TTP - The Top 10% Podcast with Craig Whiting
TTP - The Top 10% Podcast
TTP - The Top 10% Podcast is a deep dive into the world of hiring, recruitment, and career growth, exploring the strategies, challenges, and trends that shape how companies attract, hire, and retain top talent.
Hosted by Craig Whiting, this series brings together tech leaders, recruiters, and industry experts to share their insights on what it really takes to build high-performing teams in today’s evolving job market.
What to Expect in Each Episode:
🔹 The Hiring Landscape – How companies find, assess, and secure top talent.
🔹 Recruitment & Industry Insights – The evolving role of recruiters, agencies, and internal hiring teams.
🔹 Leadership & Culture – How company culture and leadership styles impact hiring and retention.
🔹 Career Growth & Development – How candidates can stand out and advance in their careers.
🔹 Future of Work – The impact of remote work, AI, and new hiring trends on the job market.
Whether you're a business leader, recruiter, or job seeker, The Top 10% Podcast will challenge your thinking and provide practical, real-world insights to help you navigate the ever-changing world of work.
TTP - The Top 10% Podcast with Craig Whiting
The Top 10% Podcast with Craig Whiting - Ep. 10: Nirav Shah on AI’s Impact on Developers.
In this episode of the TTP Podcast, Craig Whiting sits down with Nirav Shah, engineering leader at JP Morgan Asset Management, for a deep dive into how AI is fundamentally changing the life of a developer, and what the next generation of engineering talent needs to thrive.
Nirav shares his journey from hands-on coder to global team leader, and explains why staying close to the code still matters in a leadership role. They explore the rise of T-shaped engineers, the evolving expectations around communication, and the critical mindset shift required to succeed in an AI-augmented tech world.
Whether you're a senior engineer, hiring manager, or tech leader navigating change. This episode is full of sharp insights on staying relevant, building hybrid skillsets, and leading with both strategic and technical depth.
🎙 Key Topics:
🔹 Why AI is the most foundational shift in 20+ years of software engineering
🔹 What “batteries-included” developers really look like in an AI-native future
🔹 The T-shaped skillset: balancing deep technical roots with broad leadership scope
🔹 How to stay hands-on as you scale up in leadership
🔹 Communication as a key differentiator: with colleagues and with AI
🔹 Why org structures must evolve if they want tech leaders to thrive
🔹 Coding as creativity and why output still matters at every level
📄 Show Notes & Timestamps
[00:00] – Introduction & Nirav’s Background
Career journey from developer to global engineering leader
The art of translating business needs into code
[06:00] – Staying Technical While Leading
Why Nirav still codes every week — and how to make time for it
The importance of staying close to the product
[10:00] – AI as a Paradigm Shift
Why co-pilot and agentic tools are changing how engineers work
Delegation, oversight, and new ways of thinking
[16:00] – The T-Shaped Engineer Model
Why you need both breadth and depth to scale in tech
How technical leaders lose their edge—and how to get it back
[22:00] – Adaptability, Learning & Talent Strategy
What Nirav looks for when hiring engineers in an AI-native world
The traits that matter more than specific languages or tools
[29:00] – Engineering Growth Inside Large Orgs
Why “coding leadership” still matters at enterprise scale
The problem with paper titles and fake technical progression
[36:00] – Changing the Culture of Tech Leadership
Creating space for creativity and code
Why business still misunderstands tech—and how leaders can fix it
[40:00] – Career Advice & LinkedIn Strategy
Craig shares 5 tactical tips for building a recruiter-proof LinkedIn
Why outcomes, clarity, and recruiter-friendly language matter
[46:00] – Final Thoughts
The role of curiosity, communication, and partnership in thriving as an engineer today