VP of Engineering at Checkatrade: How AI is Changing Engineering Leadership

Tech Teams Today: Rethinking Engineering Leadership in the AI Era w/ Susan Reilly (VP Eng, Checkatrade)

AI isn't an arms race - it's a tool belt. In this episode, Susan Reilly shares how she's deploying AI across a 100-person org, why "don't reinvent the wheel" no longer fits 2025, and how simple rituals like Async Fridays and Innovation Week can unlock both velocity and trust.

What you'll learn
AI as a tool belt: How leaders should pick the right tool for the job - and teach teams to guide, not blindly accept, AI output.

Rollout that actually works: Where AI saves real time (tests, bug hunts, doc review) and where human judgment must stay in the loop.

Hiring in 2025: Why adaptability and curiosity have eclipsed "I'm a X-stack dev," and how Susan assesses true technical depth.

Culture that scales: The surprising productivity gains from meeting-free Fridays and why rituals matter more in hybrid orgs.

Two contrarian takes: Retire "don't reinvent the wheel," and stop making big decisions behind closed doors.

Mentorship beats management: Practical ways to build empathetic teams that ship better software.

Key takeaways

You get what you put in. AI accelerates grunt work, but only if engineers learn to prompt, critique, and iterate on results.

Adaptability beats narrow labels. Hire for boldness, curiosity, and collaboration; stacks change, fundamentals don't.

Rituals create flexibility. Clear communication and consistent ceremonies enable fewer meetings and more deep work.

Experiment time isn't a perk - it's required. Create space to play with new tools or teams will "adopt" nothing.

Reinvent selectively. In fast-moving domains like AI, clinging to "the old wheel" is riskier than rethinking it.

About our guest

Susan Reilly is VP of Engineering at Checkatrade. She's led distributed teams across the UK and Ireland and writes about pragmatic engineering leadership in the age of AI. Best place to connect: LinkedIn (search "Susan Reilly Checkatrade").

About the show