AI Code Quality: The New Software Engineering Bottleneck

More from Overcommitted | Software Engineering and Programming Insights All episodes →

1. 

   S1 · E66 · 30 Jun 2026 · 41 min

   Keeping Skills Sharp in the AI Age | Developer Productivity Essentials

   As AI code intelligence tools reshape daily programming work, developer productivity and career growth depend less on speed and more on judgment. In this episode, we explore what skills actually matter when AI writes code—and why engineers need a new mindset about staying sharp. From code quality ownership to learning tactics, discover the practical skills that keep your value rising in an AI-native engineering world. Links: Math books: https://www.bravernewmath.com/ Crystal Bepis: https://crystalbepis.com/ GitHub Copilot App: https://github.com/features/ai/github-app Hosts: Overcommitted:…

2. 

   S1 · E65 · 23 Jun 2026 · 44 min

   Software Engineering in Production With Cameron Etezadi

   What happens when coding becomes nearly free - but everything else in the software delivery process doesn't? Cameron Etezadi, CTO at LaunchDarkly, joins Erika, Brittany, and Bethany to talk about the gap between code that compiles and code that actually works in production. They cover vibe coding pitfalls, the release-observe-iterate loop, how AI is shifting engineers toward frontline manager behaviors, and why speed without control is a liability - not an asset. Cameron also shares how LaunchDarkly changed their intern interview process to reflect the AI era, what EU regulations mean for…

3. 

   S1 · E64 · 16 Jun 2026 · 47 min

   Coding Interviews in the AI Era | Beyond LeetCode for Career Growth

   Summary Brittany's first weeks at Bluesky are reframing everything she thought about coding interviews. Career growth in tech still hinges on algorithm problems, but AI, remote work, and async development have fundamentally changed what actually signals engineering ability. Why do companies cling to LeetCode when software engineers now solve problems in decentralized, AI-augmented teams? We dig into what hiring should measure, why job-hunting feels unsettled, and how women engineers navigate visibility and advancement in the interview process. Links How GitHub Engineers Learn New Codebases…

4. 

   S1 · E63 · 9 Jun 2026 · 41 min

   Why AI Coding Agents Keep Guessing | Context Gap & Code Intelligence with Dennis Pilarinos

   Summary Dennis Pilarinos has spent nearly two decades building developer tools at Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Buddybuild (acquired by Apple). Now CEO of Unblocked, he's tackling the critical problem holding back agentic AI development: context intelligence. Why do AI coding agents keep guessing? Because they lack the organizational and business context behind the code. In this episode, the Overcommitted hosts dig into how developers and AI agents can truly understand the "why" behind codebases, not just the "what"—and why this matters for code quality, productivity, and shipping reliable…

5. 

   S1 · E62 · 2 Jun 2026 · 41 min

   Agentic AI Development | Shipping Real Tools with Sterling Chin

   Summary What does it actually look like to hand 90% of your workday over to an AI agent you built yourself? Sterling Chin, founding DevRel at Inngest and creator of Marvin, an open-source AI chief of staff with nearly 1,000 GitHub stars, has been doing exactly that for months. In this episode, Sterling joins Brittany to talk through how Marvin works, why he built it, and what he's learned about the real friction points in AI adoption that most people don't talk about. Sterling came into tech through a coding bootcamp after studying elementary education at BYU, landed at Postman where he led…

6. 

   S1 · E60 · 19 May 2026 · 47 min

   Design Engineering, Interviews & Job Search | Career Growth with Adam Argyle

   Summary Software engineering career moves don't have to be a lottery. In this episode, Adam Argyle breaks down why the technical interview process is fundamentally broken, how design engineering skills actually transfer across roles, and the tactical job search playbook that works today. Whether you're navigating a career pivot, re-entering the market, or just frustrated with the hiring gauntlet, this conversation cuts through the noise on what really matters for career growth and staying sane. Links Adam’s Website: https://nerdy.dev/ Adam’s CascadiaJS 2025 talk:…

7. 

   S1 · E59 · 12 May 2026 · 39 min

   Building the Decentralized Social Web: From Collective Social to OpenSocial

   Brittany shares her journey building Collective Social - a Goodreads-style app for all kinds of media built entirely on the AT Protocol - and how it led her to create OpenSocial, a service that lets any app on the decentralized web share group functionality like book clubs. The episode covers the challenges of representing groups when the protocol has no native concept of group identity, using conference talk deadlines as motivation to ship side projects, and rating real-world systems on how well they'd work in a decentralized context. Erika also shares her experience building an interpreter…

8. 

   S1 · E58 · 5 May 2026 · 47 min

   There are no shortcuts | Craft & career growth with Salma Alam-Naylor

   Summary In this episode, Erika talks with Salma Alam-Naylor about software engineering craft, programming best practices, and why the long game beats shortcuts. As AI coding tools proliferate and everyone chases speed, Salma digs into deliberate practice, sustainable career strategies, and building genuine expertise that compounds over time. Perfect for engineers feeling burnout from the hype cycle. Links Salma’s website: https://whitep4nth3r.com/ 2021 Jamstack Jammies (Community Creator Award) https://2021.jamstackconf.com/jammies/ Fat bear week website: https://explore.org/fat-bear-week…

9. 

   S1 · E57 · 28 Apr 2026 · 43 min

   Build Real Tools, Skip LeetCode: Systems Programming for Career Growth with John Crickett

   Tech careers don't need to mean grinding LeetCode. In episode 57, John Crickett — 30+ year engineer, Coding Challenges creator (90K+ subscribers) — makes the case that programmer productivity skyrockets when you build real tools instead. We dig into why your own Redis, Git, or shell beats practice problems, how Coding Challenges went from $17 domain to viral sensation (1,500 signups in one weekend), and what it means to level up through systems programming. Links Coding Challenges (Newsletter): https://codingchallenges.substack.com/ Coding Challenges Website: https://codingchallenges.fyi…

10. 

    S1 · E56 · 21 Apr 2026 · 39 min

    Run Toward Something - Career Growth, Mentorship & Work-Life Balance with Dave Schwantes

    Summary Career growth through mentorship and work-life balance with Dave Schwantes, Senior Software Engineer at GitHub. Brittany and Dave explore why running toward meaningful work beats running from burnout, how mentorship became his primary form of engineering leverage, and what career happiness actually looks like across different life stages. From Instacart and Couchsurfing to building in-house bootcamps, Dave shares how sustainable engineering culture beats individual productivity hacks—and his take on how AI tools reshape what engineers really need to master. Links Dave's personal…