Who am I?

My wife and I, along with our wedding party on a dinosaur
Photo by Jessica Fowler / Three Region Photography

Hi! I'm Chris Sotherden, an experienced software executive passionate about building high-performing engineering teams that leverage software to make the world a better place. I've been fortunate enough to wear a lot of hats (both formally and informally), covering not only software engineering but also customer success, product management, systems and network administration, and sales engineering.

I've launched this blog to share the hard-earned lessons, successes, and missteps from my nearly two decades in the software industry. Hopefully, whether you've just jumped headfirst into your first leadership role or you're an experienced leader navigating rapid transformation post-acquisition, you'll find something useful to help you on your journey.

My Background

I've been in the software industry for seventeen years, with the past ten in leadership roles. I've worked in start-ups, growth phase companies, and large enterprises. During that time, I've had experience with private equity and publicly traded companies.

Much of my career was building monitoring and observability software for telecommunications and contact center, but I've spent the last five years in health care. In the healthcare space, I've worked on clinical trials management software, health insurance claims analytics, and pharmacy management software.

I specialize in leading teams through major transformations, such as rapid growth, M&A, re-platforming, or new product launches. Focusing on operational excellence, ownership, and customer obsession, I've successfully led engineering teams through major re-platforming initiatives while launching new products, dramatically increasing delivery cadence, and improving customer satisfaction.

What You'll Find Here

This blog is where I share my thoughts on engineering leadership, technology trends, and coaching and mentoring. In particular, you'll likely find various posts about AI, both as part of the SDLC and how to effectively productise it, as well as some hands-on examples (particularly in Go).

You'll find posts about, but not limited to:

  • Career development and mentorship for engineers and managers
  • Diversity in Tech
  • Building and scaling high-performance engineering organizations
  • Software product delivery and risk management
  • Industry trends in software engineering
  • Adoption of AI in both products and SDLC
  • Hands-on AI examples, particularly in Go (Golang)

A Little More About Me

Based in Raleigh, NC, I live with my wife Arielle (yes, we got married with dinosaurs) and our two French Bulldogs, Tonka and Shoshana. Over the years, I've competed in a number of sports, including soccer, volleyball, yacht racing (J24), running (5k & 10k), and powerlifting. The past few years, my sport of choice has been 10-pin bowling. In my downtime, I tend to read cozy or witchy fantasy.

Follow Along

Hopefully, you find my posts useful and enjoyable. I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on anything I post. Also, please consider signing up for my mailing list to stay up to date with all my latest posts.