<![CDATA[The View from the Middle - People First Leadership for the Age of AI]]>Two sisters. Two decades in tech. Two completely different paths — and one shared conviction: the middle isn't where you're stuck. It's where the real work happens.

Ann Samuel (Senior Director of Global Technical Support) and her sister (Director of Engineering) started their careers together in India, diverged into different corners of the tech world, and somehow landed in the same place: leading teams through one of the most disruptive moments in the industry's history.

This is the podcast for mid-career women in tech who are done pretending they want the VP title — and done apologizing for it. For the directors and senior managers who are the invisible glue holding their organizations together. For anyone navigating AI, ageism, layoffs, and leadership without a roadmap.

No executive platitudes. No hustle culture. Just two sisters telling the truth about what it actually looks like to lead from the middle — and why the view from here is exactly right.

]]>https://riverside.comRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:43:22 GMTThu, 07 May 2026 14:17:40 GMT60Ann Samuel<p>Two sisters. Two decades in tech. Two completely different paths — and one shared conviction: the middle isn't where you're stuck. It's where the real work happens.</p><p>Ann Samuel (Senior Director of Global Technical Support) and her sister (Director of Engineering) started their careers together in India, diverged into different corners of the tech world, and somehow landed in the same place: leading teams through one of the most disruptive moments in the industry's history.</p><p>This is the podcast for mid-career women in tech who are done pretending they want the VP title — and done apologizing for it. For the directors and senior managers who are the invisible glue holding their organizations together. For anyone navigating AI, ageism, layoffs, and leadership without a roadmap.</p><p>No executive platitudes. No hustle culture. Just two sisters telling the truth about what it actually looks like to lead from the middle — and why the view from here is exactly right.</p>episodicAnn Samuelannoommenm@gmail.comno<![CDATA[The View from the Middle People-First Leadership for the Age of AI]]>Two sisters. Twenty years in tech. Completely different paths — and one shared question: what if the view from here is exactly right?

In Episode 1, Ann Samuel (Senior Director of Global Technical Support) and Preethi (Director of Engineering) tell the origin story of Sister Code — from growing up together in India, to starting their careers at the same company, to diverging into support and engineering leadership in the US. They get honest about what middle leadership actually looks like, why neither of them is chasing the VP title, and why they finally decided to have this conversation out loud.

Takeaways:

  • Why mid-career is not a stopping point — it's a vantage point
  • What "middle leadership" actually means day-to-day
  • How two sisters took the same starting line and built completely different careers
  • Why South Asian women in tech need more of this conversation publicly
  • The question that started it all: what does success look like when you define it yourself?

Chapters:

  • 00:00 Chapter 1 — Two Sisters, One Mission and How We Ended Up in Tech
  • 08:26 Chapter 2 — The Divergence: Support vs. Engineering
  • 18:46 Chapter 3 — Where We Are Today?
  • 31:19Chapter 4 — Why We Started Sister Code and Who It's For

]]>b5553d3e-0a00-4388-8d00-8ac60e953f87Wed, 03 Jun 2026 03:33:33 GMT<p>Two sisters. Twenty years in tech. Completely different paths — and one shared question: what if the view from here is exactly right?</p><p>In Episode 1, Ann Samuel (Senior Director of Global Technical Support) and Preethi (Director of Engineering) tell the origin story of Sister Code — from growing up together in India, to starting their careers at the same company, to diverging into support and engineering leadership in the US. They get honest about what middle leadership actually looks like, why neither of them is chasing the VP title, and why they finally decided to have this conversation out loud.</p><p><b>Takeaways:</b></p><ul><li>Why mid-career is not a stopping point — it's a vantage point</li><li>What "middle leadership" actually means day-to-day</li><li>How two sisters took the same starting line and built completely different careers</li><li>Why South Asian women in tech need more of this conversation publicly</li><li>The question that started it all: what does success look like when you define it yourself?</li></ul><p><b>Chapters:</b></p><ul><li>00:00 Chapter 1 — Two Sisters, One Mission and How We Ended Up in Tech</li><li>08:26 Chapter 2 — The Divergence: Support vs. Engineering</li><li>18:46 Chapter 3 — Where We Are Today?</li><li>31:19Chapter 4 — Why We Started Sister Code and Who It's For</li></ul><p></p>no00:41:3011The View from the Middle People-First Leadership for the Age of AIfull