Shows / Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
A podcast about the design, development, and business of great software. Each week thoughtbot is joined by the people who build and nurture the products we love.
Episodes
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots629: “What About The Juniors?” With Bruce Tate
Sami is joined this week by Bruce Tate, founder and President of grox.io, a small company of educators, language geeks and authors who want to change the way…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots628: Incorruptible with Eric Ries
Chad talks with Eric Ries, Co-Founder and Director at Virgil, about his recent book “Incorruptible”, why good companies go bad, and how great companies stay…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots627: Mike Perham on Sidekiq, Solid Queue, and why he said no to AI
Will is back in the host seat this week to chat with Mike Perham, the creator of Sidekiq - a full-featured background job framework for all Ruby applications…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots626: “Working Side By Side With AI” with Lord Tim Clement-Jones
This guest has been a long time coming, Sami is joined on the thoughtbot couch this week by the one and only Lord Tim Clement-Jones, LibDeb Lord Spokesperson…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots625: Sorting Through The Noise with Brandon Swalve
Chad is joined on the thoughbot couch this week by Brandon Swalve, CEO of AppSignal (when Chad is a big fan, you know it’s an app you’ve got to check out). In…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots624: Using AI to the MAX with Ed Woodcock
Sami is joined on the thoughbot couch this week by Ed Woodcock, Director and Consultant Developer at Bannermedia Ltd. They discuss lowdown.today, an AI-Driven…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots623: The AI Paradox: Why Consultants Are Busier Than Ever with Nate Berkopec
Sami talks with Nate Berkopec, owner of Speedshop, about a recent post he made on X and how his business manages to stay ahead of AI and LLMs. Nate stresses…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots622: Six Opinions Wrapped in Code with Kelli Lucas
Will is back in the host seat this week to chat to the one and only Kelli Lucas, Co-Founder & Chief Design Officer at LunarLab. In this episode, Will and Kelli…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots621: My twin brother responds… with Doron Birnbaum
Would you ever go into business with your family? As a follow up to last week’s episode, we’ve brought on the one and only Doron Birnbaum (twin brother of our…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots620: My Twin Brother Forced Me To Be His CTO
Would you ever go into business with your family? In this week’s episode, our hosts take on Sami’s tale of becoming the CTO of his brother’s business venture…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots619: Inside Modern Software Engineering with Homebrew’s Mike McQuaid
Sami is back this week with Mike McQuaid, CTPO and Homebrew Project Leader, as they take a deep dive into the importance of open source maintainers in modern…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots618: 22 Years of Bootstrapping with Jesse Mecham
Will is joined this week by personal finance expert, speaker, business leader Jesse Mecham, founder of You Need A Budget (or YNAB if you are very busy and…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots617: Lexxy, Basecamp, and the Joy of Building with Jorge Marubia
Will is back in the host seat this week to chat to Jorge Marubia, Principal Programmer at 37signals, about his previous experience using Lexxy and Basecamp. In…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots616: What’s Really Going On with AI Data Centres with Dr. Victoria Plutshack
Sami is back this week with Gender, Climate and Energy Specialist Dr. Victoria Plutshack, as they dive into what’s really going on with AI Data Centres in…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots615: Harvey AI and the Future of Law
Our host Sami is joined this week by Joe Cohen, Legal Innovation Partner at Harvey AI, to discuss the use of AI within the legal and professional services, and…
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614: AI Code Audits
Our hosts Chad and Sami team up this week to discuss AI code bases and whether they can be built to be developer friendly and with best practices in mind…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots613: Preserving Companies and Design with Andy Budd
Chad talks with guest Andy Budd, Design Leadership Coach & Venture Partner at Seedcamp, as they look back over Andy’s time at Clearleft, the company he…
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612: Do fish drink?
