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• Antithesis – verify your system’s correctness without human review or traditional integration tests – and avoid bugs or outages.
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In this special “ask me anything” episode of Pragmatic Engineer podcast, I am in the hot seat facing questions sent in by subscribers that are read out by guest Volodymyr Giginiak, CTO and cofounder of Wordsmith AI, a legal tech startup (note: I’m an investor).
I tackle your questions on the software industry, AI, hiring, engineering organizations, career growth, the business model of the Pragmatic Engineer, and more. We also discuss where software engineering is headed, and I offer advice on some specific situations. Thanks to everyone who sent questions!
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Timestamps
Intro
From Uber to writing
AI-native SDLC
AI and hiring
Engineers currently thriving
Junior roles
Meta’s war mode
AI at Big Tech vs. startups
Tech debt
Types of engineering managers
Measuring AI productivity
The value of CS degrees
AI at Pragmatic Engineer
Future-proofing your career
The EU job market
Making money as a creator
What’s next for The Pragmatic Engineer
Bunq and Pollen
Spotting trends
Book updates
Favorite books & tech products
What won’t change in engineering
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The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives relevant for this episode:
• State of the software engineering job market in 2026
• The impact of AI on software engineers in 2026: key trends.
• How 10 tech companies choose the next generation of dev tools
• The reality of tech interviews
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@pragmaticengineer.com.
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