ABOUT THIS EPISODE
The engineering leaders who stay relevant over the next 24 months will refuse to become “leaders of leaders”. Abhishek Agrawal, Senior Director of Engineering at Oracle, still writes code and kills weak prototypes himself, even while running three layers of leadership.
Recorded at ELC Annual 2026, Abhishek joins Ameya Kanitkar to break down leading a 250-person organization inside Oracle Health and AI at startup speed, why team structures stay fluid, how AI closes the learning curve, and why staying green beats going ripe.
Topics discussed:
Why engineering leaders must stay hands-on, not just managers
Killing weak prototypes before they reach production
Running a 250-person org like a startup
Structuring teams around ownership, not headcount
Using AI to close the learning curve fast
Keeping team structures fluid as tooling evolves
Why continuous learning separates leaders who last
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