logo

Oshri Cohen | The Real Role of the CTO

2026-06-11

The tech industry just changed again, and if you are still thinking about it the old way, you are already behind.

In this episode of CTO Confidential, Mike Rispoli sits down with Oshri Cohen , a fractional CTO who has been watching the landscape shift in real time. Over the course of this conversation, we unpack what it means to build products in an era where AI writes the code, how to think about technology selection when language no longer matters, and why the entire operational model of software companies needs to be rethought.

We get into the honest comparison between Claude and GPT, why programming languages might become irrelevant, and how managing AI agents is completely different from managing human teams. Oshri shares his approach to scaling development work through agentic systems, why product managers need to stop writing tickets and start understanding customers, and what it really takes to build something meaningful in this moment.

This is not theory. This is what the work looks like right now.

What we cover:

The CTO role and why it is the most misunderstood position in tech
How AI fundamentally changed the fractional CTO business model
Claude Code versus GPT: a developer's honest perspective
Why programming languages might be approaching obsolescence
Building architecture decisions with LLMs as the primary tool
Ruby on Rails, Go, Elixir, and why readability matters to AI
Managing multiple AI agents instead of human developers
Return on investment beyond revenue metrics
Product management in the age of AI developers
Why customer satisfaction is the actual ROI
The future of junior developers in a generative AI world
Building something and taking real risks

https://www.linkedin.com/in/oshricohen/
https://oshricohen.me/

────────────────────────────────
LISTEN ON ALL PLATFORMS
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/1V4SjmlnG2sntDnck8UrGW

Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/strictly-from-nowhere-a-podcast-experiment-by-cause/id1804380172

iHeart Radio
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-strictly-from-nowhere-a-po-315649122/

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWAstEyCK6YsKVTTRsQr37w
SUPPORT THE SHOW
Patreon
http://patreon.com/StrictlyFromNowhere

CONNECT WITH US
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/strictly-from-nowhere

Website
https://strictlyfromnowhere.com
────────────────────────────────
FOLLOW JUSTIN ABRAMS | @cuzzinjustin

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cuzzinjustin/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/cuzzinjustin/

X
https://x.com/cuzzinjustin

TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@cuzzinjustin

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/cuzzinjustin24

Website
https://www.cuzzinjustin.com
────────────────────────────────
FOLLOW MIKE RISPOLI | @mike_rispoli_cto

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rispoli-cto/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/mike_rispoli_cto/

X
https://x.com/michael_rispoli

TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@mike_rispoli

Website
https://michaelrispoli.com/
────────────────────────────────
CAUSE OF A KIND | @causeofakind

Website
https://www.causeofakind.com

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cause-of-a-kind

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/causeofakind/
X
https://x.com/causeofakind

TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@causeofakind

Newsletter Signup
http://eepurl.com/gcc-yj

Newsletter Archive
https://us16.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=847ea1526d6523a41ef1eb5a5&id=48d53e9627
────────────────────────────────
OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS
CodeDojo
https://github.com/Cause-of-a-Kind/code-dojo-core

OCR Ruby GEM
https://activestorage-ocr-demo.fly.dev/
────────────────────────────────
COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
Long Island Technologists
https://www.longislandtechnologists.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/long-island-technologists-networking
https://www.instagram.com/longislandtechnologists/
────────────────────────────────
We Build Products, Because We Want Them To Exist
https://coakstudio.com
────────────────────────────────
Brought to you by Cause of a Kind
A boutique software development and startup studio from Long Island, New York

Stand up. Show up. Build.

Book a Systems Audit