Advertise on podcast: CaSE: Conversations about Software Engineering

Sarah Wells spent years as Technical Director at the Financial Times, wrangling thousands of microservices and the technology decisions that come with them. In this conversation she shares how the FT kept things from spiralling out of control without turning into a bureaucracy. We talk AI tools and shadow IT, why "best tool for the job" can quietly become your worst nightmare, and how a simple two-page document can save you from months of regret.

Birgitta, Heinrich and Sven look back at the latest developments in AI-assisted development, tools and practices which emerged in 2025 and work for teams. Furthermore they discuss a few topics like "where does the rigor go in AI assistance" from the future of software development retreat in Utah

We want engineering teams to be as autonomous as possible, but also want that every team runs in the same direction. In this episode, Heinrich Hartmann and Sven Johann explore four approaches of guiding, not ruling, governance: golden paths, architecture advice processes, architecture principles and technology radars as practical tools for aligning autonomy with long-term organisational health.

### Description How do teams actually make better architectural decisions—without gatekeepers, power imbalances, or meetings full of opinions instead of insights? In this episode, Andrew, Heinrich, Sven and Alex discuss how the advice process, architecture decision records, and practiced sociotechnics help to make software architecture collaborative and transparent.

Alex, Heinrich and Sven talk with Simon Harrer about his journey to data contracts and marketplaces from being PhD in Software Engineering and Software Engineering consultant. They discuss what a data contract is and how it is build up, can be discovered in a data marketplace and how it relates to a data product. They close with the unavoidable MCP topic in the context of a data marketplace.

The three of us talk with Christoph Windheuser about the styles in data architecture: data mesh, data lake (house) and data warehouse and how to make a decision. In between Christoph explains data quality, data lineage, and data catalog - cornerstones of any modern approach. We end with emerging trends, DuckDB and data governance.

In this episode of the CaSE Podcast, Mirko Novakovic, a seasoned entrepreneur and investor, shares his journey through the waves of technological innovation—from the early days of online banking to the rise of AI and open telemetry. We explore with him how the lessons learned in diverse industries, including the food business, can reshape our approach to software development and architecture, emphasizing the importance of curiosity, adaptability, and a solid grasp of the fundamentals.

In this episode of the CaSE Podcast, Sven Johann, Alex Heusingfeld, and Heinrich Hartmann dive into the concept of sensitivity points in software architecture, using the recent Volkswagen data leak as a striking example. They explore how seemingly minor architectural decisions and code changes can carry massive implications when balancing trade-offs like data privacy versus functionality. The trio also discusses the growing impact of AI-assisted development, reflecting on practical experiences with tools like ChatGPT, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot.

How do you ensure the reliability of your cloud-native applications in an ever-evolving landscape? In this episode of CaSE, we dive deep into the intricate world of cloud-native testing with Ole Lensmar, the mind behind SoapUI, serial entrepreneur and Founder of TestKube. Join us as we explore the challenges of testing in Kubernetes environments, the balance between automation and manual testing, and the evolving role of AI in shaping our testing strategies.

Theo Schlossnagle is a world-class software engineer, serial entrepreneur and owner of a butcher shop. In the podcast he unpacks the mindset, practices, and strategies that have shaped his approach to software development. From the power of curiosity to the challenges of debugging distributed systems, we explore what it takes to build resilient, maintainable software in an ever-evolving landscape. Along the way, we dive into automation of butchery equipment, the pitfalls of legacy systems, and the delicate balance between abstraction and simplicity. Whether you're scaling architectures, optimizing code, or integrating outdated APIs, this conversation is packed with insights to sharpen your engineering craft. Tune in to explore what makes great software—and great engineers—stand out.

The CaSE Podcast returns with new hosts and a renewed focus on software architecture, reliability engineering, and data engineering. In this episode we start with discussing the cost of observability, sparked by Coinbase’s leaked $65 million Datadog bill, raising questions about how much organizations should spend on monitoring. We also discuss the most important content of observability training for software architects. We close with Alex’ current thoughts on home automation while renovating his house.

Aino explains to Sven what skills are required to make meetings more successful. They talk about the different roles of meeting attendees. They continue with the thinking process to organize a meeting: do we need it at all? What is the expected outcome? Who should be invited? How long it should take? Do we need preparation for the attendees? Icebreakers? How do we craft an agenda? Then they discuss how to steer a meeting as a meeting facilitator, how to engage (quite) attendees and how to deal with negative people. Finally, they close with methods on how to improve your moderator skills.

Solid is a specification that lets people store their data securely in decentralized data stores called Pods. But why do we want to keep our data decentralized? What problems does Solid solve? In this episode, Angelo Veltens explains to Lucas Dohmen the advantages (but also potential disadvantages) of this project.

Stefan Tilkov talks to Mark Seemann about his book “Code that fits in your head”, heuristics about software engineering, and the role of craftspeople and engineers. They dive into three selected topics: Vertical slices, triangulation, and rhythm.

How do you enable a developer to quickly start the development of business logic of a new microservice without losing too much time on setting up everything else like monitoring, tracing, dependency management, security, configuration and much more. After the motivation, they move from service templates to service chassis, continue with governance as code and close with the possible need of product management skills to keep the chassis and the derived services current.