirs-With-Statement/- The Comprehensive Guide to Elixir's for Comprehension: https://www.mitchellhanberg.com/the-comprehensive-guide-to-elixirs-for-comprehension/- Why LLM-Powered Programming is More Mech Suit Than Artificial Human: https://matthewsinclair.com/blog/0178-why-llm-powered-programming-is-more-mech-suit-than-artificial-human- matthewsinclair/intent on GitHub: https://github.com/matthewsinclair/intent- What We Let Machines Do: https://matthewsinclair.com/blog/0186-what-we-let-machines-do- When Thinking Isn't Just Fast or Slow Anymore — The Rise of System 3: https://www.incrementone.com/perspectives/when-thinking-isnt-just-fast-or-slow-anymore-the-rise-of-system-3- From Engineering Bootcamps & Founding Startups to GitHub with Kate Catlin: https://whatnext.dev/episodes/s01/e18- Aphantasia — When You Can't Picture Things in Your Mind: https://aphantasia.com/what-is-aphantasia🗣️ GuestLes Cochrane: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lescochrane/🎙 Hosts- Matt: https://matthewsinclair.com- James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-wilson-92170656🌐 More from us- What Next?: https://whatnext.dev/- Matthew Sinclair: https://matthewsinclair.com/- Quantum Fax Machine: https://quantumfaxmachine.com/🎬
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
31,120
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 50 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
71
Social presence
0
YouTube
72
Engagement
0
Contact I'm a software engineer - what next?
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about I'm a software engineer - what next?
Who hosts I'm a software engineer - what next??
James Wilson and Matt Sinclair host the show. Published by I'm a software engineer - what next?.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes monthly, based on its RSS feed.
Does I'm a software engineer - what next? take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
Host of I'm a software engineer - what next??
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
