Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
A podcast about the design, development, and business of great software. Each week thoughtbot is joined by the people who build and nurture the products we love.
Episodes
November 20, 2025 • 46 mins
Chad talks with developer and guitarist Nick Merwin about the challenges of balancing his career in development with his life as a musician.
Nick tells of his time delivering code on the road as a guitarist with the band Capital Cities (https://capitalcities.com), the pros and cons of working as a solo programmer, what he’s learnt from saying yes for so many years, and Chad asks whether AI is diluting the art of coding.
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November 13, 2025 • 42 mins
Sami revisits his time on a recent project for Sheer (https://sheer.dk/en/) as he talks with it’s CTO and founder Mads Ulrik Svendsen about the ever evolving and creative world of influencers.
Mads talks about the story of Sheer (https://sheer.dk/en/), how they’re helping influencers maximise their potential and creativity, where they expect to see change in the industry over the coming years, the desire for authenticity in a world...
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October 23, 2025 • 43 mins
Sami, Chad and Will share the projects they’ve been working on at thoughtbot recently and how they adapt to new systems they’re unfamiliar with.
Sami shares his recent horror at the animal kingdom and how he might be getting into crypto, Chad reveals how he invests his time into thoughtbot whilst also managing to stay on top trending tech, and the group discuss best practices for dealing with clients.
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Against Chad’s wishes yo...
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October 9, 2025 • 45 mins
Sami assesses the long term viability of AI with Pablo Curell, software developer at Recovr (https://www.recovr.eu/en), as they break down the hype and logistics that surround the popular tool.
The pair examine why it’s still important you learn to code, what AI’s best use cases are now and what they could be in the future, what a successful AI product actually looks like on the back end, as well as the ever growing and unsustaina...
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September 25, 2025 • 42 mins
Chad and Sami share some learning moments with one another as they discuss the recent projects they’ve been working on at thoughtbot.
The pair question how much time and effort we should be investing into a problem with AI vs the outcome we receive, their work and experimentation with MCP servers, Sami shares his big bid on AI to save some time, while Chad tells the tragic tale of why he stopped playing Diablo IV.
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Don’t forget we...
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September 18, 2025 • 45 mins
Sami talks with Don Shin, CEO of CrossComm (https://www.crosscomm.com/), about which direction humanity is heading as the landscape of AI technology continues to shift and evolve.
Together they assess the correlation between language and intelligence, the importance of human connection, as well as the growing responsibility we have in managing AI to prevent a potential dystopia.
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You can connect with Don on LinkedIn (https://www....
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September 11, 2025 • 35 mins
Will talks with Amani Bright, senior program manager at Springboard (https://sb.co), and Julia Lasater, consulting senior at Accenture (https://www.accenture.com/), about the state of women’s health and their efforts to increase visibility for all women who enter the health care system.
They cover their recent work on the state of women’s health report (https://sb.co/state-of-womens-health/), shining a light on the neglected areas ...
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September 4, 2025 • 43 mins
Chad talks with Louis Gutierrez, Director of AI at Constant Contact (https://www.constantcontact.com/), about the various challenges of implementing AI into a product or business.
Louis discusses his strategy to improve AI integration upon joining Constant Contact, how they address the issue of ethics and AI, as well as providing a technical look at how they evaluate the quality of their products without violating user privacy. ...
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August 28, 2025 • 46 mins
The Giant Robots trio are back as they sit down at their desks to discuss their home setups for thoughtbot.
Together they break down each core aspect of their office environment and why they chose the things they did, why future proofing and getting your setup just right is important, Sami learns all about teleprompters, while Chad spills the beans on a guilty secret he’s kept for far too long.
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You can see pictures of each host’s...
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August 21, 2025 • 44 mins
Sami faces his fear of program designers by talking with Jeremy Blaze, Founder & Design Lead at Never Before Seen (https://neverbeforeseen.co).
Together they ask the question of whether their roles as developer and designer are slowly become one, how to rediscover the challenge of working on code when AI can do so much heavy lifting, as well as grappling with the idea of a therapeutic AI.
