Podcast
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
Hosted by thoughtbot · EN
A podcast about the design, development, and business of great software. Each week thoughtbot is joined by the people who build and nurture the products we love.
38episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
618: 22 Years of Bootstrapping with Jesse Mecham
Yesterday00:56:38Tap to summarizeWill is joined this week by personal finance expert, speaker, business leader Jesse Mecham, founder of You Need A Budget (or YNAB if you are very busy and important). In this episode, to celebrate the release of his new book ‘Never Worry About Money Again’, Jesse dives into how YNAB came to be, from spreadsheet to the interface it is today, the trials and tribulations the business went through over the years, before going into depth about why people are so scared of money. — Mentioned in the episode: Jesse’s brand new book, 'Never Worry About Money Again' out now! Visit the YNAB website Jason Fried’s ‘Getting Real’ Richard A. Lanham’s ‘Revising Prose’ Eugene Schwartz’s ‘Breakthrough Advertising’ Donald A. Norman’s ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ Clayton Christiansen’s ‘Jobs to be Done’ Framework Our guest for this episode has been Jesse Mecham. If you'd like to get in touch with Jesse, or to keep up to date with his work, you can visit his website. Your host for this episode has been Will Larry, you can find and connect with Will over on LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky © 2026 Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots PodcastSupport Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
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617: Lexxy, Basecamp, and the Joy of Building with Jorge Marubia
1w ago00:52:23Tap to summarizeWill is back in the host seat this week to chat to Jorge Marubia, Principal Programmer at 37signals, about his previous experience using Lexxy and Basecamp. In this episode, Jorge goes into depth about BaseCamp 5, how his team got through a memory leaking situation after its launch, and Lexxy being open source, before diving into the question on everyone’s lips recently - what his thoughts are on AI and how it will affect Junior Developers. — Our guest for this episode has been Jorge Marubia. If you'd like to get in touch with Jorge, or to keep up to date with his work, you can find him via LinkedIn - X - or through his website. Your host for this episode has been Will Larry, you can find and connect with Will over on LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky © 2026 Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots PodcastSupport Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
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616: What’s Really Going On with AI Data Centres with Dr. Victoria Plutshack
2w ago00:42:32Tap to summarizeSami is back this week with Gender, Climate and Energy Specialist Dr. Victoria Plutshack, as they dive into what’s really going on with AI Data Centres in Scotland and the UK. Make sure you’ve popped your kettles on as Victoria discusses the impact of large data centres on both the environment and women in the workplace, whether it’s possible to use AI and have the data centres source their energy responsibly, before taking Sami through how they are going to cause problems with the National Grid. — Our guest for this episode has been Dr. Victoria Plutshack. If you'd like to get in touch with Victoria, or to keep up to date with her work, you can do so through LinkedIn or through her website Also mentioned in today’s episode: APRS Data Centres Campaign Opinionated thoughtbotter episode ‘AI Does More Harm Than Good’ Giant Robots Episode 605 with Lord Chris Holmes Your host for this episode has been Sami Birnbaum. Sami can be found through his website or via LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky © 2026 Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots PodcastSupport Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
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615: Harvey AI and the Future of Law
3w ago00:40:56Tap to summarizeOur host Sami is joined this week by Joe Cohen, Legal Innovation Partner at Harvey AI, to discuss the use of AI within the legal and professional services, and how it could impact the speed, quality and efficiency of lawyers doing legal work. Joe dives into his career journey, Harvey AI’s adoption rate success within law firms, what the future career growth could look like for Junior Partners being taught by AI, and the comparison between AI use in the modern age vs the introduction of email in the 80’s. — Our guest for this episode has been Joe Cohen. If you'd like to get in touch with Joe, or to keep up to date with his work, you can do so through LinkedIn Your host for this episode has been Sami Birnbaum. Sami can be found through his website or via LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky © 2026 Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots PodcastSupport Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
Transcribe →614: AI Code Audits
Jun 1800:48:56Tap to summarizeOur hosts Chad and Sami team up this week to discuss AI code bases and whether they can be built to be developer friendly and with best practices in mind. After a brief chat about the World Cup (and how it may affect the June thoughtbot event in London!) Sami dives into a recent code audit he did on a base that was built with AI using Spec Driven Development. Chad covers security concerns and why it’s important to have human oversight when generating codes. — You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel and Sami through his website. You can also connect with our duo via their LinkedIn pages - Chad - Sami. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky © 2026 Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots PodcastSupport Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
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613: Preserving Companies and Design with Andy Budd
Jun 1100:56:43Tap to summarizeChad talks with guest Andy Budd, Design Leadership Coach & Venture Partner at Seedcamp, as they look back over Andy’s time at Clearleft, the company he co-founded back in 2005. Andy discusses employee trust ownership, how it both benefits and protects your employees, and has the potential to keep your business going for generations to come rather than living and dying by the founders interest. Chad also announces that thoughtbot is moving into a Purpose Trust model. — Our guest for this episode has been Andy Budd. If you'd like to get in touch with Andy, or to keep up to date with his work, you can do so through BlueSky, LinkedIn, or through his website. If you are a Medium user, you can also follow Andy at The Design VC See Andy’s panels at Evolve at the Brighton Centre, 26th June. Your host for this episode has been Chad Pytel. You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel, or over on LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky © 2026 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
Transcribe →612: Do fish drink?
