How to Build the Best Platforms for Software Engineers

Is your internal developer platform actually improving velocity, or is it a bottleneck? We discuss why platform teams building "cool" abstractions is a red flag, and you should aim to create the best platform for software engineers. In this episode, we cover: Why "Golden Paths" can turn into roadblocks for developers. The danger of Shadow IT and why it’s a symptom of a failed platform. How to measure if your platform is saving time. Connect with Adnan Alshar: Connect with Jelmer de Jong: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:54 - Is DevOps Dead? The Truth About Platform Engineering 00:03:07 - Why Developers Are Drowning in Complexity Today 00:04:37 - Why Having No Platform Is Better Than a Bad Platform 00:07:20 - Treating Software Engineers as Customers of the Platform 00:11:26 - The Exact Moment You Should Start Building a Platform 00:14:18 - Who Should Be on Your First Platform Team? 00:17:33 - Turning Your Angriest Developers Into Platform Evangelists 00:18:57 - Key Metrics: How to Measure Platform Engineering Success 00:21:01 - Why 60% of Companies Don't Measure Platform Success 00:23:35 - Why No Metrics Is the Biggest Red Flag 00:25:23 - The Disconnect Between Executives and AI Readiness 00:31:34 - Integrating AI Tools and Large Language Models Securely 00:34:22 - Shadow IT: The Symptom of a Broken Platform 00:38:03 - How to Scale Without Becoming a Bottleneck 00:41:45 - Don’t Forget the Business Side of Platform Engineering

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How to Build the Best Platforms for Software Engineers is an episode from Beyond Coding by Patrick Akil.

This episode is 00:43:40 long.

This episode was published on Feb 11, 2026.

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