At Appliscale, we believe that continuous learning is fundamental to technical excellence and leadership. To kick off our new series, we went straight to the top and asked our CTO & Co-founder, Konrad Kaplita, to share the books that have most profoundly influenced his personal approach to engineering, management, and scaling an organization.
This list is not just about code; it covers the history, culture, and foundational principles that shape our industry. It’s Konrad’s personal selection-titles he recommends to every aspiring senior engineer and leader on our team.
Here is the essential reading list from Konrad Kaplita:
1. Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming
One of my absolute personal classics.
This is essentially a series of in-depth interviews with great computer scientists and programmers-the pioneers who truly shaped the early IT industry. It’s a treasure trove of fascinating details and anecdotes on the creation and development of fundamental programming languages like C, Lisp, Haskell, Erlang, JavaScript, and many others. It reads like the definitive oral history of our domain.
It’s a must-read for anyone who genuinely enjoys learning about the background and history of IT, offering invaluable context on the formative decades of the industry.
2. Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age by Paul Graham
Paul Graham – you can love him or critique him, but you simply cannot deny the influence he’s had over our industry, especially the startup world. In this iconic book, he expertly blends technology, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, and art. It’s a collection of beautifully crafted essays with powerful storytelling that champions the creative side of programming.
If you like his style and want to be inspired even more, there is a fantastic, always-updated collection of his written work on on his webpage – including the essays found in this book.
3. Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time
Written by a Staff Software Engineer at Google, this book comprehensively covers how software engineering and software delivery work within one of the most successful tech organizations. It strongly reinforces the idea that modern software engineering is fundamentally a team sport.
This book is particularly insightful for any aspiring Senior Software Engineer who wants to understand how the best IT companies build software. It details essential, adjacent topics like culture, teams, processes, and documentation, and explains how they must all work together to achieve quality and scale.
4. Frictionless: 7 Steps to Remove Barriers, Unlock Value, and Outpace Your Competition in the AI Era
A very recent book (November 2025) by the authors of Accelerate and State of DevOps Reports – a provenance that speaks volumes about its quality. It clearly explains the paramount importance of Developer Experience (DX) for maintaining a competitive edge in today’s landscape. The book focuses heavily on modern AI tools and the strategic application of various techniques that can dramatically improve not only velocity but also developer experience. It offers practical advice on how to gradually transform and elevate your team for the AI era.
5. The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change by Camille Fournier
My personal favourite introductory book to tech management-I recommend it to all new managers at Appliscale. It is brilliantly structured and condensed-a very high signal-to-noise ratio. It covers topics relevant to various organizational sizes, but its core focus is on the challenges and responsibilities of middle management-making it an immediately practical resource for those stepping into their first leadership roles.
6. Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by Claire Hughes Johnson
Much broader in scope than The Manager’s Path, this book covers almost all operational aspects of running a company. It uses a very interesting format where each chapter defines a practical framework for handling a specific aspect of organization management-like planning, hiring, teams, and feedback. It’s packed with actionable advice and real-world process examples from Google, Stripe, and other successful companies. The stories from the early Google days are a delightful cherry on top, providing great historical context for modern best practices.
7. High Output Management by Andrew S. Grove
An older book, but written by the legendary Andrew Grove-CEO and employee number 3 at Intel. This short, concise work, based on his personal experience, provides a fascinating view of the early days of the IT industry and how Intel was built. The management concepts outlined in this book still feel remarkably fresh and modern.
While it doesn’t focus specifically on IT or technology, it lays out universal management principles that are foundational for effective leadership in any high-growth domain.
What book would you add to this essential reading list? Let us know in the comments below!
