Serverless Craic from The Serverless Edge
Welcome to Serverless Craic from The Serverless Edge with Dave Anderson, Mark McCann and Mike O'Reilly. We want to share our tools and techniques so that you can use them to communicate your Technical Strategy with your C-Suite and business owners. We want to help you to build a serverless first organisation. We will show you how to use Wardley Mapping to gain situational awareness of where your cloud applications and business are. And then how to develop your technical capability in away that builds engineering standards to set your organisation up for sustainable success.Sounds like the tools and techniques that you need - then hit the subscribe!-ABOUT- Dave, Mark and Mike are senior technical architects/leaders passionate about driving technical strategy. They have led transformation journeys, technical excellence, cloud adoption and tech strategies in many industries.Active in various technologies including ML/AI, Public Cloud (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), Engineering, Product, Cyber and UX.
Serverless Craic from The Serverless Edge
Serverless CrAIc Ep 83 Psychological Safety in the AI Era (No One Talks About This)
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Psychological Safety in the AI Era: AI is moving so fast it’s not just changing how we build software — it’s changing how teams think, learn, and work together.
But there’s a problem no one is talking about enough:
What happens to psychological safety when everything is changing at once?
In this episode of Serverless CrAIc, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly explore the human side of the AI revolution — from hype cycles and uncertainty to leadership, learning, and team dynamics.
Because while AI is accelerating engineering, it’s also:
Creating pressure to “keep up”
Challenging confidence and expertise
Shifting how teams collaborate and make decisions
And without psychological safety, teams won’t question, won’t challenge — and won’t build well.
“It’s psychologically exhausting trying to keep up with the pace of change.”
This is a conversation about what it really takes to build high-performing, resilient teams in the AI era.
Chapters
00:00 – Welcome to Serverless CrAIc
AI hype, rapid change, and keeping up
00:31 – Why psychological safety matters in the AI era
The difficulty of challenging AI in organisations
02:02 – The most aggressive hype cycle we’ve seen?
Comparing AI to cloud and previous tech shifts
03:25 – The turning point in AI capability
From hype to real engineering impact
04:17 – The psychological impact on engineers
Why the pace of change is exhausting
04:49 – Innovation vs standards
Why too much structure too early can slow teams down
05:37 – The four stages of psychological safety
From inclusion to challenger safety
07:01 – The capacity problem
Why senior engineers are struggling to mentor while learning themselves
07:38 – Sense-making in fast-moving environments
How experienced engineers are adapting
09:00 – What skills matter now?
Growth mindset, experimentation, and adaptability
10:45 – Bias for action
Why experimenting with AI tools is critical
11:59 – Vulnerability, empathy, and humility
Key leadership traits in uncertain times
13:23 – Confidence in core engineering skills
Why experience still matters
13:58 – Demand isn’t slowing down
Why engineers are busier than ever
15:15 – AI and engineering standards
Applying world-class practices faster than ever
16:09 – Final thoughts
Psychological safety as a leadership priority
Key Themes
Psychological safety in high-change environments
AI hype vs reality in engineering teams
The impact of rapid change on confidence and learning
Leadership challenges in AI-driven organisations
Growth mindset, experimentation, and vulnerability
Applying high engineering standards with AI
Resources & References
Concepts and ideas mentioned in the discussion:
Psychological Safety (Amy Edmondson – The Fearless Organization)
Four Stages of Psychological Safety (Mutual respect → Challenger safety)
Growth vs Fixed Mindset (Carol Dweck)
Bias for Action (engineering and product principle)
Well-Architected Frameworks (cloud and serverless design principles)
Event-driven and serverless architectures
Serverless Craic from The Serverless Edge
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