
Latest
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AI-generated abandonware is hollowing out open source
When everyone can build, the scarce resource becomes maintainers.
Editor’s picks
What is a staff engineer? Technical leaders who aren’t managers
Staff engineers are technical leaders who have deep domain knowledge, walking the line between tech and the business.

Berlin • November 9 & 10, 2026
AI. Burnout. Big decisions.
The pressure is real. Berlin is where you work through it.
Essential reading
On our StaffPlus playlist
How to master the four Staff archetypes and elevate your impact
While the specifics of the job can vary widely, Will Larson has famously categorized the Staff+ experience into four archetypes: Tech Lead, Architect, Solver, and the Right Hand.
Understanding the role as a Staff engineer
How to define, develop and deliver in your role on the technical track.
How to balance technical direction and leadership work
But as is often the case in business, priorities constantly shift and where you focus your efforts will too. So how do you strike the right balance between working on the technical direction of the business and those tasks that require you to put your leadership hat on?
Start with an exit in mind: How to be effective by being selfish as a staff engineer
Staff engineers often get overwhelmed by long-term ownership of critical projects. This talk explores how to avoid burnout by starting every project with an exit strategy—whether transferring ownership, pausing or bootstrapping a team.
More for Staff engineers
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Crafting the perfect LeadDev talk submission
Crafting the best version of your talk proposal for the LeadDev stage with the help of ChatGPT.
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Harness acquires Qwiet AI to combat AI-generated code risks
This merger is set to help address hidden security risks with the help of AI-assisted coding.
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How to be a successful async advocate in an RTO world
Building an async-first culture is surprisingly straightforward in an RTO era.
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Ethics are being forgotten as the AI race heats up
Is the tech industry capable of the change needed to curb ethical and environmental concerns?
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In partnership with UplevelMeasure first, migrate later: Lessons from a 230% velocity boost
Matt Buckley, VP of Engineering at Avalara, shares how his team used data to modernize legacy deployment processes.
Videos for Staff engineers
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Engineering leadership in 2026
Explore what 600+ engineering leaders revealed about how their roles, priorities, and challenges are changing in 2026.
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In partnership with VercelAgentic triage for tackling technical debt
A practical look at using agents to separate urgent system issues from backlog noise, without removing human judgment.
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We doubled engineering productivity at eBay, but couldn’t change culture
Learn how to use stories to improve your influence as a leader.
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Engineering at scale: Why developer experience is your competitive advantage
How reducing developer friction at scale boosts velocity, quality, and retention, and becomes a real competitive edge in the AI era.
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Shipping secure, reliable and high performance AI agents
A hands-on engineering guide to building AI agents that stay secure, reliable, and fast in real, high-stakes production systems.
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One silver bullet: Adaptability
Hire for adaptability over pedigree, and build teams that can learn, grow, and deliver in a changing industry.
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In partnership with incident.ioDon’t wait for an outage to improve your reliability
A reliable system isn’t just about your infrastructure. Learn to effectively leverage game days to train engineers and build resilience before real incidents force you to.
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In partnership with Skiller WhaleAI productivity at enterprise scale
Turning AI adoption into real productivity gains requires changing habits, building skills, and scaling learning across the entire organization.
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The Staff Engineer’s playbook: Intellectual shift to systemic impact
A practical framework for making the Staff Engineer leap, shifting from solving tasks to defining strategy and delivering lasting systemic impact.
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Updatable repos: Duolingo’s journey to a golden path
A real-world story of reducing microservice sprawl by embedding best practices into templates that teams actually want to adopt.
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What does a CTO even do?
A reverse-engineering framework to help engineering leaders broaden impact, break growth ceilings, and develop the skills required for senior technical leadership.
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In partnership with AdobeCrowdsourcing platform engineering
How Cash App built a culture of shared ownership in platform engineering–where empathy, collaboration, and visibility drive developer experience and delivery velocity.






