How Mercado Libre Empowers 18K Engineers

June 10, 2025

Sebastian Barrios reveals how Mercado Libre deploys fast, fosters ownership, and aligns 18k engineers.

Topics discussed in the episode:

How can merging product and engineering roles impact development?

How to encourage innovation and problem-solving in a team?

What are the benefits of fostering radical candor in a team?

How can a startup avoid falling into hype cycles?

How to maintain alignment in a large, autonomous team?

Why is observing users more effective than talking to users?

How can AI accelerate product development in startups?

What are effective strategies for scaling a large engineering team?

How to foster a culture that tolerates failure and encourages risk-taking?

How can combining engineering and product roles benefit a startup?

How can merging product and engineering roles impact development?

Opening: Merging roles leads to efficient, user-focused development.

"It leads to great products that users are going to love."

Takeaway:

Reduces barriers between design and implementation.
Empowers engineers to make decisions.
Enhances product cohesion.

How to encourage innovation and problem-solving in a team?

Opening: Empowering independence fosters innovation.

"Solve problems, just go and get things done."

Takeaway:

Promote agency and independence.
Encourage initiative.
Support creative problem-solving.

What are the benefits of fostering radical candor in a team?

Opening: Direct and honest communication improves performance.

"We're extremely direct, extremely candid."

Takeaway:

Builds trust and transparency.
Addresses issues promptly.
Enhances growth.

How can a startup avoid falling into hype cycles?

Opening: Being pragmatic about trends helps focus on value.

"Understand the fundamentals of the technology."

Takeaway:

Evaluate new tech critically.
Focus on user applications.
Stay informed but level-headed.

How to maintain alignment in a large, autonomous team?

Opening: Ensuring alignment while maintaining autonomy is crucial.

"Everything else is up to the teams."

Takeaway:

Set clear company goals.
Allow teams flexibility in achieving them.
Regularly review progress.

Why is observing users more effective than talking to users?

Opening: Observing behavior reveals insights users may not articulate.

"What works best is just to observe them."

Takeaway:

Uncover real interactions with your product.
Identify usability issues.
Design more user-friendly features.

How can AI accelerate product development in startups?

Opening: Leveraging AI accelerates development by automating coding tasks.

"We have things that create new features without new code."

Takeaway:

Use AI to combine existing services.
Automate repetitive tasks.
Explore AI to stay competitive.

What are effective strategies for scaling a large engineering team?

Opening: Scaling requires unique strategies to maintain efficiency.

"We do around 30,000 deployments per day."

Takeaway:

Implement robust development platforms.
Encourage team autonomy.
Streamline processes to handle growth.

How to foster a culture that tolerates failure and encourages risk-taking?

Opening: Encouraging risk-taking and reducing fear of failure can drive innovation.

"We empower our teams to make mistakes."

Takeaway:

Create an environment where teams can take risks without fear.
Distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable failures.
Leadership should reinforce this culture.

How can combining engineering and product roles benefit a startup?

Opening: Combining engineering and product roles can enhance team efficiency and product quality.

"Just having a title shouldn't determine who owns the product."

Takeaway:

Merging roles encourages engineers to take ownership.
Reduces communication gaps.
Leads to more user-centric products.