Pablo Fernandez (Head of Eng Pexels@Canva, Ex-Google): Surviving the AI Shift, Work-Life Integration скачать в хорошем качестве

Pablo Fernandez (Head of Eng Pexels@Canva, Ex-Google): Surviving the AI Shift, Work-Life Integration

🎙️ In this episode of "AI and ML Conversations," I sit down with Pablo Fernandez*, Head of Engineering for *Pexels*at*Canva*. Pablo brings a wealth of experience from his time at *Google to co-founding multiple startups and leading engineering teams in the age of AI. We explore the shifting landscape of software engineering, specifically the rise of the "Product Engineer" and how LLMs are lowering the "cost per line of code," forcing engineers to focus more on business impact and decision-making. Pablo shares his unique philosophy on *work-life integration*, the importance of "quality of thinking" over hours worked, and why he believes traveling is a secret weapon for unlocking new ideas. We also dive deep into the practicalities of remote work, discussing how to fight *proximity bias*, the hidden dangers of private Slack channels, and how to maintain a healthy engineering culture in a fully distributed team. Finally, Pablo offers invaluable advice for junior engineers looking to break into today’s tough job market, highlighting why open-source contributions (like his own work on KDE) are the ultimate "proof of experience." Links Iavor Botev http://www.linkedin.com/in/iavorbotev/ Pablo Fernandez https://www.linkedin.com/in/pupeno/ Pablo's website pablofernandes.tech 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀 00:00 – Introduction 01:17 – Pablo’s background: Google vs. Startups 05:10 – Developing a business mindset as an engineer 07:14 – Should engineers focus on code, business, or both? 08:58 – The rise of the "Product Engineer" in the AI era 11:56 – Balancing technical and leadership roles as a founder 14:57 – Work-life balance vs. Work-life integration 17:21 – Maintaining relationships while in a "single focus" mindset 20:24 – Why travel and change of scenery unlock better ideas 24:04 – Engineering leadership at Pexels and Canva 26:20 – Value Stream Aligned teams and setting engineering goals 32:35 – How Pexels uses AI: The weekly "AI Exchange" 35:57 – Ownership and the risks of AI-generated code 38:15 – Practical AI use cases in product and data 40:17 – Why you shouldn't delegate decision-making to LLMs 44:11 – Lessons from 20 years of remote work 48:28 – Fighting proximity bias and "Second Class Citizen" status 52:10 – Why private Slack channels can be toxic for culture 56:46 – Tackling office politics in remote teams 57:11 – The current state of the engineering job market 01:00:38 – Reimagining the "Junior Engineer" role 01:07:04 – Advice for juniors: The power of Open Source contributions 01:12:05 – How to effectively contribute to large projects (React, KDE) 01:15:34 – Closing