Rephonic
Artwork for The CTO Playbook

The CTO Playbook

Adam Horner
Leadership
Technology Leadership
Product Management
CTO Leadership
Coaching
Organizational Change
CTO
Technology
Fintech
Cybersecurity
Mergers and Acquisitions
Technical Debt
Performance Management
Change Management
Gut Instinct
Leadership Coaching
Machine Learning
Decision Making
Networking
Developer-First Startups

Join Adam Horner, a CTO with over 30 years in the tech industry, on The CTO Playbook — the podcast dedicated to helping CTOs excel. Perfect for CTOs and tech leaders navigating the complexities of their roles, each episode offers clear insights, innovative strategies, and practical advice from top leaders in tech. With Adam’s extensive experience mentoring engineers and tech leaders, and over a de... more

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes101Founded2 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
ManagementTechnologyBusiness

Listen to this Podcast

Artwork for The CTO Playbook

Latest Episodes

What if the biggest constraint on your organisation isn't your tech, your funding, or your market, but whether your leaders can think at the level the problem requires?

Build your own CTO Playbook at www.theCTOplaybook.com - the leadership platform ... more

The reps that used to turn juniors into seniors are disappearing, and most engineering leaders won't notice until the senior shortage hits in three years.

Build your own CTO Playbook at www.theCTOplaybook.com - the leadership platform built for the ... more

YouTube

The most dangerous moment in a transformation isn't the start, it's the stretch right before behaviours actually start sticking.

Build your own CTO Playbook at www.theCTOplaybook.com - the leadership platform built for the full CTO journey. Coaching... more

YouTube

When do you stop being the CTO with all the answers and start being the one who asks better questions?

Build your own CTO Playbook at www.theCTOplaybook.com - the leadership platform built for the full CTO journey. Coaching, podcast, and community t... more

YouTube

Key Facts

Accepts Guests
Contact Information
Podcast Host
Number of Listeners
Find out how many people listen to this podcast per episode and each month.

Similar Podcasts

People also subscribe to these shows.

Recent Guests

Anders Wengelin
CTO and partner of The Friktion
Friktion
Episode: 99: Why Transformations Die Just Before They Succeed
Miguel Carranza
Co-founder and CTO of RevenueCat
RevenueCat
Episode: 98: The Office of the CTO at RevenueCat, with Miguel Carranza
Michelle McDaid
Founder of The Leading Place, advisor on leadership and diversity in tech
The Leading Place
Episode: 97: Stop Hiring More of the Same — Michelle McDaid, The Leading Place
Ric Hill
Co-founder of Ghyston
Ghyston
Episode: 96: Why the Best CTOs Don't Have a Playbook — Ric Hill, Ghyston
Paul Kinkaid
Former British Army officer, leadership coach and author of Forensic Leadership
Forensic Outcomes
Episode: 95: The Leadership Signals CTOs Send Without Realising It with Paul Kinkaid
Adam Spector
Four-time founder and 200+-startup investor
Chore (investor/portfolio perspective)
Episode: 94: Execution Beats Strategy? Rethinking the CTO Role in the Age of AI
Sam Boswell
CTO of Terralayr
Terralayr
Episode: 92: The CTO Playbook: How to Build Trust, Consistency, and Psychological Safety in Engineering Teams
Michael Di Prisco
Deeply technical engineer who transitioned toward leadership
Independent/Italian tech community
Episode: 91: The Hardest Upgrade for Technical Leaders: Leading Without Losing Your Edge
Nic Granger
Chief Information and Financial Officer at the North Sea Transition Authority
North Sea Transition Authority
Episode: 90: Data Is a Leadership Problem, Not a Technical One — A Playbook for CTOs

Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars from 48 ratings
  • Perfect Format

    Love this show. It always ends by boiling down the advice into a playbook you can apply right now. Very useful.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    LoMiRaFo
    United States9 months ago
  • A must-listen for any current or aspiring Tech Leader

    The CTO Playbook has quickly become essential listening for me. As I prepare to step into a new tech leadership role, Adam’s podcast has not only helped sharpen my thinking but also steady my nerves. His clear, experienced voice brings confidence and practical guidance to every episode.

    What sets this podcast apart is how actionable it is; every episode leaves you with something tangible to apply. The mix of real-world examples, leadership insights, and interviews with seasoned tech leaders make... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    iOlly
    United Kingdom9 months ago
  • Modern Leadership Insights for CTOs

    The CTO Playbook is a goldmine for tech leaders navigating today’s fast-evolving landscape. The episode on “9 Principles for Leading in a World of Citizen Developers” was especially inspiring, balancing the rise of AI and no-code tools with the need for real architectural thinking and scalable systems. As someone who coaches and builds within high-growth SaaS environments, I really appreciated the practical lens on leadership shifts like alignment over control and velocity over busyness. The pod... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    YourCTO
    United Statesa year ago
  • Great content for cto's and engineering leaders

    Episodes are well structured, have good people and the interview is very supportive of learning.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    RomaSud
    United Statesa year ago
  • Fantastic show!

