Scaling tech team from 0 to 250! Ft. Vivek Bajpai Co-founder & CTO at GoKwik

Описание: In this episode, Vivek Bajpai, Co-founder & CTO at GoKwik, joins Sukant Kumar, Founder & CEO of Sunday, to share his journey from being a software engineer to leading large tech teams.
Vivek talks about scaling from small teams to hundreds, the challenges of leadership, hiring the right people, and building strong engineering cultures. He also shares his thoughts on AI’s growing role in tech, balancing product and engineering priorities, and how the responsibilities of a CTO evolve over time.
A candid conversation packed with real lessons on growth, leadership, and staying hands-on with technology.
Chapters:
00:00–01:19 - Teaser
01:19–02:15 - Introduction
02:15–03:03 - How does it feel to be in our podcast?
03:03–04:38 - Journey from Software Engineer to Head of Engineering at SilverPush
04:38–04:45 - Entire stack at SilverPush was Node?
04:45–07:45 - Challenges faced while scaling with JavaScript and computation issues
07:45–09:14 - Top three things that helped you grow from Software Engineer to Head of Engineering
09:14–09:22 - Why does everyone want to become a manager?
09:22–13:01 - Is being a manager easier than an IC role? Why differentiation matters with experience
13:01–14:40 - How do you identify who should grow as Architect, Principal Engineer, or Manager?
14:40–17:27 - Handling conflicts when someone aspires to be a manager but isn’t ready
17:27–19:27 - Hiring someone more senior than you — did ego conflicts arise?
19:27–19:48 - Team size at SilverPush
19:48–23:47 - Journey of scaling teams from 30 to 200 — what changes with growth
23:47–27:44 - Standardizing engineering practices at scale — key fundamentals
27:44–29:04 - How your hiring philosophy evolved with team size
29:04–36:58 - Assessing people for intent — identifying “fire” in candidates
36:58–38:12 - Looking for that “fire” in every core team member
38:12–39:02 - Balancing alphas and betas in a team
39:02–40:35 - Role of AI at GoKwik — from 10K to 1M orders a day
40:35–43:15 - Managing blind spots and information overload in AI-assisted development
43:15–44:54 - How GoKwik leverages LLMs and AI in product
44:54–48:35 - Friction between product and tech during scaling — lessons learned
48:35–55:09 - Evolving role of product managers — merging with marketing and growth
55:09–58:30 - Evolving from Software Engineer to business leader
58:30–1:00:00 - How many hours do you work in a week?
1:00:00–1:02:58 - Would growth be the same with a 9-to-5 mindset?