Leaders who build with AI: the engineering manager as product maker

In this episode of Leading With Engineering Management, Parveen Khan and Simon Tomes explore how leaders and engineering managers can make good use of AI, starting with the observation, sense of progress and data insight that any leadership role depends on. They dig into a problem-first approach to building data-driven dashboards, going straight to the source of truth rather than wrestling with spreadsheet formatting, and why building a customisable web app is such a different experience. Parveen’s examples open up a wider thread on testing the apps you generate with AI, making sure a dashboard pulls the right data and answers the questions you actually have, and on moving beyond standardised dashboards towards your own tailored views built from a shared source.

From there the conversation turns to quality in the loop, a shift from human in the loop towards more holistic thinking that goes beyond simple checking, and to how quality professionals are becoming product makers, bringing empathy, clear requirements and an end-user mindset to what they build. Simon and Parveen reflect on educating others on quality fundamentals, helping teammates who don’t come from a testing background build with care, and close with a call to gather and share real community examples of the apps and dashboards people are making with AI, plus an invitation to join the Engineering Management chapter in the MoTaverse.

Chapter timestamps

00:53 Leveraging AI In Leadership Roles
06:36 Problem First Data Driven Dashboards
09:03 Testing AI Generated Applications
10:39 Moving Beyond Standardised Dashboards
20:56 Quality In The Loop Concept
27:29 Educating Others On Quality Fundamentals
31:21 Community Example Gathering Call To Action

Additional resources

• How I use AI: No more spreadsheets and the shift towards vibe coding internal apps
• Why 'Human in the Loop' isn’t enough. Introducing Quality in the Loop (QITL)
• Curious but sceptical: exploring AI as an engineering manager
• Create a Moment

🚀 Grow your career with the MoTaverse, join the Engineering Management Chapter.