Your best engineer won't use AI tools. Your tech lead is using them but won't tell anyone. Your new grads don't understand what the fuss is about. And you, the leader, are supposed to have answers for all of them.

I've had some version of this coaching conversation every week for the past year. What I've found is that teams aren't just "resistant to change." They're grieving. And that grief follows a predictable pattern that, once you can name it, you can actually do something about.

This talk maps the five stages I'm watching play out across engineering teams right now: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and an acceptance that looks nothing like the LinkedIn version.

For each stage, I'll share how to recognise it in yourself and your people, what to say (and what to absolutely not say), and how to help someone move forward without invalidating what they're feeling.

You'll walk away with a practical framework for the conversations your team needs you to have about AI, craft, and what it means to be an engineer now.