Notes on data, AI, IT
and security
No marketing fog. The way I think about real problems with founders and managers.
GPT-3: what a founder should actually think about it
In summer 2020, OpenAI released GPT-3 - the largest language model at the time. What it actually means for business right now.
The cloud bill that arrived after the fast migration
Companies that rushed to the cloud under pandemic pressure are now receiving bills nobody planned for. Why this happens and what to do about it.
Your data stack in a crisis: what to cut, what to hold
When teams shrink and projects freeze, you still need data. How to prioritise your data infrastructure during an unstable period.
Business continuity after the pandemic: what to revisit in the architecture
What conclusions about IT architecture and operational resilience are worth drawing from the first wave - before normal routine returns.
GPT-3 and the new baseline for language models
What the release of GPT-3 means for search, support, text analytics and product UX - a view for founders and directors.
Predictive analytics in supply chains: what the crisis revealed
How the pandemic tested investments in demand forecasting and inventory management - and what to take away from it.
Data producer-consumer contracts: the unglamorous fix that works
Why data pipelines break most often at team boundaries, and how formalising the contract between producers and consumers prevents the majority of those breaks.
COVID phishing: how the threat landscape shifted in two months
A briefing for managers: how attackers are exploiting the pandemic and remote work, and what to do without panic.
Computer vision for quality control: what is realistic in 2020
A plain assessment of where computer vision actually delivers in factory quality control right now - and what the common misconceptions are about cost and scope.
Digital workplace: from emergency fix to something sustainable
How to move from 'just make it work' to a proper infrastructure for a distributed team - observations from April 2020.
Event-driven architecture: a plain explanation for non-engineers
What event-driven architecture is, why engineering teams want it, and how to evaluate whether it makes sense for your product - without needing to understand the code.
Customer data in a crisis: how companies lose the signal
Why customer behaviour analytics stops working during a sharp change in context - and what to do about it.