    Adam is a great podcaster with enlightening content!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Ritavan SLASOG
    Germanya year ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

host brings clear expertise and mentorship-like guidance
format is structured and delivers tangible takeaways for immediate use
listeners praise how episodes translate strategy into actionable playbooks
guests are consistently high-caliber and provide practical leadership insights

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#68
South Africa/Technology
Apple Podcasts
#206
Ireland/Technology

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

96: Why the Best CTOs Don't Have a Playbook — Ric Hill, Ghyston
Q: Tell us about Ghyston and what you do for clients.
Ric explains Ghyston as a software development partner that can scale from adding capacity to acting as a full development capability, working across startups to large organizations in varied sectors, with a strong emphasis on user-centered design and delivering high-value solutions.
94: Execution Beats Strategy? Rethinking the CTO Role in the Age of AI
Q: So you've got quite a lot of background to go through, but can you sort of give us the sort of the posse version of Adam Spector?
The guests emphasizes a deep-rooted curiosity and a skeptical optimism, recounting his journey across multiple startups and investments, and explaining how his path shaped his current views on leadership, execution, and leveraging AI to accelerate operations rather than relying solely on lofty strategies.
89: Engineering Velocity for CTOs: How Superhuman Moves Fast Without Sacrificing Quality
Q: What role do career ladders play in sustaining velocity?
Career ladders signal that speed is a valued outcome; by explicitly tying progression to speed-related criteria, organizations incentivize rapid decision-making and efficient delivery while maintaining quality and user focus.
89: Engineering Velocity for CTOs: How Superhuman Moves Fast Without Sacrificing Quality
Q: How do you balance speed with quality in a high-stakes product like Superhuman?
By pre-making safe guardrails through aligned autonomy, ensuring architecture decisions are made upfront when needed, and focusing on eliminating bottlenecks before engineers reach coding, not by pressuring code velocity alone.
89: Engineering Velocity for CTOs: How Superhuman Moves Fast Without Sacrificing Quality
Q: What is engineering velocity, in your view?
Velocity is a balance between the rate of market-relevant innovations and the speed of internal delivery, with emphasis on reducing cycle time from idea to impact and aligning decisions with business outcomes.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About The CTO Playbook

What is The CTO Playbook about and what kind of topics does it cover?

The show centers on high-impact tech leadership, with conversations that mix practical playbooks, leadership psychology, and organizational design for CTOs and engineering leaders. Episodes frequently explore topics like engineering velocity, AI-driven product development, data governance, open collaboration, and building resilient tech organizations. Guests tend to be seasoned practitioners—CTOs, heads of engineering, and senior engineers—who share frameworks, real-world stories, and actionable steps that listeners can apply to scale teams, improve culture, and accelerate delivery. A notable strength is translating complex tech and governance challenges into concrete playbooks and mental models that help leaders navigate rapid AI-driven ch... more

Where can I find podcast stats for The CTO Playbook?

Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for The CTO Playbook. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to The CTO Playbook and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.

How many listeners does The CTO Playbook get?

Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for The CTO Playbook, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.

What are the audience demographics for The CTO Playbook?

Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for The CTO Playbook, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.

How many subscribers and views does The CTO Playbook have?

To see how many followers or subscribers The CTO Playbook has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to The CTO Playbook?

These podcasts share a similar audience with The CTO Playbook:

1. The a16z Show
2. The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis
3. Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson
4. All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
5. Huberman Lab

How many episodes of The CTO Playbook are there?

The CTO Playbook launched 2 years ago and published 101 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact The CTO Playbook?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for The CTO Playbook?

Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for The CTO Playbook from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.

View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.

How do I access podcast episode transcripts for The CTO Playbook?

Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of The CTO Playbook. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.

What guests have appeared on The CTO Playbook?

Recent guests on The CTO Playbook include:

1. Anders Wengelin
2. Miguel Carranza
3. Michelle McDaid
4. Ric Hill
5. Paul Kinkaid
6. Adam Spector
7. Sam Boswell
8. Michael Di Prisco

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

Find and pitch the right podcasts

We help savvy brands, marketers and PR professionals to find the right podcasts for any topic or niche. Get the data and contacts you need to pitch podcasts at scale and turn listeners into customers.
Try it free for 7 days