Talks · Podcasts · Keynotes
Stage Time & Mic Drops
Conference talks, keynotes and podcast conversations on scaling product engineering teams, startup tech strategy, and building systems that don't break at 3 AM — with war stories, practical leadership advice, and the occasional debugging horror story.
Code + Culture: Scaling Engineering Teams and Product Development
Scaling Engineering - A conversation with Sidu Ponnappa on what it really takes to scale engineering teams and product development. Recorded at Surge 07, published by Peak XV.
Acknowledging and addressing technical debt in startups and scale-ups
Tech Debt Reality - A Thoughtworks Technology Podcast with Rebecca Parsons and Tim Cochran on the three faces of technical debt - innocent, reckless, and overconfident - and how to remediate without freezing the roadmap. Pit stops over full stops.
Culture and Code: Hiring with Hands Tied
Hiring at Scale - How do you hire great engineers when the odds are stacked against you? Episode 1 of the Culture and Code series produced during Ajey’s time at Sequoia India & SEA.
Building NextGen Unicorns
Scale Secrets - What separates billion-dollar Southeast Asian companies from the rest? Discover the growth catalysts behind unicorn success stories.
Hyperscaling Gojek
People First - Why ‘earn people, not money’ built a super-app empire. From ThoughtWorks to founding CodeIgnition to scaling Gojek - the philosophy that changes everything.
Podcast-Shunya One
Comfort Zone - How staying uncomfortable became the secret weapon for building IPO-ready companies. The mindset that drives continuous evolution at Sequoia Capital.
Bidding goodbye to gojek part 1
CTO Journey - The heartfelt goodbye that reveals what it really takes to be a CTO of Southeast Asia’s leading super-app. Early days, hard decisions, and leadership lessons.
Bidding goodbye to gojek part 2
Legacy Building - The continuation of Ajey’s farewell - diving deeper into the super-app ecosystem model and what pioneering means in tech leadership.
Ngobrolin podcast
Sharp Skills - How to stay technically sharp when you’re at the highest engineering position. Hiring secrets, product development, and calculated risk-taking.
Indigo webinar - Startups Lessons
Startup 101 - Confused about startup terms and roles? Get clarity on the startup ecosystem from a Sequoia Operating Partner’s perspective.
One super app to rule them all
Super-App DNA - The strategic blueprint behind Gojek’s super-app dominance, revealed at Rise Conf 2019 with insights from Sequoia Capital.
QnA at Rise
Live Insights - Unscripted Q&A revealing the real challenges and strategies behind scaling Gojek to super-app status.
Bottom up innovation at GOJEK?
Culture Code - Why leaders should get into the trenches regardless of seniority. The great debate: top-down control vs bottom-up innovation.
GopherCon India 2019 - Keynote
Engineering Culture - Building engineering teams and fostering engineering-first culture in high-scale startups. The blueprint for technical leadership.
Lessons learned while scaling the unicorn
10% Weekly Growth - Real lessons from scaling Gojek’s product org at 10% week-on-week growth. The tweaks, corrections, and hard-won insights.
Voxxed Days Opening Keynote 2019 Searching for silver bullet
No Silver Bullets - Why there’s no magic solution in software engineering. Navigating business biases and dogmas with distributed agile teams.
Gojek at Google Cloud Next '18
Scooter Debut - The legendary stage entrance that explained how Google Maps enabled accurate pickups and food delivery predictions at massive scale.
Conversation with Monk's Hill ventures
CTO Philosophy - Fireside chat revealing the journey and core beliefs that shaped Gojek’s technical leadership and growth strategy.
Touching Lives: The Startup Engineer
3.1B Impact - How Gojek helped drivers and merchants earn $3.1B in 2018. What it truly means to be a 10x engineer driving real-world change.
GO-JEK x GopherCon SG 2018 - GO-JEK gets Go
Go Principles - Engineering principles that foster culture and productivity. Why Go became crucial for Gojek’s technical architecture.
Impacting a nation - Strata Data Conference
Impossible Possible - How technology and data insights make the impossible possible. Real stories from transforming Indonesia’s digital landscape.
Inclusivity for the Greater Good - Strata Data Conference
Million Lives - A mission of inclusivity that impacts millions across Indonesia. How tech can drive meaningful social change.
GopherCon SG 2018 Closing Keynote
Productivity Culture - The engineering principles that create high-performance teams. Building culture that scales with your technology.
Discussion at I need a break meetup
Break Time - Sometimes we all need a break! Casual tech networking where real connections are forged over shared experiences.
GopherCon SG 2017 Opening Keynote
Go Performance - Practical performance improvements using Go. Technical deep-dive into optimization strategies that matter.
Why 80% companies fail, Highlights!
Failure Patterns - The brutal truth about why 80% of companies fail. Key highlights from SWSG Mega startup event.
Companies, Ecosystem and Ruby in India
Tech Strategy - Technology choices, developer decisions, and implementing strategies for future-proof software deployment.
SWSSG Mega 2017 What is startup personality
Startup DNA - Is there such a thing as ‘startup personality’? Panel discussion with industry leaders on what makes startup people tick.
The world full of Idiots, Agile Indonesia
TDD Mastery - The importance of test-driven development and techniques that transform your daily development workflow.
SWSSG Mega 2017 Advice to your teenage self
Time Travel Wisdom - If you could advise your teenage self, what would it be? Honest reflections from successful tech leaders.
Keynote Deccan RubyConf 2017
TDD Excellence - Master class on test-driven development importance and practical techniques for superior development workflow.
Scaling Engineering Teams
From 5 to 500 engineers without losing your sanity.
Product Engineering
Building teams that ship value, not just code.
Startup Tech Strategy
Making technical decisions when everything is on fire.
Systems Thinking
Designing for scale, failure, and human error.
Book me to speak
Available for conferences, company events, and team workshops. I prefer interactive sessions over one-way presentations.