Hello, Visionary CTOs! 🌟

In this week’s newsletter, we’re diving into what it really means to lead a high-performing tech team in 2025 - and the tools, traits, and tactics that separate solid leadership from stalled velocity. Whether you’re the one calling the shots or empowering others to, these reads are a must.

We’re unpacking why decisiveness might just be the most underrated leadership muscle, what your observability budget says about your culture, and how the “vibe” movement in AI coding is shaking up everything from prototyping to production (with a few red flags along the way).

Let’s get into it 👇

📰 Upcoming in this issue

• The One Trait Every Tech Leader Needs Right Now 🧠

• What Should You Really Be Spending on Observability? 💡

• Code the Vibe, But Don’t Skip the Review ✨

📈 Trending news

• CTOs Take Note - OpenAI Wants to Turn Chrome Into an AI-First Platform

• Must-Listen Podcasts Every CTO Should Queue Up in 2025

• CTOs, Read This Before Running Python in Production

The One Trait Every Tech Leader Needs Right Now 🧠 read the full 470-word article here

Article published: April 18, 2025

I just read “Tech Leadership in So Many Words…#30 – Decisive” from CTO Academy, and it’s a five-minute gut check for anyone steering a tech team through uncertainty.

Author Andrew Weaver hits the nail on the head: modern tech teams thrive on autonomy and collaboration - but without a decisive leader, things grind to a halt. In agile settings, everyone has a voice, but someone has to make the call. Otherwise? Innovation stalls. Deadlines slip. Trust fades.

Weaver nails the balance: listen widely, decide wisely, and don’t fear the wrong call - just fear no call at all.

This isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about building a culture that trusts in direction and executes with speed.

Key Takeaways:

• ⚙️ Decisiveness beats gridlock. Agile teams need autonomy, but leadership needs to cut through indecision with clear calls.

• 📊 Data + judgment wins. Strong decisions combine diverse input with a leader's willingness to act when it matters.

• 🚪 Beware “trap-door” choices. Some decisions can’t be undone. Approach those with care - and a clear strategy.

• 🧭 Action over perfection. As Teddy Roosevelt said, doing something is often better than doing nothing at all.

What Should You Really Be Spending on Observability? 💡 read the full 4,600-word article here

Article published: April 16, 2025

I just read Charity Majors’ “How Much Should I Be Spending on Observability?” from Honeycomb, and if you’re a CTO, this isn’t just another budget line - it’s a philosophy check.

Majors revisits her infamous 2018 rule of thumb - observability costs at 20–30% of infra spend - and revises it to a more nuanced, 2025-aware 15–25%. But here’s the kicker: this isn’t about the percentage. It’s about whether you treat observability as a cost… or an investment.

Observability spend should reflect the complexity of your system and how tightly user experience is tied to performance. If lag = lost revenue, your dashboards aren’t optional - they’re strategic assets.

Major’s biggest advice? Shift observability budgets out of IT and into engineering. Treat it like code, not just tooling. That’s where the ROI starts.

Key Takeaways:

• 📊 15–25% of infra spend is the new sweet spot for quality observability - but treat it like an investment, not overhead.

• 🛠 Tooling ≠ insight. Depth still requires manual instrumentation, no matter what vendors claim.

• 🔄 Dev velocity is observability’s best case. Faster, more confident deployments come from better feedback loops.

• 🎯 Put engineering in charge. IT sees cost; engineering sees value. The budget should reflect that.

Code the Vibe, But Don’t Skip the Review ✨ read the full 2,500-word article here

Article published: April 22, 2025

I just finished reading “Inside the Chaotic Promise of Vibe-Driven Development” from The CTO Club, and whew - if you’re a CTO in 2025, you’ve probably already felt this one in your bones.

Vibe coding, the AI-fueled movement where devs (and, uh, not-devs) spin up production code from prompts and “intuition,” is here. It’s fast, flashy, and surprisingly effective - until it’s not.

Yes, it ships. But it also hacks itself. Literally.

This article doesn’t just meme the movement - it maps its potential and its pitfalls. The verdict? Vibe coding can be a game-changer if you treat it like nitro in the racecar, not the engine itself.

Key Takeaways:

• 🚀 Vibe coding thrives in prototyping and rapid ideation - but gets dicey in production without serious review.

• 🔐 Major security red flags: LLM-generated code is vulnerable to injection, XSS, and license violations.

• 🧠 Overreliance = learned helplessness. Use AI to augment engineers - not replace their critical thinking.

• 📏 Define clear guardrails. Know where vibes belong… and where architecture, audits, and rigor are non-negotiable.

Why It Matters

Leadership today isn’t just about tech stacks - it’s about clarity. A CTO’s ability to make confident decisions, invest in visibility, and navigate new development trends like vibe coding doesn’t just impact delivery - it shapes culture, trust, and growth.

In an era of rapid iteration and rising complexity, the best tech leaders aren’t just building - they’re guiding, listening, and choosing wisely when it counts most.

Let’s build better, bolder, and smarter - together.

Rachel Miller
Editor-in-Chief
CTO Executive Insights

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