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Connect with Jeremy over on LinkedIn (ht...
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August 14, 2025 • 49 mins
Sami looks to go viral as he discusses digital marketing with Michael Praetorius, Founder of Praetorius (https://www.praetorius.com/).
Together they examine the roots of marketing and how it’s focus and tactics have shifted over time, the secrets social media analytics hold and how the information is used, and Sami takes notes as Michael relives his personal experience of creating a viral video.
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Connect with Michael over on Lin...
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August 7, 2025 • 34 mins
Chad discusses the changing world of AgeTech with Leanne Clark-Shirley, President and CEO of the American Society on Aging (https://asaging.org/), as they break down how age really has just become a number.
They discuss the growing irrelevancy of the “AgeTech” label and how it’s use case is shifting to benefit everyone, how generational boundaries mean less when it comes to tech knowledge, and the unrealised opportunities aging ca...
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July 31, 2025 • 31 mins
The host of Giant Robots are back to impart some wisdom as they share some notable failures from their careers and the teachable moments that emerged from them.
Discover what went wrong for Sami when he put his trust in AI, the survey that shifted the way Will thinks about others, Chad’s mistake with thoughtbot’s first major client and the lessons they all learnt along the way.
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You can find Chad all over social media as @cpy...
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July 24, 2025 • 46 mins
Sami assesses the way AI is driving change within the global healthcare system and big pharma with Jan Kroschinski, founder of Singularity Ventures (https://singularity-ventures.com/).
Jan touches on the changes we can expect to see to the delivery of healthcare over the next few decades, what it’s like to work as a freelancer within the sector, as well as discussing the wider implications of AI’s growth and development between no...
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July 17, 2025 • 41 mins
Sami goes behind the scenes of Ruby on Rails (https://rubyonrails.org/) with Rosa Gutierrez, principle programer at 37Signals (https://37signals.com/), to discover what its like to work on one of the most widely used frameworks out there.
Rosa breaks down how the team at 37Signals work and implement new tools for Ruby, the challenges of working remotely, as well as the current practical use of AI within the development space and ho...
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July 10, 2025 • 28 mins
Chad dives into a different kind of development with Jon Gamble, CTO of Fordje (https://www.fordje.com/), as they talk all things city code and construction.
Jon breakdowns the different types of construction Fordje (https://www.fordje.com/) covers and the clients they aim to serve, the reality of building a new starter business with a such a small team, the value of trust and communication when developing such a business, and how ...
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July 3, 2025 • 40 mins
Sami talks with Henrique Cardoso about his unified commerce platform BSPK (https://www.bspk.com) and the challenges of organising a large scale developer conference.
Henrique talks in depth about the bespoke nature of BSPK and how it differs from other CRM tools, how they went about unifying all the major commerce platforms to fit under one platform, as well as the hurdles he faced when tasked with re-engaging a community of de...
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June 26, 2025 • 35 mins
Will gets to grips with nutrition as he talks with Kay Lim, founder of Heartful Sprout (https://www.heartfulsprout.com/), about the importance of feeding our kids right.
Kay relives her journey of moving to the US, learning a whole new language from scratch and how becoming a new mom far from home sparked the idea for Heartful Sprout.
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Interested in giving your children the best start to food? Why not check out Heartful Sprout (h...
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June 19, 2025 • 47 mins
Chad and Sami get creative as they discuss the product ideas they would potentially like to develop.
Sami lays out his plan to rejuvenate the queuing system at theme parks, Chad has a bone to pick with his CRM tool, and the pair breakdown why success for a new business is not always as black and white as it might seem.
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You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel and Sami through his website (https://samibirnbaum.com). You ...
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June 12, 2025 • 32 mins
Chad and Luisa Herrmann, founder of AINovva (https://ainovva.com/), sit down and attempt to demystify the “magic” of AI.
Luisa lays out the ramifications of working with AI on a daily basis, why it’s a tool that shouldn't be utilised just because you can, the bias built into every AI system, as well as the ever expanding AI bubble and what the final outcome of its rapid growth could look like down the road.
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If you’re interested i...
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