Finding the Best Gen AI Use Case for Your Dev Team | Sonar’s Peter McKee
Plus, what can you learn from Tech Lead Managers at Meta, keeping strategies alive, and why good managers are hard to find.
Gen AI for dev teams has been a focal point of conversation for the last few years, but the technology and application are both still very nascent. How can you find the best Gen AI use case for your team, and implement it safely?
This week, our host, Dan Lines, sits down with Peter McKee, VP of Developer Relations and Community at Sonar. They explore the benefits and risks associated with Gen AI, and whether this new tooling is most impactful for junior or senior developers. Regardless of the persona, there needs to be an emphasis on quality control, static code analysis, and the new coaching strategies to help the influx of new code.
Tune in to hear Dan and Peter offer practical advice for engineering leaders on safely experimenting with and integrating Gen AI tools to enhance productivity without sacrificing quality.
“We're so early — I don't think the learnings are there yet to be able to give really good concrete prescriptive advice.
I think companies are going to have to learn some of that as they go. What are the problems? Is there certain types of code — is it backend that does better with Gen AI right now? As opposed to React or Angular that might be a little framework based and less language based, right?
I don't have anything very prescriptive other than I would start as a normal engineer, start small, build upon that, go slow, you know, walk, crawl, run.”
Episode Highlights:
0:33 The ins and out of being a VP of Developer Relations and Community
4:48 The Importance of wisdom and experience when applying Gen AI
8:32 Is there more of a risk for junior developers in this age?
19:51 How tooling can help with the influx of Gen AI Code
26:02 The safe ways to roll out Gen AI to developers
29:21 Where to start applying Gen AI for your team
The Download
The Download is engineering leadership content we’re reading, watching, and attending that we think you might find valuable.
1. What can you learn from Tech Lead Managers at Meta?
So you want to transition from an IC role to a Tech Lead Manager (TLM); what can you learn from Tech Lead Managers at Meta?
asked several senior TLMs at Meta about the role and shared his notes in a recent post. His primary takeaway?“TLM is worse for your career than being a pure EM or IC in the long term. I would only choose the TLM path as a short-term step if you know you want to become an EM and it’s the only available step in that direction.”
2. Heartbeats: keeping strategies alive
You’ve crafted an excellent strategy for your team, communicated it to your organization, and laid the foundation for everyone to execute—so what’s next?
Crafting a solid strategy is only the first step; the real challenge lies in regularly reinforcing its key themes and demonstrating its impact through what
has deemed "heartbeat" communication. You need to periodically update your team, recap the strategy, review progress, highlight its impact, and adjust when needed. Learn how to use these heartbeats to maintain momentum and keep the team focused on long-term goals:
Engineering Leader's Guide to Accelerating Developer Productivity (Sponsor)
Developer productivity can make or break whether companies deliver value to their customers – are you tracking the right metrics that truly make a difference? Understanding the right productivity metrics can differentiate between hitting your goals and falling behind.
LinearB just released the Engineering Leader’s Guide to Accelerating Developer Productivity, which highlights how you can adjust your approach to measure what matters and identify the right corrective strategies. Download the guide, and take the steps to improve your developer productivity today.
3. Good managers are hard to find and once you have them, they should be appreciated
Good managers aren’t just task-oriented – they are leaders who foster growth, provide constructive feedback, and maintain a positive outlook. But the role isn’t easy, and it naturally comes with more ups and downs as a result.
’s post explores how you can help your manager feel more appreciated, and ways to retain them to benefit your organization:
4. AI Tooling For Your Dev Team: To Adopt or Not to Adopt? with CodiumAI
We’ve been covering Gen AI’s impact on engineering teams since the onset, and one of our earlier episodes featuring CodiumAI’s founder & CEO, Itamar Friedman offers a great look at how dev teams can think about adopting AI tooling.
This episode is a great starting point for an in-depth look at how teams decide which AI tool best suits their needs, when to adopt it, and the potential risks of not doing so.