Customer Obsessed Engineering

Customer Obsessed Engineering

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Passing Thoughts

Don’t outsource your spinal column
Zach Daniel on owning your AI stack — and why your context layer is the one thing you should never buy off the shelf.
 • Zac Beckman
Good product team / bad product team
Marty Cagan’s good-team / bad-team list is a decade old and still the cleanest mirror in the business. Pin it to your wall. Ask yourself how many strike…
 • Zac Beckman
When to go waterfall
If you're working in a multi-modal organization you'll find this helpful: the canonical waterfall / agile decision tree.
 • Zac Beckman
How waterfall is wrong for software
We've known for decades waterfall and software don't mix; why do we keep doing it?
 • Zac Beckman
What happens when the next developer has to understand your AI code?
This study into the long-term cost of AI-driven development reveals some surprising findings. Most other studies only examine short-term outcomes. But…
 • Zac Beckman
Happy holidays, good luck, don't work too hard
Burnout is a thing. Don't forget to recharge.
 • Zac Beckman
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…
 • Zac Beckman
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…
 • Zac Beckman
Your AI is trying to trick you; be careful out there
I used an AI to build a new app. What I got surprised me.
 • Zac Beckman
Too many lists? Can't achieve "one backlog to rule them all?"
Is your day scattered? Can't find focus? Distractions coming from every direction? Getting things done can be a big challenge. Here's one trick and a…
 • Zac Beckman
Model collapse might break the internet
What happens when AI models cannibalize their own data? You get "model collapse."
 • Zac Beckman
Knowing your coworkers, your boss, your friends requires a seldom used hidden skill: conversation.
Conversations are much more complex than most of us realize. It's a skill you'll use to understand what other's want and need, and to start making more…
 • Zac Beckman
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