Building Tech Teams
A weekly podcast on how Australia hires, builds, and leads tech teams in the age of AI.
Building Tech Teams is a weekly podcast on how Australia hires, builds, and leads tech teams in the age of AI. Host James MacDonald sits down with the founders, CTOs, VPs of Engineering and People Leaders building Australia’s best tech teams, from startups to enterprise, on what actually works. How they hire, how they build and lead their teams, and the calls that made or broke them. It is built for the leaders making the hire and the tech professionals making the move.
Building Tech Teams is a Day One® show. Day One is the podcast network for founders, investors and operators, and the production partner behind Blackbird Ventures’ Wild Hearts. Sister shows include First Cheque, Oversubscribed and In The Blink of AI.
- 06 ▶ 3 August 2026 The Junior Engineer Isn’t Needed Anymore: Cloë Stanbridge, Talent Lead at Airtree The junior engineer used to be the safe first hire. Airtree’s Talent Lead Cloë Stanbridge says AI just made that job disappear — and that’s only the start of what’s rewriting tech hiring.
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27 July 2026 How to Build AI Capability Without Chasing Every New Model — Patrick McQuaid, NGM Group Group Head of Data, Analytics & AI at NGM Group, Patrick McQuaid on building practical AI capability inside a regulated bank — why chasing every new model is the wrong game, hiring for attitude over experience, and the human skills AI can't replace. - 04 ▶
20 July 2026 Are Your People More Productive — or Just Faster? — Claudia Barriga-Larriviere, Startup Flamingo Every great team she's seen shares one trait: they're comfortable with discomfort. Claudia Barriga-Larriviere on self-awareness as a muscle, why AI can make people faster without making them more productive, and why you have to build a good team before you augment it. - 03 ▶
13 July 2026 Nathan Hill: Managing a Team of Agents Now — What's That Worth? The business wants AI, and it wants it yesterday. But once the proof of concept works and the partner goes home, someone inside the company has to keep the thing running. - 02 ▶
6 July 2026 Guardrails Are Just Suggestions: Securing AI Agents with Okta's Kevin Akermanis The business wants AI now — and the people who have to secure it are told to move faster on shrinking budgets. Okta's Kevin Akermanis on what breaks when enterprises rush AI into production, and why guardrails are just suggestions. - 01 ▶
29 June 2026 Why Your First Hire Isn't an Engineer Anymore — Michael Batko, ex-Startmate CEO The first hire used to be an engineer. Michael Batko thinks that's now backwards — and that's just the start of how AI is rewiring the way you build a tech team.
