San Francisco Engineering Leadership Community (SFELC)

As generative AI continues to reshape the development landscape, traditional technical interviews need to evolve. Join us for a dynamic roundtable where engineering leaders will explore the future of technical hiring in an AI-driven world.

In this interactive session, we’ll unpack:

• How AI-generated code is shifting the focus from syntax to problem-solving, design thinking, and critical reasoning
• New evaluation frameworks that prioritize algorithmic understanding, creativity, and collaboration over pure coding proficiency
• Best practices for mitigating bias, ensuring fairness, and maintaining integrity in AI-influenced hiring processes
• Innovative interview strategies to assess candidates’ ability to adapt, debug, and solve complex challenges

Hosted by Nikrad Mahdi, technical advisor and former VP of Engineering at DeepScribe (AI scribe) and a veteran of engineering leadership roles at Dropbox, Figma, Quip, Salesforce, and Slack. Nikrad brings deep expertise in building collaborative, productive, and creative engineering cultures.

Join us to exchange actionable strategies, explore new interview frameworks, and connect with peers shaping the future of technical hiring.

Cloud infrastructure unlocks speed and scalability—but with growing usage comes growing cost. As engineering leaders, how do we optimize cloud spend while keeping delivery on track?

Together, we'll explore:

• Cloud spend visibility strategies that empower teams to understand and own their resource usage
• Practical approaches to reduce cloud expenditure without compromising delivery timelines
• Effective FinOps practices tailored to different company stages and organizational maturity
• Cultural shifts needed to make cost optimization a shared engineering responsibility
• Tools and techniques for ongoing monitoring and continuous improvement

Join Sarah Duitsman, Engineering Director at C2FO, for a deep dive into cost-conscious cloud leadership. With nearly two decades of experience spanning both startups and large enterprises, Sarah has built high-impact teams that consistently deliver value while maintaining strong stakeholder partnerships. She’ll share practical insights into how engineering leaders can help their teams make smarter cloud decisions—balancing performance, velocity, and spend.

Let’s rethink cloud leadership—where transparency, efficiency, and business impact go hand in hand.

Great engineering leaders don’t just execute—they shape the future. Strategic thinking separates those who react to problems from those who anticipate, influence, and drive lasting impact. In this discussion, we’ll dive into:

• How to move beyond tactical execution to long-term vision and decision-making.
• Balancing short-term product wins with scalable, future-proof architectures.
• Navigating market shifts, technology trends, and organizational dynamics with foresight.
• Developing systems, teams, and cultures that sustain growth and innovation.

Meet Your Host
Manju Abraham is a 30-year engineering leader who has scaled top R&D teams and delivered enterprise products at HPE, NetApp, Delphix, and HP. Her journey began at the Indian Space Research Organization, and she has since earned accolades for driving productivity, engineering culture, and transformation. Passionate about results and mentorship, Manju will share hard-won insights for leading with impact.

Let’s break down real-world strategies, challenges, and insights that transform leaders from executors to visionaries. Are you thinking strategically enough?

This virtual 1:1 Match event is bringing together community members to discuss and exchange insights related to Match & Learn - Engineering KPIs: Measuring What Actually Matters! This is the perfect space to connect with other engineering leaders who are also interested in gaining new insights and expanding their networks.

Engineering KPIs: Measuring What Actually Matters
In today's data-driven engineering landscape, choosing the right metrics can mean the difference between driving genuine productivity and creating counterproductive incentives. How do you implement KPIs that truly reflect engineering quality and business impact? Join us for a dynamic 1:1 exchange where you'll learn to:

• Design Meaningful Metrics: Create KPIs that align engineering output with business outcomes
• Balance Quantitative & Qualitative: Combine hard metrics with meaningful qualitative assessments
• Avoid Measurement Pitfalls: Identify and prevent common KPI traps that lead to unintended consequences
• Drive Continuous Improvement: Leverage metrics to foster growth rather than criticism

How it works:

• In the course of the session, you'll be matched with other engineering leaders for a 10-minute video call
• At the end of 10 minutes, you'll have the option to extend it or start another match

If you:

• Have questions and ideas about Engineering KPIs and measuring developer effectiveness
• Want to get perspectives from other engineering leaders
• Want to build connections with other engineering leaders outside of your network
• Appreciate serendipity and good conversation

This is the event for you!