May 2800:46:48Tap to summarizeChad shares a recent pivot in ReadySetGo’s development, where they see the app entering a founder’s development and what they’re doing to ensure a wide set of features for all users. Our hosts also pick apart the impact of AI on developers, how valuable is speed when working with AI, is it still a good measure of success when coding, and Sami takes a moment to ask the all knowing ChadGPT about his excessive running and exercise regime. — If you’d like to meet some of our hosts in person, be sure to check the links below to secure your place at thoughtbot’s UK meet ups over the month of June. London Tech Leader Meetup - Tuesday June 23rd Brighton Tech Leader Meetup - Wednesday June 24th Brighton Ruby - Thursday June 25th Evolve - Friday June 26th You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel and Sami through his website. You can also connect with the trio via their LinkedIn pages - Chad - Will - Sami. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky © 2026 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
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611: Magic is the right word, with Brennan Dunn
May 1400:50:02Tap to summarizeChad talks with a returning guest from the early days of the show, Brennan Dunn, founder of RightMessage. Featuring nearly 600 episodes ago on episode 18 of Giant Robots, Brennan is back to talk about how things have changed for him since his first appearance in 2012. Brennan reflects on working as a contractor and growing to become a company of one, why the scaling size of a business doesn’t always equate to more productivity, and how he uses AI to keep operating costs down along with the minimal set up involved. — You can follow Brennan on LinkedIn to keep up to date with his work, or if you’re looking to improve the messaging of your business you can try out RightMessage for free right now. You can also take a quick step back in time and revisit Brennan’s original episode from 2012. Your host for this episode has been Chad Pytel. You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel, or over on LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky © 2026 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
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610: It’s Okay Not to Use AI
May 700:43:51Tap to summarizeSami swims against the tide of AI with Emma Barnes, CEO of Consonance, as they examine the more controversial idea of being anti-AI. Emma explains why her publishing business is anti-AI and the benefits of coding for yourself, how AI is having a negative impact on different aspects of our daily lives, why big corporations are hyping it up so much, and Sami asks what is it about AI that keeps drawing people in. — Our guest for this episode has been Emma Barnes, if you’d like to get in touch with Emma you can do so through LinkedIn, or by emailing her directly - emma@consonance.app If you’re interested in using Emma’s publishing services or wish to be a part of the team, check out her business Consonance, or check out her weekly live stream to stay up to date with the world of publishing. Your host for this episode has been Sami Birnbaum. Sami can be found through his website or via LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky © 2026 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
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609: Pennylane is in my ears
Apr 3000:40:09Tap to summarizeSami talks with Quentin de Metz, Co-Founder and CTO of Pennylane, about the journey of building a startup into an established company. Quentin provides his unique perspective of what it’s like to be a founder with an engineering background, the rapid growth he experienced with Pennylane and the lessons that shape how he now runs the company, and their cautious approach to incorporating AI. — Our guest for this episode has been Quentin de Metz, who you can connect with via LinkedIn, or check out Pennylane’s website if you’re interested in using their services. Pennylane are also hiring and have a whole host of open positions at the moment, if you'd like to apply, head to their recruitment page for more information. Your host for this episode has been Sami Birnbaum. Sami can be found through his website or via LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - YouTube - Bluesky © 2026 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
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