17:I[66739,["/_next/static/chunks/0.3dg.jzl0xwf.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/0s3w63gp9~d8s.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/0kllbnt_hzshd.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/053zyoym-_i67.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/0u2ayibg4ahb..js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/0i99rkyrer3ax.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv"],"default"] 19:I[38632,["/_next/static/chunks/0qqtp3r0h7kah.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv","/_next/static/chunks/0iukvycbd42rl.js?dpl=dpl_F1YwpydxFehTJxgSzTNBrUVRTQpv"],"IconMark"] 18:T547,

Farhan Thawar is VP of Engineering at Shopify, angel investor, and entrepreneur.

Shopify is a public company with thousands of employees, and one of the very few companies of its scale to be remote-first. While other big tech quietly issued RTOs, Shopify doubled down on processes and culture that allowed it to stay remote, or, in their own words: digital-first.

So, today, Shopify has ports instead of offices, does VR meetings, has a unique collaboration culture, and completely embraced AI for productivity. Here is everything we covered in the chat:

(00:00) Introduction (05:49) Balancing Remote & IRL (09:20) Remote Communication (15:15) Remote vs IRL culture (21:30) Using VR for meetings and work (26:53) Pair Programming (39:57) The role of managers (46:20) Be an AI Centaur (51:23) Engineering Productivity Metrics (58:33) Q&A

—

You can also find this at:

—

For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, or appearing as a guest, email luca@refactoring.club

Running a Remote Big Tech — with Farhan Thawar (Shopify)

Refactoring Podcast

Running a Remote Big Tech — with Farhan Thawar (Shopify)