Chad shares a recent pivot in ReadySetGo’s development, where they see the app entering a founder’s development and what they’re doing to ensure a wide set of…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots611: Magic is the right word, with Brennan Dunn
Chad talks with a returning guest from the early days of the show, Brennan Dunn, founder of RightMessage. Featuring nearly 600 episodes ago on episode 18 of…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots610: It’s Okay Not to Use AI
Sami swims against the tide of AI with Emma Barnes, CEO of Consonance, as they examine the more controversial idea of being anti-AI. Emma explains why her…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots609: Pennylane is in my ears
Sami talks with Quentin de Metz, Co-Founder and CTO of Pennylane, about the journey of building a startup into an established company. Quentin provides his…
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608: Project Updates with Will, Chad and Sami
Our hosts provide a peek behind the scenes as they discuss their work on recent thoughtbot projects. Chad covers the progress being made on thoughtbot’s new…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots607: Applying the Efficiency of Credit Cards to the Healthcare Industry with Raja Rajamannar
Chad talks with Raja Rajamannar about how he reimagined marketing and strategy at Mastercard. Raja explains how he connected the dots between credit cards and…
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606: AI layoffs are BS
Chad, Sami and Will bring a growing issue to the forefront as they discuss whether AI really is to blame for recent industry layoffs. Our trio examine how AI…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots605: AI: It doesn't have to be this way with Lord Chris Holmes
Sami talks with Lord Chris Holmes, Peer of the UK House of Lords, about the increasing need for AI legislation in the UK. Lord Holmes discusses his efforts to…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots604: Driving change and delivery with British Business Bank
Sami talks with Taylor Spencer, Investment Delivery Director, Change & Innovation for British Business Bank, about driving change within a business. Taylor…
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603: The product we are going to build
Sami makes his triumphant return to the Giant Robots Smashing into other Giant Robots Podcast as he and his fellow hosts discuss a brand new tool currently in…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots602: Understanding the Impact with Jason Stadther
Chad talks with Jason Stadther, director of engineering at TrueCar, about striking the right balance with AI in programming and its overall impact on the…
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601: The thing that makes us human
Chad and Will examine the ever expanding AI bubble and ponder on what we can expect it to see evolve in the coming years. Our hosts discuss how they strike a…
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600: The Special One
Celebrate Giant Robots’ 600th episode in style as Sami pulls together thoughtbot staff old and new to celebrate this monumental milestone. Sami shines a light…
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599: Be Bold
Chad and Will start the new year off right by discussing their aspirations for 2026. Chad discusses this year’s theme for the company of being bold and how…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots598: Animals and AI Accounting with Sam Landsberg
Sami talks with Sam Landsberg, head of sales at Light, about the wide world of fintech and how they’re working to simplify accounting software for businesses…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots597: Say Yes with Nick Merwin
Chad talks with developer and guitarist Nick Merwin about the challenges of balancing his career in development with his life as a musician. Nick tells of his…
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots596: Building Bridges Between Brands and Creators: The Story of Sheer
Sami revisits his time on a recent project for Sheer as he talks with it’s CTO and founder Mads Ulrik Svendsen about the ever evolving and creative world of…
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595: Projects in Progress and Nature’s Ultimate Sacrifice
Sami, Chad and Will share the projects they’ve been working on at thoughtbot recently and how they adapt to new systems they’re unfamiliar with. Sami shares…
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594: AI is Draining with Pablo Curell
Sami assesses the long term viability of AI with Pablo Curell, software developer at Recovr, as they break down the hype and logistics that surround the…
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593: Recent Discoveries: From MCP servers to video game heartbreak
Chad and Sami share some learning moments with one another as they discuss the recent projects they’ve been working on at thoughtbot. The pair question how…
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592: Utopia or Dystopia: Why the Future of AI and XR Is Still Ours to Shape with Don Shin
Sami talks with Don Shin, CEO of CrossComm, about which direction humanity is heading as the landscape of AI technology continues to shift and evolve. Together…
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591: Redefining Women's Health: Beyond the Traditional View with Amani Bright and Julia Lasater
Will talks with Amani Bright, senior program manager at Springboard, and Julia Lasater, consulting senior at Accenture, about the state of women’s health and…
