In this episode of The Better Build, hosts Stephane Rossi (Mission CEO and Co-Founder) and Fred Brunel (Mission CTO and Co-Founder) sit down with Kaj Van de Loo, a seasoned engineering leader and CTO at UserTesting, to explore his journey through the software engineering landscape and discuss the present and future of AI.

From his early days at SAP Labs to leading innovative projects at Oracle and UserTesting, Kaj shares insights into the evolution of software engineering, the impact of AI and machine learning, the critical role of AI in transforming engineering practices, and the importance of user feedback in driving successful AI adoption.

Key takeaways:

The system analyst process (02:42)

Not seeing the value for the customer during the dot-com era (06:50)

The challenge of explaining one's value (07:50)

Pinpointing the big takeaways and real value of professional experience (14:50)

How user feedback is the key to successful adoption of AI products (20:59)

Are coding skills becoming irrelevant? (33:08)