Essays
Long-form writing
Essays on AI-First Theory, RACE Programming, and the evolution of software engineering practice. Subscribe via RSS to follow new pieces as they're published.
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Uber's Agentic Pods and the Open Loop
Uber's Agentic Pods proved the Team Principal and Pit Wall interaction. Closing the loop takes the Pit Crew, and then it ships enterprise systems too. -
Adopting the Forward Deployed Engineer
RACE Programming renamed its ACE Software Engineer to Forward Deployed Engineer. The industry term now fits the role, and shared language is the point. -
What Happens to the Specialists?
The strongest objection to RACE Programming is about depth, not speed. Deep expertise does not vanish. The line between generalist and specialist moves. -
Software delivery is leaving the complex domain
A reliable AI teammate moves software from Cynefin's complex domain toward the complicated one, reopening the management model and pointing at a factory. -
Why RACE Programming exists
For three years we delivered with AI agents. Then the tools crossed a line, and methods built to coordinate people started managing the wrong thing. -
What AWS AI-DLC gets right, and where it stops short
In July 2025 AWS published the AI-Driven Development Life Cycle, reaching the same shape as RACE Programming. The divergence is who verifies the AI. -
Prescriptive, not permissive
Most frameworks permit variation. RACE Programming prescribes. When AI shifts engineering economics by an order of magnitude, permissive is not enough. -
The three layers of AI-native transformation
Organizational, process, and technological change cannot be sequenced. Most AI adoption programs fail trying to, and the failure mode is predictable.