Modern CTO

Today, we're doing something different: crowning the Modern CTO of 2025! In our first-ever year-end awards episode, we discuss the moments that stood out the most this year. From the most controversial moments to the wisest insights, we revisit the guests and clips that defined 2025 and reveal which tech leader earned the title of Modern CTO of the Year.

Shazam struggled to turn any profit for 6 straight years. But then the App Store changed everything. Today, we're talking to Chris Barton, Founder of Shazam. We discuss why they built a music recognition app eight years before the App Store launched, how they survived six consecutive years of near bankruptcy, and why eliminating the right friction is the key to massive user adoption. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!  To learn more about what Chris is up to, check out his website here.

Merry Christmas! Tune in next week to two of our favorite episodes of the year.

How did they reduce customer onboarding from 5 days to 7 minutes? Today, we're talking to Misha Keener, CTO at Flowable. We discuss why orchestration is more important than automation, how context engineering beats prompt engineering in agentic AI, and why enterprise readiness will separate winners from losers in 2025. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!  To learn more about Flowable, check out their website here.

Peacock has become a streaming giant. How did they scale it to millions of users? Today, we're talking to António Vieira, Director of Global Apps Engineering at Sky. We discuss how Peacock handles 30% of internet traffic during major NFL games, why live streaming is exponentially harder than video on demand, and how AI is being used to create personalized content experiences with synthetic voices. All of this right here, right now, on the Modern CTO Podcast!  To learn more about Sky, check out their website here.