More haste less speed, the road to software purgatory
Jon Ayre Think code quality doesn't matter anymore now AI agents are here? Think all that early speed is sustainable? You're in for a nasty surprise.
March 2026
To replace the geek, first you must become the geek
People are missing something important in the AI prompting debate, and that's the difference between what you say and how you say it. Turns out, it's not what you say…
To document, or not to document, that is the prompt
If your code is clean, your documentation doesn't need to describe it. Anyone who needs to understand the code should read it directly. Anyone who can't read it won't need…
Don’t be Chicken Licken – The sky is not falling
If you're just starting out in software development, or you're busy studying computer science at school or university and planning a career in IT, all you'll be hearing right now…
You’re seriously asking if a CTO should have a technology background?
If your CTO isn't from a technical background then, to be quite honest, you have a bias issue, and it's hurting your business.
In defence of clean code – the engineer’s perspective
This is the story of a major system refactor completed in just one day. 54 files affected. Over 1000 lines of code changed. All tests passed first time. Pushed to…
Time to talk – making it all about people
For many years I’ve avoided presenting at conferences because who needs one more ageing white guy sharing their thoughts? I simply had nothing to say that the other umpteen guys…
For the creators, the crafters and the artists
One thing generative AI has definitely taught us is that there are a significant number of people who can't tell the difference between something average and something excellent. This post…
The art of prediction – when diversification turns bad
Don't ask AI for business advice. Here's why: Back in 2020, John Lewis Partnership announced they were diversifying into property, and I wrote a post predicting a low probability of…