Article · 2026-07-08 · 6 moments

The Pragmatic Engineer AMA

In this AMA episode, Gergely Orosz answers listener questions on AI, engineering, hiring, and careers. ✦ AI generated

Anecdote

Without the COVID-19 pandemic and the Uber layoffs that followed, The Pragmatic Engineer might never have existed.

Gergely Orosz explains that COVID-era layoffs at Uber, which broke up his team, prompted him to leave and finish a book, setting him on the path to becoming a writer.

transcript

Gergely Orosz: But then, COVID-19 happened and Uber made layoffs, which led to a quarter of my team being let go, while the rest of us were disbanded into other teams. It was a tough time, and I decided it was a good moment to exit and finish writing a book I had been working on, 'The Software Engineer's Guidebook'.

Claim◆

AI doesn't actually make work easier, and using it should force you to think just as hard or harder — so be deliberate about which skills you're willing to let atrophy.

Orosz says he avoids AI entirely in his writing to protect that skill, while accepting his hand-coding ability will degrade since he does use AI there, urging others to make similar conscious tradeoffs.

transcript

Gergely Orosz: If you're using AI and life seems to be getting a lot easier, it raises the question: are you trying hard enough? Personally, using AI forces me to think just as hard, or even harder than before. I choose to use zero AI in my writing for the Pragmatic Engineer, and Grammarly is turned off as well.

extends · 1gives example · 1supports · 2

Anecdote

A message from a grateful engineer convinced me to scrap a damning exposé on Bunq, and led me to adopt a policy of writing about what works at companies instead of only what's broken.

After an engineer credited Bunq with giving them a career break despite tough working conditions, Orosz killed a critical article and shifted his editorial approach going forward.

transcript

Gergely Orosz: Based on that interaction, I opted not to publish the article, and it also led me to adopt a new editorial policy that I have followed since: I write about what works inside companies, instead of focusing on what seems to be broken.

Claim

LeetCode-style interviews persist mainly because they self-select for candidates who'll tolerate pointless corporate busywork, not because the skills tested are used on the job.

Orosz argues that grinding through DSA interview prep, despite its irrelevance to daily work, signals a candidate's willingness to endure meaningless tasks — which is exactly what makes them fit well at Big Tech companies.

transcript

Gergely Orosz: However, a candidate who's willing to grind for weeks or months to prepare for an interview which bears little resemblance to the job, is likely to be someone who understands that sometimes it's necessary to do pointless work. This suggests they'll probably have a much better time in Big Tech than someone who refuses to engage with meaningless tasks.

Mechanism

MCP became the industry standard because Anthropic wasn't seen as a dominant AI lab at launch, letting rivals adopt it without fear of lock-in — a dynamic that couldn't repeat today now that Anthropic leads.

Orosz contrasts MCP's rapid adoption in late 2024, when Anthropic wasn't the frontrunner, with Google's Agent2Agent protocol, which nobody adopted because Google was seen as too dominant.

transcript

Gergely Orosz: Therefore, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and other players could adopt MCP without fear of lock-in, as it came from a promising, but not a dominant lab. When Google launched its Agent2Agent protocol a few months later, no major lab adopted it due to concerns about Google's dominant position.

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Fact◆

My investigation into Pollen's collapse uncovered unpaid salaries, silently cancelled health insurance, and a CTO-triggered $3.2M double charge to customers that was never disclosed in a postmortem.

Provoked by being dismissed as a 'nobody' by Pollen's CEO, Orosz dug into the company and published findings of financial mismanagement and cover-ups, later feeding the story to a BBC documentary.

transcript

Gergely Orosz: I discovered unpaid salaries, silently cancelled health insurance in the US, and the CTO deliberately triggering a $3.2M double charge to customers and never publishing a postmortem, despite engineers requesting one.

Highlight slides

Pollen's Collapse: What Orosz Uncovered✦ from: My investigation into Pollen's collapse uncovered unpaid salaries, silently cancelled health insurance, and a CTO-triggered $3.2M double charge to customers that was never disclosed in a postmortem.AI Should Make You Think Harder, Not Less✦ from: AI doesn't actually make work easier, and using it should force you to think just as hard or harder — so be deliberate about which skills you're willing to let atrophy.From Dismissal to Investigation✦ from: My investigation into Pollen's collapse uncovered unpaid salaries, silently cancelled health insurance, and a CTO-triggered $3.2M double charge to customers that was never disclosed in a postmortem.Choosing Which Skills to Protect✦ from: AI doesn't actually make work easier, and using it should force you to think just as hard or harder — so be deliberate about which skills you're willing to let atrophy.

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