The Software Leaders Uncensored Podcast
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© Steve Taplin
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Software Leaders Uncensored isn’t your typical tech podcast—it’s a candid dive into the minds of the industry’s top innovators. Each episode is a raw, behind-the-scenes conversation with the leaders who are shaping the future of software—how they’re building, scaling, and dominating in their markets. This is where cutting-edge tech meets unfiltered storytelling.
172 Episodes
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In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin interviews Guyte McCord, CEO of Graphika, discussing his career journey from CRO to CEO, the challenges of remote work, the impact of AI on product development, and the importance of building trust within technical teams. They explore the complexities of scaling a tech company, addressing technical debt, and navigating the hype surrounding AI. Guyte shares insights on effective productivity systems and offers advice to tech leaders on deeply understanding problem spaces.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Todd Persen, CTO of Hydrolix, about his journey in the observability space, the growth of Hydrolix, and the challenges of managing a global engineering team. They discuss the importance of trust in leadership, the balance between product and engineering, and the role of AI in engineering workflows. Todd shares insights on learning from failures and the significance of shortening release cycles to enhance customer value.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Maha Virudhagiri, CTO of Coalition, about the intersection of cyber insurance and technology. They discuss Maha's journey to Coalition, the challenges faced by engineering teams, the adoption of AI tools for productivity, and the importance of a high agency culture in a remote work environment. Maha shares insights on managing tech debt, onboarding engineers, and the significance of tracking meaningful metrics while avoiding complexity in organizations. He concludes with valuable advice for tech leaders on building effective teams and fostering a productive work environment.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Michael Cieri, EVP of Software at BILL, about the company's mission to support small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) through innovative financial management solutions. Michael shares insights from his extensive career in technology, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs, the challenges of integrating AI into workflows, and lessons from past product development and pricing experiences. He also discusses the significance of building trust with SMB clients and offers advice for tech leaders navigating the evolving landscape of technology and AI.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Eric Poff, CTO of Verve Labs, about his journey to becoming a technology leader, the innovative projects at Verve Labs, and the importance of human-centered AI. They discuss the engineering work model, the significance of communication within teams, and the balance between product and technology roles. Eric shares insights on experimentation, vibe coding, and the metrics that matter in engineering, as well as common mistakes organizations make. The conversation concludes with Eric's no-nonsense advice for tech leaders navigating today's challenges.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Brian Bauer, VP of AI Products at Rational Exponent. They discuss the transformative impact of AI on the banking sector, the development of their flagship product re:agent, and the importance of understanding the business needs of banking to create effective AI solutions. Brian shares insights on team dynamics in a remote work environment, the significance of collaboration between product and engineering teams, and the innovative approach of vibe coding for rapid prototyping. He also highlights common mistakes in AI development and offers valuable advice for tech leaders navigating the evolving landscape of AI.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Jeff Prince, CTO of XOi, about the evolution of engineering leadership, challenges in field service management, and the integration of AI in software development. They discuss the importance of aligning product and engineering teams, effective onboarding of new engineers, and key metrics for engineering success. Jeff shares insights on dealing with non-technical stakeholders and the lessons learned from failures in his career. The conversation concludes with advice for tech leaders navigating the industry's complexities.
In this episode of Software Leaders UNCENSORED, host Steve Taplin speaks with Ben Ede, an engineering director at Envoy, about his career transition, leadership philosophy, and the evolving role of AI in software engineering. They discuss the importance of CI/CD processes, breaking down work into manageable tasks, and effectively tracking engineering metrics. Ben shares insights on managing tech debt, the Run, Grow, Transform framework, and the significance of quality meetings for team alignment. He concludes with advice for tech leaders on the value of asking questions to foster understanding and collaboration.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Ajay Chankramath, a seasoned engineering leader and CEO of Platformetrics. They discuss AJ's unique approach to consulting, focusing on proven solutions rather than bespoke ones, and the importance of enhancing developer experience in tech companies. AJ shares insights on building the ideal developer experience, overcoming executive pushback, and his journey as an author and entrepreneur. He concludes with valuable advice for tech leaders on providing value with existing tools rather than chasing new ones.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Michael Terry, a seasoned software engineer and co-founder of Sanctuary Software Studio. They discuss Michael's extensive journey in software development, the evolution of his company, and the challenges faced in the current tech landscape, including talent management, onboarding, and the impact of AI on business models. Michael shares insights on maintaining a hybrid work model, the importance of continuous learning, and strategies for integrating new tools and workflows into their processes. The conversation concludes with Michael's advice for tech leaders navigating these changing times.