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590: Making AI work for users with Louis Gutierrez
Chad talks with Louis Gutierrez, Director of AI at Constant Contact, about the various challenges of implementing AI into a product or business. Louis…
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589: Behind the Scenes at thoughtbot - Our work setups
The Giant Robots trio are back as they sit down at their desks to discuss their home setups for thoughtbot. Together they break down each core aspect of their…
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588: When a designer meets a developer with Jeremy Blaze
Sami faces his fear of program designers by talking with Jeremy Blaze, Founder & Design Lead at Never Before Seen. Together they ask the question of whether…
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587: How to go viral with Michael Praetorius
Sami looks to go viral as he discusses digital marketing with Michael Praetorius, Founder of Praetorius. Together they examine the roots of marketing and how…
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586: What is your self-age? with Leanne Clark-Shirley
Chad discusses the changing world of AgeTech with Leanne Clark-Shirley, President and CEO of the American Society on Aging, as they break down how age really…
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585: Teachable Moments
The host of Giant Robots are back to impart some wisdom as they share some notable failures from their careers and the teachable moments that emerged from…
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584: When AI Meets Healthcare and Buddhism with Jan Kroschinski
Sami assesses the way AI is driving change within the global healthcare system and big pharma with Jan Kroschinski, founder of Singularity Ventures. Jan…
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583: Solid Queue with Rosa Gutierrez from 37Signals
Sami goes behind the scenes of Ruby on Rails with Rosa Gutierrez, principle programer at 37Signals, to discover what its like to work on one of the most widely…
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582: Product market fit is the hardest thing with Jon Gamble
Chad dives into a different kind of development with Jon Gamble, CTO of Fordje, as they talk all things city code and construction. Jon breakdowns the…
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581: Crafting Community & Code: Henrique Cardoso on Euruko 2025 & BSPK
Sami talks with Henrique Cardoso about his unified commerce platform BSPK and the challenges of organising a large scale developer conference. Henrique talks…
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580: Taking the complexity out of toddler's nutrition with Kay Lim
Will gets to grips with nutrition as he talks with Kay Lim, founder of Heartful Sprout, about the importance of feeding our kids right. Kay relives her journey…
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579: Products you don't want to build with Sami and Chad
Chad and Sami get creative as they discuss the product ideas they would potentially like to develop. Sami lays out his plan to rejuvenate the queuing system at…
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578: We need to understand how it works with Luisa Herrmann
Chad and Luisa Herrmann, founder of AINovva, sit down and attempt to demystify the “magic” of AI. Luisa lays out the ramifications of working with AI on a…
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577: Driving Innovation: Jack Burrows on Cars, Tech, and the Future of Carwow
It’s time to start your engines as Sami talks with Jack Burrows, product director at CarWow, about the tricky world of buying and selling cars. Jack covers the…
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576: I never get bored with John Nunemaker
Chad catches up with John Nunemaker, self-employed programer on a plethora of products, about all things technical to gain insight into life as a self-employed…
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575: I might have to get dressed for these with Chad, Sami and Will
The Giant Robots hosts are back together for more off the wall discussion about construction, movies and a special announcement! Find out what big purchase…
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574: Developer Life After Design Systems with Kathryn Grayson Nanz
Will talks with Kathryn Grayson Nanz, Senior Designer and Developer Advocate at Progress, about the influence and power design can have when developing new…
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573: Mocking the Future: Tom Akehurst on WireMock and API Testing
Sami talks with Tom Akehurst, Co-Founder of WireMock, about the delay and disconnect between front and back end development and how WireMock set out to bridge…
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572: Close To Your Customers with Sarah Merlin
Chad talks with Sarah Merlin of IndiMade about what goes into revitalising an e-commerce platform and how they’re staying true to their customers. Discover the…
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571: Space, Software, and Surprises with Rémy Hannequin
Sami and fellow thoughtboter Rémy look to the stars as they talk all things astronomical. Learn about Rémy’s new open source gem Astonoby that plots the…
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570: Rolling for Initiative with Chad, Will and Sami
Chad, Will and Sami discuss life outside of thoughtbot and the hobbies that occupy them in their down time. Sami talks about taking the cold plunge, Will about…