In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo talk with Ry Walker, Founder and CEO of Tembo, Partner at Fireroad, Managing Partner at Cincinnati Ventures and Managing Director at AnotherVenture. This episode digs into the “AI-first” shift in software teams: what it means to be an effective developer, when AI tools can generate code fast, and the bottleneck increasingly becomes evaluation, taste, and decision-making.

Ry Walker is a technologist, founder, and investor based in Cincinnati. An AI engineering teammate designed to help fix bugs and ship features. Ry’s been building software since childhood, started a web design shop in the early internet era, and later founded Astronomer, giving him a long-range view of how tooling revolutions reshape teams and careers.

Expect to Learn

- Why “vibe-coding” is becoming a practical way to interview engineers in 2026

- What “AI optimism” looks like in practice and how even small resistance slows teams

- How AI shifts the work from writing code to evaluating and steering code

- Why AI-era developers may become more “unicorn-like” generalists (not less skilled)

- Predictions on org charts, new specialties and hiring workflows

Episode Breakdown with Timestamps

[00:00:00] – Teaser

[00:01:10] – Introduction to Ry Walker

[00:02:46] – Dropping out to move faster

[00:06:35] – Grit, the Midwest “tech desert,” and learning before Google

[00:09:09] – How to interview engineers in 2026

[00:11:35] – AI as the primary teammate

[00:16:48] – Legacy devs, artisan coding, and offshore leveling

[00:23:54] – AI-led interviews, “cyborg” processes, and what matters in teammates

[00:45:17] – Closing Thoughts

📱 Follow our Guest:

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rywalker/

👉 X: https://x.com/rywalker

👉 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ryandouglaswalker/

👉 Website: https://rywalker.com/

📱 Follow Guest’s Companies:

👉 Tembo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tembo-inc/

👉 Tembo X: https://x.com/tembo

👉 Tembo Website: https://www.tembo.io/

👉 Fireroad LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fireroad/

👉 Fireroad Website: https://www.fireroad.io/

👉 Fireroad X: https://x.com/fireroadbuilds

👉 Cincinnati Ventures LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cincinnati-ventures/

👉 Cincinnati Ventures Website: https://cincinnati.ventures/

👉 AnotherVenture LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/anotherventure/

📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo:

👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/

👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/

📱 Follow Holonic:

👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/

In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo interview Ruslan Belkin, Head of Platform Engineering at Inflection AI and Co-founder and CEO of Jelled.AI. The conversation centers around the philosophical and practical shifts that AI is imposing on engineering culture, team structures, and personal productivity. The guest shares deeply reflective insights on hope, fear, responsibility, and the role of process all through the lens of decades of Silicon Valley experience.

Ruslan Belkin is a seasoned engineering leader with three decades of experience at industry titans like LinkedIn, Twitter, Salesforce, NAUTO, and MetaMind. Known for his systems thinking, technical rigor, and philosophical clarity, Ruslan is a unique voice in tech leadership, advocating for accountability, vision-driven development, and radical simplicity in engineering management.

Expect to Learn

- Why "too much hope in that equation" became a viral and cautionary mantra for engineering planning.

- How AI is shifting the center of gravity from code to specifications and evaluations.

- What singular ownership and stack-ranked priorities look like in high-performance teams.

- The role of stoicism in leadership and decision-making under pressure.

- How to hire for undefined problems and cultivate emotionally resilient, adaptable teams.

Episode Breakdown with Timestamps

[00:00:00] – Teaser

[00:00:56] – Meet Ruslan Belkin

[00:02:07] – Engineering Without Illusions

[00:06:24] – AI, Specs, and the Death of Code

[00:10:43] – The Next 24 Months of AI

[00:15:39] – Hiring for Ambiguity

[00:23:52] – Stack-Ranked Priorities: No Peanut Butter Planning

[00:25:31] – The Process Paradox

[00:31:32] – Building Teams Like Legos

[00:34:21] – Stoicism at Work

[00:37:02] – The Equation Blog & Personal Balance

[00:39:10] – Advice to a Younger Self

[00:41:12] – Best Teams & Twitter War Stories

[00:43:10] – Where to Find Ruslan

📱 Follow our Guest Ruslan Belkin:

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbelkin/

👉 X: https://x.com/ruslansv

👉 Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inflectionai & https://www.linkedin.com/products/jelled/

👉 Company Website: https://inflection.ai & https://jelled.ai/

📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo:

👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/

👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/

📱 Follow Holonic:

👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/

In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo interviews Todd Cantalupo, Senior Engineering Manager at KarmaCheck and Director Software Engineering at Meltwater where they talk about what makes engineering leaders truly effective not just in shipping code, but in evolving team dynamics. The conversation centers around agile transformations, why so many fail, and how building trust and psychological safety are essential for long-term success. This episode is for leaders who want to break the mold and actually connect with their teams at a human level.

Todd Cantalupo is an experienced engineering leader with over 25 years in the industry, having worked at organizations like Meltwater and Thunderhead. Known for his people-first approach, Todd has developed a leadership philosophy centered around trust, vulnerability, and psychological safety. He now consults under the brand "Lupo Empowerment," helping teams shift from fear-based to focus-driven work environments.

Expect to Learn:

- How Todd uses emotional intelligence and self-awareness as foundational tools for leadership.

- Why many agile transformations fail and how to prevent that.

- A framework for identifying and transforming fear within engineering teams.

- The power of empathetic listening and how it changes team dynamics.

- Why 50/50 role splits (like coding and scrum mastering) often don't work and what to do instead.

Episode Breakdown with Timestamps:

[00:00:00] - Teaser

[00:01:19] - Introduction of Todd Cantalupo

[00:02:18] - Turning the Mirror Inward: The Role of Self-Awareness

[00:04:58] - The Coaching Breakthrough That Changed Everything

[00:10:59] - Fear to Focus: How to Transform Team Mindsets

[00:28:46] - Why 50/50 Role Splits Don't Work

[00:31:15] - Unpacking Beliefs Through One Simple Exercise

[00:36:36] - The One Takeaway: Empathetic Listening

[00:38:25] - Where to Find Todd & Closing Remarks

📱 Follow our Guest :

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-cantalupo

👉 X: https://x.com/tcantalupo?lang=en

👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toddcantalupo/

👉 Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/karmacheck

👉 Company Website: https://www.karmacheck.com/

📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo:

👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/

👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/

📱 Follow Holonic:

👉 Website: