EPISODE · Jun 11, 2026 · 1H
Curiosity, Courage, and the Human Side of Software with Ellyse Cedeno
from Elixir Wizards · host SmartLogic LLC
In this episode of Elixir Wizards, Charles Suggs and Emma Whamond are joined by Ellyse Cedeno, founder of Heuristic Salvo and a software engineer and product leader with more than 25 years of experience across early internet platforms, gaming, health tech, and distributed systems. Ellyse shares the winding path that took her from early search engines and Netscape to game development, medical research at Mount Sinai, and eventually to Elixir. Along the way, she talks about staying curious over a long technical career, rediscovering joy through side projects, and why being willing to feel like a beginner again can be one of the most useful skills a developer can build. The conversation explores what it means to grow as an engineer in a world where AI tooling is becoming part of the everyday workflow. Ellyse makes the case that technical skill still matters, but the human parts of software development (like judgment, curiosity, communication, trust, and influence) are becoming increasingly important. We also talk about soft influence and how developers can create change inside organizations without relying on hard authority. Key Topics Discussed in this Episode: Ellyse’s career path through early internet platforms, gaming, health tech, and distributed systems Moving from Netscape and search engines to medical research and software consulting Discovering Elixir through an interest in concurrent and distributed systems Why beginner’s mindset still matters after decades in tech How neurodivergence, curiosity, and deep focus shape Ellyse’s approach to programming Rediscovering joy in programming through side projects and experimentation Building an MMORPG game server in Elixir Exploring hardware, Nerves, and live theremin demos The role of passion projects in professional growth Protecting time for learning in productivity-focused environments Work-life balance differences between the U.S. and Europe How AI tools are changing expectations for modern developers Why AI does not replace judgment, taste, or technical understanding Understanding business needs instead of only focusing on technical preferences Introducing Elixir into a TypeScript-heavy organization Using Elixir microservices to solve specific technical problems What “soft influence” looks like in engineering teams Building trust through one-on-one conversations Knowing when influence is working and when it is not Negotiating technical decisions without turning them into power struggles The relationship between technical competence and interpersonal skill Managing imposter syndrome during pair programming and collaborative work Documentation as a visibility and ownership tool Community involvement, conference speaking, and finding your people Staying curious without burning out Why the human side of software development still matters Links Mentioned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai https://icahn.mssm.edu/ Evernote https://evernote.com/ Joplin https://joplinapp.org/ Book: Elixir in Action by Saša Jurić https://www.manning.com/books/elixir-in-action-third-edition Book: The Little LISPer https://www.scribd.com/doc/263131641/The-Little-Lisper Ellyse’s Goatmire Talk https://goatmire.com/speaker/ellyse-cedeno Nerves https://nerves-project.org/ xHain Hack & Makespace in Berlin https://x-hain.de/en/ https://cursor.com/ Haskell Programming Language https://www.haskell.org/ Java Programming Language https://www.java.com/en/ Clojure Programming Language https://clojure.org/ Scheme Programming Language https://www.scheme.org/ TypeScript Programming Language https://www.typescriptlang.org/ Nostrum Library https://hexdocs.pm/nostrum/intro.html Gleam Programming Language https://gleam.run/ Book: Getting Past No by William Ury https://www.williamury.com/getting-past-no/ “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hx4gdlfamo Ted Talk: Do schools kill creativity? | Sir Ken Robinson https://youtu.be/iG9CE55wbtY Ellyse’s Codeberg https://codeberg.org/ellyxir Ellyse’s Game Server Repo https://codeberg.org/ellyxir/gameserver Goatmire Elixir & NervesConf 2026 https://www.goatmire.com/
What this episode covers
In this episode of Elixir Wizards, Charles Suggs and Emma Whamond are joined by Ellyse Cedeno, founder of Heuristic Salvo and a software engineer and product leader with more than 25 years of experience across early internet platforms, gaming, health tech, and distributed systems. Ellyse shares the winding path that took her from early search engines and Netscape to game development, medical research at Mount Sinai, and eventually to Elixir. Along the way, she talks about staying curious over a long technical career, rediscovering joy through side projects, and why being willing to feel like a beginner again can be one of the most useful skills a developer can build. The conversation explores what it means to grow as an engineer in a world where AI tooling is becoming part of the everyday workflow. Ellyse makes the case that technical skill still matters, but the human parts of software development (like judgment, curiosity, communication, trust, and influence) are becoming increasingly important. We also talk about soft influence and how developers can create change inside organizations without relying on hard authority. Key Topics Discussed in this Episode: Ellyse’s career path through early internet platforms, gaming, health tech, and distributed systems Moving from Netscape and search engines to medical research and software consulting Discovering Elixir through an interest in concurrent and distributed systems Why beginner’s mindset still matters after decades in tech How neurodivergence, curiosity, and deep focus shape Ellyse’s approach to programming Rediscovering joy in programming through side projects and experimentation Building an MMORPG game server in Elixir Exploring hardware, Nerves, and live theremin demos The role of passion projects in professional growth Protecting time for learning in productivity-focused environments Work-life balance differences between the U.S. and Europe How AI tools are changing expectations for modern developers Why AI does not replace judgment, taste, or technical understanding Understanding business needs instead of only focusing on technical preferences Introducing Elixir into a TypeScript-heavy organization Using Elixir microservices to solve specific technical problems What “soft influence” looks like in engineering teams Building trust through one-on-one conversations Knowing when influence is working and when it is not Negotiating technical decisions without turning them into power struggles The relationship between technical competence and interpersonal skill Managing imposter syndrome during pair programming and collaborative work Documentation as a visibility and ownership tool Community involvement, conference speaking, and finding your people Staying curious without burning out Why the human side of software development still matters Links Mentioned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai https://icahn.mssm.edu/ Evernote https://evernote.com/ Joplin https://joplinapp.org/ Book: Elixir in Action by Saša Jurić https://www.manning.com/books/elixir-in-action-third-edition Book: The Little LISPer https://www.scribd.com/doc/263131641/The-Little-Lisper Ellyse’s Goatmire Talk https://goatmire.com/speaker/ellyse-cedeno Nerves https://nerves-project.org/ xHain Hack & Makespace in Berlin https://x-hain.de/en/ https://cursor.com/ Haskell Programming Language https://www.haskell.org/ Java Programming Language https://www.java.com/en/ Clojure Programming Language https://clojure.org/ Scheme Programming Language https://www.scheme.org/ TypeScript Programming Language https://www.typescriptlang.org/ Nostrum Library https://hexdocs.pm/nostrum/intro.html Gleam Programming Language https://gleam.run/ Book: Getting Past No by William Ury https://www.williamury.com/getting-past-no/ “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hx4gdlfamo Ted Talk: Do schools kill creativity? | Sir Ken Robinson https://youtu.be/iG9CE55wbtY Ellyse’s Codeberg https://codeberg.org/ellyxir Ellyse’s Game Server Repo https://codeberg.org/ellyxir/gameserver Goatmire Elixir & NervesConf 2026 https://www.goatmire.com/
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Curiosity, Courage, and the Human Side of Software with Ellyse Cedeno
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