Aura Talks x Accurx | The 'Hands on' Engineering Leader
🧠 The role has never been more interesting. As teams get leaner and AI makes coding easier, the rise of the technical manager has changed what startup leadership looks like.
They're still a spectrum - technical coaches, systems design and architecture experts, those who are still hands-on in the codebase. Often it depends on the stage, the team, and the problem. But the one thing that underpins it all is the technical side. The best engineering leaders right now aren't just managing - they're shaping how their teams think, build, and operate.
📋 The Session
X - Founder at X and ex VP Engineering at Lets Do This, Thread - will be talking through their experience and what engineering leadership actually looks like in practice. [2–3 sentences on their background — companies, stages, what they've built or led.]
As someone who's worked across [stages / contexts], they've seen what works, what doesn't, and where the old playbook breaks down. The session will be discussion-style — [Speaker] will share their perspective on a topic before opening it up, giving people the chance to go deeper on the questions and problems they're actually sitting with.
Here's what we'll get into:
What technical leadership actually means now - and how AI is shifting that
How to stay close to the code without becoming a bottleneck
The difference between managing engineers and leading engineering
The different types of manager
Does it take away from management and how do you balance
⏰ The Format
[Time] — Pizza & drinks
[Time] (sharp) — Workshop begins
[Time] — Networking (stick around, ask questions, meet the people in the room)
👥 Who's in the room
Engineering leaders from some of London's best startups - those who manage but who are close to the product and thinking seriously about how to build great teams.
This is a small, invite-only evening for people in the startup and scale-up space. Spots are limited. If you're in, grab one soon.