What does AI-first engineering actually look like inside a real software organisation?

In this episode of Tech Paired, Michael Phair is joined by Allan Mayberry, Senior Director of Engineering at Planet DDS, to explore how AI is reshaping software development, engineering leadership, team design, hiring, security, and the future of technical careers.

Allan leads a 100+ person engineering organisation and is actively driving AI-first development practices across teams working with tools like Claude and Copilot. But this conversation goes far beyond hype. Allan shares a grounded, practical view of what is really changing, what still needs human judgement, and why AI should be treated more like a co-pilot than an autopilot.

We discuss how engineers are moving from writing every line of code to orchestrating systems, how AI is changing the role of senior engineers, and why the basics of software engineering still matter more than ever. Allan also explains why teams that tried AI six or twelve months ago may need to revisit it, because the tooling has evolved so quickly that old assumptions are already outdated.

A major theme of the episode is team design. Allan breaks down Planet DDS’s move towards smaller pod-based teams, designed to reduce context switching, improve focus, get engineers closer to customers, and create more autonomy. He shares why traditional agile structures can struggle when code is no longer the main bottleneck, and why product, engineering, QA and design need to work more closely around shared outcomes.

We also dig into governance, security, and risk. Allan talks openly about the dangers of blindly trusting AI-generated code, the importance of proper peer review, automated testing, change logs, compliance processes, and maintaining clear accountability. From prompt injection and AI-assisted cyber threats to deepfake candidates and vendor outages, this episode explores the new security landscape engineering leaders now have to navigate.

For junior engineers and graduates, Allan gives honest advice on what to focus on in an AI-first world: learn the fundamentals, understand why good engineering practices matter, find mentors, and use AI to accelerate learning rather than replace it. For leaders, his message is clear: carve out time to experiment, get hands-on with the tools, understand where they help, and build guardrails before gaps become risks.

This is a practical, honest and wide-ranging conversation for engineering leaders, software teams, founders, recruiters, product leaders, and anyone trying to understand what the future of software development really looks like.

In this episode, we cover:

• AI-first engineering in real teams
• Claude, Copilot and agent-based development
• Why AI is not a replacement for engineering judgement
• Engineers as orchestrators, not just coders
• Guardrails, testing and pull request reviews
• The future of junior software engineering roles
• Pod-based teams and reducing context switching
• Governance, compliance and AI risk
• Prompt injection, security threats and vendor risk
• Deepfake candidates and AI in hiring
• What leaders should do now to avoid falling behind
• Why the fundamentals still matter

Tech Paired is the podcast from Tech Pair, exploring the people, teams and technology shaping the future of work.

In this episode of Tech Paired, Michael and Stuart sit down with Cameron Lepper, Director of Platform Engineering at Tribal Group to explore what it really takes to build platforms, teams, and meaningful careers in modern tech.

Cameron leads Platform Engineering, SRE, DBA, and FinOps across a global cloud product suite, with teams spanning the UK, Philippines, Australia, and beyond. But this conversation goes far beyond infrastructure. From his unconventional route into tech through music and computing, to his leadership in Scotland’s digital skills agenda, Cameron shares a thoughtful perspective on how great technology is built through people, clarity, and purpose.

Together, they unpack what platform engineering actually means, why it should remove friction rather than create it, and how engineering leaders can balance speed, reliability, cost, and carbon responsibility. They also dive into remote-first leadership, onboarding at scale, hiring for mindset and communication, and the growing importance of visibility and shared accountability in modern engineering teams.

The conversation closes with a wider look at the future of tech from AI in platform teams to digital inclusion, access to skills, and why representation still matters in 2026.

This is an episode about more than systems and scale. It’s about creating better pathways into tech, building resilient teams across borders, and remembering that behind every platform, process, and product, it’s people who make the difference.

Topics covered:

• Platform engineering as an enabler, not a blocker
• FinOps, cloud optimisation, and responsible engineering
• Leading distributed teams across global regions
• Hiring for technical strength and human skills
• AI’s real role in engineering teams today
• Digital skills, inclusion, and the future of tech careers

What does it really take to scale IT globally without creating chaos?

In this episode of Tech Paired, we sit down with Donald McNeil an experienced IT executive whose leadership career spans organisations including Dexcom, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Life Technologies, and Fisher Scientific. Across that journey, Donald has led complex IT organisations supporting multi-site manufacturing, distribution, and healthcare operations across Europe, Asia, and North America, managing operating budgets of more than $20 million, overseeing large ERP programmes, major integrations, global service models, and 24/7 incident operations.

Donald shares the biggest shift he has seen in IT leadership over the past two decades, and why AI feels like the most disruptive force yet not just because of the hype, but because of the scale of uncertainty and potential change it brings. We explore how experienced leaders should think about AI in practical terms, from personal productivity and assistants through to business-wide applications, agents, and transformation at scale.

A major theme throughout the episode is operating model design. Donald explains that once IT leadership expands beyond a single country, success is no longer just about technology. It becomes about language, communication, accountability, local realities, and building frameworks that can scale across cultures and time zones. He talks candidly about the misconceptions people have around global IT leadership, including the false assumption that one global model can simply be copied and pasted everywhere.

We also explore one of the most valuable tensions in enterprise IT: global standards versus local business needs. Donald explains why standardisation is critical in areas such as ERP, security, and core business processes, but also why rigid global mandates often fail if they ignore local legislation, tax rules, reimbursement models, or how business is actually done in-market. His perspective is clear: the strongest operating models have a consistent core, but enough flexibility at the edges to work in the real world.

Beyond incidents, this episode also gets into transformation delivery specifically how to deliver major ERP and business change programmes without disrupting the organisation. Donald makes a strong case for business-led transformation, where IT is a core partner rather than a separate function “doing change to the business.” He shares how governance, PMO discipline, steering groups, and proper scope conversations protect delivery rather than slow it down, and why strong leaders know how to say “no” by helping the business choose the right trade-offs.

We also discuss vendor dependency, capability building, and scaling internal teams. Donald outlines where external partners add real value, where they create risk, and how mature IT leaders grow in-house capability around architecture, business analysis, and decision-making while using vendors more strategically for scale and standard services.

The conversation closes on a bigger leadership question: what makes an IT leader truly trusted at enterprise scale? For Donald, it comes down to credibility, consistency, listening well, understanding how the business works, and building systems that scale without depending on individual heroics.

This is an episode for CIOs, IT directors, transformation leaders, operations leaders, and founders who want a clearer view of how world-class IT leadership works behind the scenes especially in complex, international, highly regulated environments.

Connect with Donald McNeil on LinkedIn to continue the conversation.

And if this episode helped you rethink what strong IT leadership looks like, share it with someone in your network who needs to hear it.