Episode Description:
In this episode of Software Without Borders, Andy and Scott sit down with Steve Petersen, a veteran software architect and engineering leader known for building collaborative, high-trust technical teams across global environments. Steve shares the lessons he’s learned from decades of experience—coding, mentoring, scaling engineering orgs, and navigating the cultural and communication challenges that come with distributed teams.
Guest Introduction:
Steve Petersen is a seasoned software architect, engineering leader, and mentor with deep experience designing scalable systems and guiding teams through growth and transformation. Known for his calm leadership style, technical clarity, and focus on people-first engineering cultures, Steve has spent his career helping developers elevate their craft while strengthening communication and trust across globally distributed organizations.
Key Takeaways:
- Communication is the real bottleneck, not code. Highly distributed teams succeed when they over-communicate clearly and consistently.
- Pairing senior and junior engineers is a force multiplier, accelerating learning for both sides and strengthening team cohesion.
- Humility makes great engineers—those willing to ask questions, seek clarity, and challenge assumptions collaboratively.
- Technical leadership is not about having all the answers, but about creating a space where the best ideas surface.
- Avoiding unnecessary complexity leads to higher velocity and more maintainable systems.
- Global engineering teams thrive on structure, predictable rhythms, and clear expectations that support asynchronous work.
Chapter Markers:
0:00 Welcome to Software Without Borders
0:21 Introducing Steve Petersen
1:13 Steve’s Background & Early Career Path
2:46 Technical Leadership vs. Individual Contribution
4:05 How Engineering Teams Break Down Communication
5:32 The Power of Pairing Senior & Junior Engineers
7:01 What Makes an Engineer Truly Great
8:44 Curiosity, Humility & Asking the Right Questions
10:12 Reducing Complexity for Better Outcomes
12:09 Leading Distributed Engineering Teams
14:03 Building Predictable Rhythms & Expectations
15:58 Technical Debt vs. Necessary Complexity
17:30 Creating a Culture Where Engineers Feel Safe Speaking Up
19:03 What Steve Looks for When Hiring Developers
21:18 Why Mentorship Accelerates Team Growth
22:40 When to Step Back as a Technical Leader
24:11 Coaching Engineers Through Hard Problems
26:05 Final Thoughts & What Steve Wishes He Knew Earlier
End: Closing Remarks
Keywords:
Software Without Borders, Andy Hilliard, Scott Pollov, Steve Petersen, engineering leadership, software architecture, distributed engineering teams, global teams, technical mentorship, engineering culture, communication in engineering, technical debt, software development leadership, scaling teams
