Welcome back to The Download! This week, Cassidy covers the upcoming Microsoft Build 2026 event in San Francisco and an exciting new update to GitHub Mobile that lets you create repositories on the go. We also dive into Tanner Linsley's "redact" experiment, a tiny, React-compatible runtime projection and Keychron's massive open source release of CAD files for hardware hackers. Let us know what you think of this week's developer news in the comments!
#MicrosoftBuild #GitHub #OpenSource
— CHAPTERS —
00:00 Welcome to the download 00:29 Microsoft Build 2026 in SF 00:57 Create repos on GitHub mobile 01:22 Tanner Linsley's tiny React projection 02:52 Keychron open sources keyboard designs 03:24 Outro
About GitHub It’s where over 180 million developers create, share, and ship the best code possible. It’s a place for anyone, from anywhere, to build anything—it’s where the world builds software. https://github.com
What are the limitations of using a file-based agent workflow? Why do massive context windows tend to collapse? This week on the show, Mikiko Bazeley from MongoDB joins us to discuss agentic architecture and context engineering.
Mikiko is an applied AI engineer. She helps developers and organizations build AI and ML applications using MongoDB. We dig into the debate of files versus a database. What are some of the limitations of building an agent with just a folder of files?
We explore the surprising limitations of massive context windows and strategies for fixing them. Mikiko also shares advice and resources to help you get up to speed on building your own agent skills. Our conversation touches on multiple topics in the current development landscape.
In this episode: • The Lexus TZ 3-row electric SUV makes its debut • The Tesla Semi battery sizes revealed • The best Chinese EVs in Europe • And much, much more!
Mukhtar Kadiri: The Three Qualities That Separate Great Product Owners From Those Who Just Drop Tickets
The Great Product Owner: Decisive, Versatile, and Credible at Every Level
Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.
"This person could hold his own at any level of the organization — with executives, with engineering leadership, and with the team." - Mukhtar Kadiri
Mukhtar describes the best product owner he ever worked with through three distinct qualities. First, this person could operate at any level — equally comfortable in a strategic conversation with executives and in a tactical session with the engineering team. Second, they had vast cross-functional knowledge. They weren't a specialist in any one domain, but they could hold intelligent, credible conversations with marketing, go-to-market, customer success, and engineering alike. And third — perhaps most critically — they were decisive. In ambiguous environments where nobody has done this before, teams need someone who will pick a direction and say "let's find out," even if the decision might be wrong. That decisiveness, combined with the ability to course-correct early, is what separates great product owners from those who leave teams waiting for direction that never comes.
Self-reflection Question: Which of these three qualities — operating at any level, cross-functional credibility, or decisiveness — is strongest in your product owner, and which one needs the most development?
The Bad Product Owner: Not Owning the Backlog
Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.
"If you don't have a strong product person, engineering just takes over the backlog. And that is dangerous, because it's product that is the representative of the customers." - Mukhtar Kadiri
Mukhtar has seen it happen repeatedly: when a product owner doesn't truly own the backlog, a strong engineering lead steps in and takes over prioritization by default. Things still get built — often beautiful, technically elegant solutions — but they don't produce business value because engineering lacks the customer intimacy that product should bring. The fix isn't simple, but Mukhtar identifies three levers. First, mentorship — pairing a junior product person with a more senior one to build confidence and skills. Second, building technical literacy — a product owner who can't meet engineering halfway will always be seen as an outsider dropping tickets. And third, closing the relationship gap between product and engineering. As Mukhtar points out, a product owner is technically a part of the team, but if the team doesn't feel like they're a part of the team, that gap becomes a chasm. There needs to be real overlap between engineering and product — not just shared meetings, but shared understanding.
Self-reflection Question: Is your product owner truly a member of the team — or are they just someone who shows up to drop tickets and disappear until the next sprint planning?
[The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]
🔥In the ruthless world of fintech, success isn't just about innovation—it's about coaching!🔥
Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she's caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn't just about the product—it's about the people.
🚨 Will Angela's coaching be enough? Find out in Shift: From Product to People—the gripping story of high-stakes innovation and corporate intrigue.
Mukhtar Kadiri is a PM career coach with 15+ years in project management. He specializes in helping project and program managers land $100–300K roles. He's been named the #1 PM in Canada. He also has a LinkedIn following of 67K+ professionals. He shares practical insights for FREE on LinkedIn, where he talks about job search, career growth, and thriving as a PM.
Fred Marshall has spent decades helping companies like Apple, Pfizer, and Genentech navigate moments of rapid transformation. As founder and CEO of Quantum Learning, Inc., he’s trained more than 130,000 professionals across fourteen countries and helped launch dozens of major bio-pharma brands. His specialty is translating high-pressure change into clear, repeatable performance.
In his new book, THRIVE: The Antidote to Future Shock (May 12, 2026), with a forward by PeterDiamandis, Fred argues that the real risk of AI isn’t automation – it’s human overload. Teams aren’t failing because the technology is too complex. They’re struggling because attention, energy, and judgment are being stretched past their limits.
Today We Talked About
Background
What jobs are at risk?
AI Revolution
Information Overload
Uncertainty
Attention Economy
Screentime
Self-improving technology
Strategic and Curious
Building the future you want
Managing the Present moment
Enjoy the moment
Managing It
Noise…
3 Bucket Model
What are my priorities?
What are my obligations?
Noise…
Use the power of compound growth
Bring great people into your life
simplicity and focus
Focus mode – with your phone
Be Mindful that it is disguised as a priority
Schedule stuff in your calendar with another person
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
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