Notes on data, AI, IT
and security
No marketing fog. The way I think about real problems with founders and managers.
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.
Zoom in a crisis: the security settings managers need to check
In March 2020 Zoom went from a niche tool to company infrastructure overnight. A practical checklist for managers who are not security specialists.
Data backlog triage when the team just went remote
How to decide in the first weeks of a distributed sprint what data work to continue, pause, and drop - without a formal process to fall back on.
VPN under load: what to check when the whole office went home
A practical guide for managers: how to assess the security and reliability of remote access during a mass shift to remote work.
API-first design when the team works remotely
Why distributed teams make sloppy API contracts visible faster - and how to use that pressure to establish a more disciplined design process.
Remote work in a weekend: what broke and what held
First observations on how companies are handling the emergency shift to remote in March 2020.
Narrow AI in manufacturing: what actually works in 2020
An honest review of the tasks where AI in manufacturing already delivers measurable results - and where it does not yet.
Data leaks through contractors: how it happens and what to do
A breakdown of the mechanics of data leaks through external contractors, and practical access control measures.
A single source of truth in reporting: why it is so hard to create
Why numbers diverge across different reports in the same company, and what actually fixes it.
API versioning: why it matters and how to keep it manageable
A practical explanation for product owners and engineering managers: what API versioning is, why getting it wrong is expensive, and what a workable strategy looks like.