Customer Obsessed Engineering

3.5 Modeling

Engineering models eliminate mistakes & complexity, ensure better testing & reliability, and improve collaboration & understanding.

Dec 29, 2025 • Zac Beckman

Part 2: Steel thread first: a practical data pipeline architecture

Learn how to build a sound data pipeline architecture, from the ground up, using an iterative approach that ships fast and scales.

Dec 22, 2025 • Zac Beckman

Happy holidays, good luck, don't work too hard

Burnout is a thing. Don't forget to recharge.

Dec 14, 2025 • Zac Beckman

1

Data pipelines are really cool. But also, really hard to build.

Data pipelines pose challenges we should all master. They push the limits on design, architecture, performance and even predicting the future.

Dec 3, 2025 • Zac Beckman

2

September 2025

Why only testing use cases just isn’t enough; here’s how to do it right

Traditional unit tests are setting you up for production failures. Here's a path to a better launch experience: use property-based testing to build…

Sep 22, 2025 • Zac Beckman

3

August 2025

If you’re not using “declarative teams," you have only an illusion of control

Shifting from "how to do it" to "what’s the outcome" transforms your productivity, reduces complexity, and makes your systems reliable.

Aug 31, 2025 • Zac Beckman

1

1

8 ways you'll distinguish yourself and achieve more

8 tips for outperforming and excelling in everything you do — learned from a lifetime of working in tech, living, and being human.

Aug 26, 2025 • Zac Beckman

2

Technical drawings that actually work

The right kind of technical drawings should make your engineering work easier, eradicate coding mistakes, create a linkage to your acceptance criteria…

Aug 20, 2025 • Zac Beckman

1

1

How to use a playbook

Even engineering teams need a playbook, just like a sports league or an elite operations unit. Here’s how having a playbook transforms your team.

Aug 14, 2025 • Zac Beckman

1

1

July 2025

How simplicity & flexibility give you leverage. Plus, "safe AI practices."

Creating code that's a multiplier, making you move faster, is your key to success. That's the convergence of simplicity & flexibility. Plus, Zach Daniel…

Jul 31, 2025 • Zac Beckman

1

I don't hire testers anymore and I'm still shipping zero-defect software

Downstream testing is a mistake. Modern companies (like Microsoft) do something different. Move toward strategies that embed quality early.

Jul 25, 2025 • Zac Beckman

2

2

AI “solution” exposes millions of personal information records

An AI chatbot's inadequate security implementation went into production, putting at risk the personal information of millions of McDonald's job…

Jul 21, 2025 • Zac Beckman