London Tech Execs #15 - Being an Engineering Leader in 2026

The engineering org chart looked fairly settled a few years ago. Pizza teams, staff engineers, a platform function. You knew what each layer did and roughly why you needed it.

AI coding tools have pulled at that. Developers are shipping more and expecting more infrastructure in return. Junior roles are harder to justify on paper but hard to do without if you care about developing people. And the question of who owns what is getting messier every quarter.

Engineering leaders are increasingly caught between the pace of tooling change, pressure on headcount, and a planning cycle that can't keep up. The role itself is shifting, and not everyone agrees in which direction.

This session is for engineering leaders who want to compare notes on what's actually changed, what they're still working out, and what the job looks like from where they're sitting now.

People and culture

• Team structure in the age of AI: is the two-pizza team still the right unit?

• Who you're hiring and why. Are juniors still in the plan?

• Aptitude vs. skill set: what are you actually looking for now?

Technology

• AI adoption patterns, from coding assistants to super-agents. What hasn't worked?

• Security: how AI is changing your threat surface and your strategy for managing it.

Leadership

• How the role is changing. Are engineering leaders becoming more hands-on?

• How you're actually feeling about being an engineering leader in 2026.

Agenda

• 5:30pm to 6:00pm – Arrival and networking

• 6:00pm to 6:15pm – Introductions

• 6:15pm to 7:00pm – Session part one

• 7:00pm to 7:10pm – Break

• 7:10pm to 7:45pm – Session part two and discussion

• 7:45pm to 8:30pm – Networking and wrap-up