The Anti-Entropy Agent with Johnny Podhradsky

Today’s guest is the source of what Corey considers some of the most “horrifying feedback” he has ever gotten from his audience. Namely, that one of his Twitter threads was the catalyst for the change in the course of a career. But, thankfully it was for the better, and Johnny Podhradsky, Technical Program Manager for Offboard Infrastructure at Waymo, is here to tell us why. Johnny talks about being a TPM, what exactly it is, and all that at a self-driving car company. Johnny takes a crack at working in a space where the outcome isn’t always tangible and at hand, and how he interprets that as an “anti-entropy agent”. Johnny reflects on Corey’s well timed Twitter thread that caused a major career shift. Johnny’s refreshing perspectives on program management, combating entropy, structuring your life and work, and more are wise beyond his years!
About Johnny
Johnny was born in Cleveland, OH and graduated from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor's in Computer Science Engineering. He began his career as a software engineer focused on embedded device protocols and systems engineering. Eventually he realized that Program Management worked better with the grain of his brain, so he took his career in that direction.

In 2019, he was hired by Google Cloud to serve as a Communications Lead on their incident management teams. Most recently, he joined Waymo in November 2021 as a Technical Program Manager, acting as an anti-entropy agent for the self-driving car company's offboard infrastructure teams.

Outside his day job, Johnny enjoys mountain biking, playing piano and trumpet, personal finance, coaching, and studying complex systems. He currently lives in Sunnyvale, CA with his wife Emily, and is expecting their first child in April 2022! 


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