Internal tech stacks are the next big cost-cutting wave

The week's must-know news for engineering leaders

March 11, 2025

This week’s bytes:

  • The massive shift to internally-built tech is just beginning

  • How to get over the fear of downgrading from manager to engineer

  • Expect more generalist product roles in the future

Worth reading

2-minute read by Julie Bort

Klarna just kicked Salesforce to the curb, replacing it with its own AI-driven internal tech stack—saving $40M and 700 contractor roles in the process. This isn’t a one-off. AI is making it easier than ever for companies to ditch high-cost SaaS and build in-house. The future? Leaner, smarter, AI-powered internal platforms.

3-minute read by Rebecca Szkutak

Cybersecurity training is broken—boring videos once a year don’t cut it. One company is changing the game with TikTok-style micro-lessons and interactive puzzles that make security second nature. With AI-powered phishing on the rise, this might be the upgrade companies need.

4-minute read by Marcos F. Lobo

The job market is forcing some Engineering Managers back into hands-on coding roles. The transition isn’t always smooth. Technical skills fade, architectures evolve, and expectations shift. This article breaks down the challenges and outlines a strategy for re-entering the engineering track, including how to fight back against fear.

4-minute read by Simon Sharwood

The networking industry is facing a skills crisis, and slow-moving career paths aren’t helping. Megaport’s Alexis Bertholf argues that network engineering should adopt a trade-style apprenticeship model to fast-track new talent—before retiring experts take decades of problem-solving knowledge with them. The challenge? Convincing senior engineers to adapt to Gen Z’s learning habits.

4-minute read by Lukas Gentele

Platform engineers are stuck between enforcing standards and giving devs autonomy. Lukas Gentele dives into virtual Kubernetes clusters. They cut infrastructure sprawl, boost flexibility, and finally make multitenancy work without the usual trade-offs. This is the smarter way to scale Kubernetes.

Best quick bytes

#1. 🏆

A whopping 9.5% of software engineers are complete ghosts. Hunt for them and conduct exorcisms as needed.

#2. 🏆

This job opening got nearly 150K views because of the company culture and the controversy of such a generalist role.

#3. 🏆

Pay attention to your customers. They’re real people.

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