Engineering Empathy: How Anton Zaides Bridges the Gap Between Developers and Business Needs

In this insightful episode of Product Driven, host Matt Watson connects with Anton Zaides, an engineering manager from Israel, to explore how developers can better understand the business context and big picture behind their work. They dive into the transformative impact of AI coding tools, the critical importance of developer empathy, and how firsthand experience with end users dramatically improves product decisions.

The conversation takes a fascinating turn when Matt and Anton discuss how AI coding tools are dramatically accelerating development, requiring engineers to understand the business context more deeply to make independent decisions. Matt and Anton agree that the traditional separation between "product decides what, engineering decides how" is breaking down, and successful organizations need to distribute product thinking across the entire team.

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Key Discussion Points:

How AI coding tools like Cursor are creating a 5-6x productivity boost and shifting development bottlenecks

The importance of connecting engineers directly to business outcomes and customer experiences

Anton's journey to becoming a licensed drone pilot to understand his agricultural tech customers truly

Breaking down silos between product management and engineering teams

The future evolution of product and engineering roles in an AI-accelerated development world

Episode Chapters:

00:03 - Introduction and Background

01:01 - The Impact of AI on Development Speed

02:18 - Shifting Bottlenecks in Software Development

04:45 - Product Manager and Engineer Dynamics

07:01 - Creating Customer Feedback Loops

09:10 - Anton's Experience Becoming a Drone Pilot

11:52 - The Value of Firsthand User Experience

14:04 - Empathy and Caring for Users

16:24 - Understanding Customer Problems vs Just Using Software

19:22 - Overcoming Fear of Public Content Creation

22:26 - Encouraging Developers to Share Their Work

25:54 - The Evolution of Product and Engineering Roles

29:37 - The Future of Engineering Management

Whether you're in engineering leadership, product management, or development, this conversation offers practical strategies for breaking down silos and creating more empathetic, business-focused engineering teams.