Field notes
Practitioner essays on building production software with AI agents.
Operator-grade reports on the systems, decisions, and economics of shipping software with AI — what worked, what failed, and what changed.
Articles
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Every Agile Artifact Was Built to Derisk Humans Writing Code
Executive Deck ↗Exec summary ↗Listen ↗Every agile artifact exists to derisk humans writing code. AI changes that equation. Here’s what to keep and what to throw away.
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How to Negotiate Your new AI Leadership Comp
Executive Deck ↗Exec summary ↗Listen ↗Negotiating an AI leadership role? Here’s how to structure compensation that reflects your value in transforming engineering organizations.
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Your Transformation Org Just Got a Fifteen-Year Service Award. Now You Want to Repeat That Pattern with AI?
Executive Deck ↗Exec summary ↗Listen ↗Your Agile Transformation VP just got a 15-year service award. The org still cannot release without a CAB meeting. Now you are building an AI team with the same playbook. You know how this ends.
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You Are About to Hire a VP of AI Capability. Do Not.
Executive Deck ↗Exec summary ↗Listen ↗You diagnosed the CoE pattern. Now you are about to repeat it by hiring a VP of AI Capability. Here is why forcing your organization to build the competency itself is the only path that works, why it will be rough, and what the end state looks like when you get it right.
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Your Questions About AI in the SDLC Reveal Exactly Where You Are in the Adoption Curve—And How to Bridge the Gap Before You Waste a Year
Executive Deck ↗Exec summary ↗Listen ↗Your questions about AI in the SDLC reveal your adoption maturity level. Diagnose where you are and learn how to accelerate your journey.
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Hello New CTO : Your Loan Engine Cost More than Giving Billionaires Free Cars
Executive Deck ↗Exec summary ↗Listen ↗New CTO reality check: Your legacy systems cost more than you think. A frank analysis of technical debt and the business case for AI modernization.
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He Cannot Hire the Engineer He Needs. Here’s What He’s Doing About It.
Executive Deck ↗Exec summary ↗Listen ↗When you can’t hire the engineer you need, build one. How one leader is using AI to upskill existing team members and close capability gaps.
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What Got You Here Won’t Keep You Here: A Letter to Engineering Directors
Executive Deck ↗Exec summary ↗Listen ↗Engineering directors have 18 months to prove they can transform teams for AI. The market in 2028 will have directors with proven transformation track records. Will you be one of them?
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Your AI Agent is the World’s Most Educated Five-Year-Old
Executive Deck ↗Exec summary ↗Listen ↗Your AI agent has the world’s knowledge but the judgment of a five-year-old. Learn to work with it like the brilliant but inexperienced junior it is.
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If Your CFO Is Picking Your AI Tools, You Do Not Have an AI Strategy
Executive Deck ↗Exec summary ↗Listen ↗Your CFO should absolutely control the money. Your procurement team should absolutely manage the buying process. But neither of them should be deciding which AI capabilities your company adopts, because AI is not a printer.
Corporate fiction
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