# The Right Team for the Job: From Engineering to Product: A Superpower for Developer Platform...

DevFeed: [The Right Team for the Job: From Engineering to Product: A Superpower for Developer Platform...](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-right-team-for-the-job-from-engineering-to-product-a-superpower-for-developer-platform-39156.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://open.nytimes.com/the-right-team-for-the-job-from-engineering-to-product-a-superpower-for-developer-platform-a290e65970ea?source=rss----51e1d1745b32---4>)

Author: The NYT Open Team

Published: 2026-02-11T21:52:17Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [New York Times](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/new-york-times.md>)

Topics: [Developer Platform](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/developer-platform.md>), [code productivity](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code-productivity.md>), [Software Engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software-engineering.md>), [systems](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/systems.md>), [Back end](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/backend.md>), [Content Management System](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cms.md>), [Product Management](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/product-management.md>)

Tags: [backend](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/backend.md>), [cms](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cms.md>), [developer](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/developer.md>), [developer-platform](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/developer-platform.md>), [developer-productivity](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/developer-productivity.md>), [development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/development.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [product](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/product.md>), [product-management](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/product-management.md>), [software-engineer](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-engineer.md>), [web-development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web-development.md>)

## AI overview

This New York Times Open series article introduces Danny Cassidy, a senior technical product manager in Developer Productivity, and traces his transition from software engineering to product management. It describes his early frontend work, later experience building backend APIs and content management systems, and his interest in connecting engineering decisions with business and user impact.

## Source excerpt

The Right Team for the Job: From Engineering to Product: A Superpower for Developer Platform StrategyIntroducing Danny Cassidy, Senior Technical Product Manager, Developer Productivity in Developer PlatformsIllustration by Claire Merchlinsky By Geethu Jacob, Daniel Cassidy, Nikki Larson and Erica Vendetti "PMs actively and effectively engage with engineering and technology decisions, understanding possibilities and consequences." This article is part of a New York Times Open series showcasing the breadth of experiences and backgrounds of our Product Managers. Engineering can fuel product leadership For Danny Cassidy, coding was an early creative outlet. As a high school student, he taught himself to code, trying his hand at frontend web development. "I was very inspired by online communities back then, and how the internet could foster connection for people across the world. So, I first learned how to make extensions on forum software. My first paid gig in high school was building a social networking feature into a site for pet owners so that they could create profile pages for their pets. Those were the days!" Building on the base of that passion, Danny studied information technology in college. "There's a definite craft to software development", he says. "It's not just technical. You are thinking about solving a problem in an elegant and legible way. I always enjoyed that part of the process." As a software engineer, Danny focused on building backend APIs and content management systems (CMS) for media brands. Here, Danny learned to understand how engineering solutions fit into the business context. Engineers "need to know how a solution will evolve and scale over time. And their solutions need to be understood and maintainable by a multitude of people throughout all of this." In 2015, Danny accepted an engineering job at The Times working on the backend APIs that deliver our digital content from our CMS to our desktop and mobile apps. As an engineer at The New Yor