‍About the talk

Engineering teams are under pressure to use AI in their development workflows. This pressure comes from a variety of sources – from executives and boards, competitors who seem to be moving faster with AI, vested interests from AI vendors, and industry hype saying you’ll be behind the curve if your team isn’t using the latest AI tech now. At the same time, some of your engineers might still be skeptical about the value of AI, worried about losing their jobs, or concerned about the ethical implications. Caught between the pressures from above and below, how can an engineering leader navigate this to set their team up for success?

In this Tech Leader Chat, PartnerSlate’s CTO Pete Hodgson (previously at Earnest Inc., ThoughtWorks and more) will discuss the reality of AI adoption across companies and how to roll AI out for your team while setting everyone up for success. 

The session will explore how to roll out new AI-assisted engineering practices, and how to work with leadership to create the space needed to properly implement AI tooling. You’ll also come away from it with a framework around how to measure the impact of AI on your team’s work, and how to implement practices around AI experimentation and adoption that are grounded in empathy.

Pete will share insights on:

• What the history of adoption cycles in tech teaches us about implementing AI
• Strategies for the experimentation, adoption, and measurement of AI-assisted engineering
• How to manage expectations from leadership around the impact and implementation of AI
• How to set up non-AI tooling to help you work efficiently with AI code
• Leading with empathy when facing resistance or scepticism to AI adoption

We'll have time for a Q&A session, so bring your questions!

When:
🇺🇸🇨🇦 Wed Sept 10, 2025  4pm PDT / 6pm CDT / 7pm EDT
🇦🇺🇳🇿 Thu Sept 11, 2025  9am AEST /  11am NZST

Where: Online – register and we'll send you a Zoom link. Interested in tuning in but can't make it on the day? Register anyway and we'll send you a recording of the talk afterward.

About the speaker

Pete Hodgson is based in the Pacific Northwest, and brings over two decades of experience in building software and guiding development teams to success. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer at PartnerSlate, and is a founding member of the OpenFeature Governance Board at the CNCF. Previously, he's also been an engineering leader at Earnest Inc., ThoughtWorks, and more. Pete is also passionate about providing mentorship and assistance to engineering organizations who are exploring emerging technologies of all kinds, and helping them adjust their engineering practices to enable them to scale.