On this week’s show, we’re on the GeekWire deck for our annual founder open house, where we dig into Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs — including a major Xbox shakeup — and the surprising rise of hardware companies on the GeekWire 200.

Then we sit down with four guests to talk about how AI is reshaping how they build: 

• Jana Schuster of StackIQ, whose AI-native platform helps companies find redundancy in their software spending — like Rocket Money, but for business — with a small team.
• Blake Resnick and David Benowitz of Brinc Drones, whose mechanical engineers are now vibe coding their own prototypes;
• Boaz Ashkenazy of Shift AI, who’s setting up always-on agents and rethinking how we interact with AI tools.

Finally, this week’s GeekWire Trivia Challenge: how a longtime T-Mobile executive got his start in the wireless business, and the star-studded history of T-Mobile celebrity endorsers.

Stories mentioned:

• Microsoft cuts 4,800 jobs, about 2% globally, revamps salesforce and launches massive Xbox overhaul
• GeekWire 200 update: New unicorns and a hardware surge remake our list of top Pacific NW startups
• Former GitHub CEO’s startup Entire unveils its answer to the crush of AI coding agents
• Chicago software company plants flag in Seattle area as new leadership team seeks AI talent
• T-Mobile exec Mike Katz exits after 28 years, as carrier reshuffles top ranks and taps ex-AT&T leader

Audio editing by Curt Milton.

Bill Colleran, a veteran technology executive who previously led Impinj and sold Innovent Systems to Broadcom, has joined Seattle-based AI coding startup Adronite as CEO.

Edward Rothschild, who co-founded Adronite in 2023 and served as its first CEO, is transitioning to chief technology officer, where he’ll continue leading the company’s product development, including its Adronite Context Engine and Codistry AI code generation tool, according to a news release.

The 15-person company raised a $5 million Series A led by Gatemore Capital Management earlier this year. The platform supports cloud, on-premises and air-gapped deployments, targeting midmarket companies and regulated industries.

Colleran has more than 35 years of experience in semiconductor and enterprise technology. He grew Impinj into a market leader in RFID technology, raising more than $100 million in equity financing. He left the company in 2014 and was succeeded by co-founder Chris Diorio. 

He was also CEO of Innovent Systems, which developed the world’s first CMOS Bluetooth chip and was acquired by Broadcom for approximately $500 million. 

More recently he founded lidar company Lumotive and led Seattle SaaS startup AnswerDash. He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from UCLA and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. 

“Throughout my career, I’ve seen technology industries transformed when complexity becomes manageable,” Colleran said in a statement. “Software development now faces a similar challenge. AI can generate code at an incredible pace, but understanding complex software systems remains difficult for both developers and AI.”

Adronite’s platform aims to help developers and AI agents understand entire codebases rather than working file by file — a challenge especially acute for midmarket companies managing legacy systems without the tooling available to large enterprises. 

The company says its approach can cut token consumption by up to 40%, a claim that could resonate as engineering teams grapple with rising AI costs.