ABOUT THIS EPISODE
What happens when AI makes writing code faster, but your engineering process still operates on two week sprints?
Junaid Warwani, VP of Engineering at Brellium, joins The Tech Trek to explain how he restructured engineering at his previous company after adopting AI development tools. His team moved away from traditional sprints, gave individual engineers ownership of priorities, and shifted toward weekly planning with faster feedback.
But moving faster introduced new problems. Engineers had to manage more context, product managers needed different responsibilities, and the rest of the organization had to adapt.
Junaid shares what worked, where the model fell short, and what he would change as he brings those lessons into his new role.
Key Takeaways
Why traditional sprint planning started losing its value as AI accelerated development.
How one engineer can own delivery while product managers focus on what comes next.
Why feedback loops can become a bigger bottleneck than writing code.
How hiring priorities are shifting toward communication, customer understanding, and critical thinking.
Episode Highlights
02:48 Why Junaid returned from parental leave ready to rethink engineering.
06:22 Rethinking the relationship between product managers and engineers.
10:45 Replacing traditional sprints with individual ownership and weekly priorities.
14:20 Why faster feedback matters more than faster code.
19:23 What Junaid now looks for when hiring engineers.
27:31 Why engineering leaders need to become better at change management.
A Moment Worth Pulling Out
"What we're doing does not make sense anymore."
Junaid describes the realization that led him to rethink his team's development process.
If you're reconsidering how your engineering team works with AI, this conversation offers practical lessons from a leader who has already experimented with a different model.
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