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How Shutterstock Builds AI-Native Engineering Teams (starred)
Engineering Leadership Gregor·August 20, 2026
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Summary
Deep-dive companion to the cross-company comparison: Shutterstock's ~350-engineer org, 2-pizza teams with 1 PM per 2 teams, one dedicated Tech Lead per team, and separate 6-week 'bet cycle' ML teams that don't use Scrum because ML outcomes can't be promised on a fixed timeline.
Why this signal
Adds detail to a structure already introduced in the July 20 comparison piece — most useful for the ML-team-cadence distinction (6-week bet cycles vs. 2-week Scrum sprints), a concrete pattern Thomas Engineering could consider for any ML/research-heavy pods. Neo starred this.
Original email
Engineering Leadership Gregor · 8/20/2026
How Shutterstock Builds AI-Native Engineering Teams