Welcome back to I'm a Software Engineer ~ What Next? The podcast for devs figuring out their next move. Hosted by James Wilson and Matt Sinclair, we talk honestly about what it takes to build a meaningful career in tech.
This week we're joined by Ben Moag, Head of Engineering at InsurX. Ben's path is not the usual one: computer science at Bristol, then Sandhurst and a stint as a tank commander in the British cavalry, then a decade in finance — central risk trading at Citi, quant portfolio management at a hedge fund — then the standard quant PM ending of burnout and a divorce, and now his sixth greenfield build, this time rebuilding the InsurX platform live while the business is still running on it.
In this episode, we cover:
- Ben's "if you bend it, you have to mend it" philosophy and why a chaotic childhood is good career preparation
- Why a quant trading floor is more stressful than commanding a tank
- The Citigroup coffee story and what high-trust teams actually look like
- Managers care about outcomes, leaders care about repeatable outcomes
- Why Ben lets his team veto his hires before he ever sees a CV
- The AI quality cliff in March and April, what's causing it, and what to do about it
- "Only ask AI a question you know the answer to" and other rules for surviving agentic coding
- Advice for engineers a year or two into their career, and why this is the most exciting time to be building tech since the 80s
🔗 Links
🗒️ Show Notes
- "Everyone Lies to Leaders" — the 2021 article Matt referenced
- "The time cost of 'how' is zero"
- Situational Leadership
- The uncanny valley
🗣️ Guest
- Ben Moag — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmoag/
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