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with William Steenbergen, co-founder and CTO of Federato, about the transformative role of AI in the insurance industry. They discuss the challenges of underwriting, the importance of addressing the coverage gap, and how Federato's platform is revolutionizing the insurance lifecycle. William shares insights on team dynamics, the impact of rapid growth, and the significance of fostering a collaborative culture through initiatives like demo days. He concludes with valuable advice for tech leaders navigating the complexities of scaling their businesses.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Matt Ryan, founder and CTO of Kythera Labs, about his journey from the corporate world to the startup landscape. They discuss the evolution of Kythera Labs, innovations in healthcare data solutions, the challenges of managing remote engineering teams, and the importance of clarity in technical communication. Matt shares insights on leveraging AI in healthcare, lessons learned from AI implementation, and the future goals for Kythera Labs as they aim to scale their offerings in 2026.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin interviews Nathan Miller, CEO of Rentec Direct, discussing the evolution of property management software, the integration of AI, challenges in the rental industry, and the impact of changing algorithms on customer acquisition. Nathan shares insights on fraud prevention, the importance of market testing ideas, and the dynamics of building a cohesive software engineering team. He emphasizes the need for tech leaders to adapt to new challenges and offers advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Matt DeBergalis, CEO and co-founder of Apollo GraphQL. They discuss the evolution of Apollo, the impact of AI on software development, the importance of APIs, and the challenges of hiring in a rapidly changing tech landscape. Matt shares insights on building a culture of accountability, navigating the hype around AI, and the future of AI in enterprises. He emphasizes the need for continuous shipping and adapting to change as key strategies for tech leaders.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Herb Hogue, CTO of Myriad360, about the evolving landscape of AI infrastructure, the challenges of talent acquisition in tech, and the rapid changes in technology. Herb shares insights from his extensive career, discussing the importance of adaptability, the complexities of data center planning, and the future implications of quantum computing. The conversation emphasizes the need for tech leaders to remain grounded amidst the hype surrounding AI and to focus on building effective teams and infrastructures.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Michael Campbell, CEO of Fusion Risk Management, about the importance of operational resilience in today's unpredictable business environment. They discuss Michael's journey to his current role, the innovative projects at Fusion, and the impact of AI on software development. Michael emphasizes the need for ruthless prioritization in tech leadership and shares valuable advice for navigating the rapidly changing landscape of technology.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin speaks with Ken Johnson, CTO and co-founder of Dry Run Security. They discuss Ken's journey into the tech world, the innovations in software security that Dry Run is implementing, and the challenges faced by engineering teams in a rapidly evolving landscape. The conversation also touches on the impact of AI on software development, the importance of communication within teams, and strategies for engaging non-technical stakeholders. Ken shares valuable insights and advice for tech leaders navigating the complexities of modern software development.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, Steve Taplin sits down with Edward Calvesbert, VP of Product Management for IBM WatsonX, to discuss what’s real, what’s hype, and what’s breaking inside enterprise AI today. Edward explains how Watson evolved into WatsonX, why 95% of enterprise AI projects are failing, and why strong data foundations and semantic layers matter more than the model itself. He breaks down the difference between demos and production AI, the emerging reality of agentic voice systems, and how text-to-SQL and conversational BI are the current innovation frontier. Edward also shares candid insights on governance, legacy data, vendor lock-in, productivity with GenAI coding tools, and what it really takes to go from prototype to enterprise-ready at global scale.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, host Steve Taplin sits down with Peter Horadan, CEO of Vouched, and one of the few tech leaders who has helped scale multiple “boring” backend automation companies into multi-billion-dollar giants. Peter walks through his journey from Microsoft in the pre-internet era to leading engineering at Concur, Avalara, and launching Lockstep before its acquisition by Sage. He reveals why digital identity is on the verge of a massive transformation, how mobile driver’s licenses and cryptographic IDs will replace today’s broken verification, and why AI agents logging in as humans is the next huge security nightmare. Peter also shares candid lessons on remote culture, AI coding limits, leadership, and why anyone with the itch to found a company should stop waiting and start building.
In this episode of Software Leaders Uncensored, Steve Taplin talks with Behnam Bastani, CEO and co-founder of OpenInfer, and former AI executive at Meta, Roblox, Google, HP, and Kodak. Behnam breaks down why the future of AI will live at the edge—not the cloud—and how his team is building a fully integrated hardware–software ecosystem that delivers low-cost, private, on-device AI inference. He explains OpenInfer’s breakthrough “Mementos” technology that lets engineers move between Claude, Copilot, Gemini, and other tools without losing context or history. Behnam also discusses Bay Area culture, talent retention, global instability, hardware regulations, AI adoption failures, and why innovation requires embracing chaos instead of fearing it.
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This is where cutting-edge tech meets unfiltered storytelling. https://www.exactinside.com/KCSA-exactdumps.html