How New Engineering Leaders Win in the First Ninety Days

Chinmay Barve, VP of Engineering at Nooks AI, joins the show to break down what the first sixty to ninety days look like when you step into a senior leadership role at a fast moving AI company. He explains how to build trust quickly, how to find real problems worth solving, and how to avoid the trap of either rushing change or waiting too long to act. This conversation is a practical playbook for engineering leaders who want early impact without losing alignment.

Key Takeaways

• The listening phase starts before day one and should shape how you enter the role

• Early wins matter but only if they support the deeper problems you were hired to solve

• Alignment with founders becomes the real foundation for fast progress

• Sharing your thinking openly can build trust faster than any formal process

• You need a clear personal compass so you know what parts of your approach are fixed and what parts can change

Timestamped Highlights

00:36 How Nooks AI thinks about the next generation of sales productivity and why human guided AI matters in real workflows

04:20 What leaders should really listen for during the first weeks on the job and why the listening starts before you join

12:31 Why a new VP should enter with personal objectives while staying open to what the company needs most

14:11 How to act fast without creating chaos and where to spot early wins that build confidence on both sides

17:29 The value of a rough thirty sixty ninety plan and how daily syncs create deeper alignment right away

20:34 What it looks like to foster trust through openness, vulnerability, and consistent shared reasoning with your team

A Line That Stands Out

Once you commit, go all in with conviction. Do all the real deciding before day one so you can show up fully aligned and ready to move.

Pro Tips

• Enter with a clear ambition that matches the founders vision so you are rowing in the same direction from day one

• Look for low effort problems with high emotional or operational weight to build fast trust

• Overshare your thinking at the start so the team can see how you reason

Call to Action

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