Insights

Thinking on engineering
leadership & scale

Practical perspectives on building, scaling, and leading engineering organizations.

7 min read · June 1, 2026

Fractional CTO vs Full-Time CTO: How to Decide

Both give you senior technical leadership — the difference is availability, cost, commitment, and stage. Here's how to choose the right model for where your company is now, and the bridge most companies miss.

8 min read · May 31, 2026

How to Choose a Fractional CTO: Questions to Ask Before You Hire

The title is unregulated and experience varies enormously. Here's how to evaluate candidates — what to look for, the questions that reveal real seniority, the red flags to watch for, and where to find one.

6 min read · May 30, 2026

Fractional CTO vs VP of Engineering: Which Does Your Startup Need?

They're different roles solving different needs — direction versus execution. Hiring the wrong one wastes time and money. Here's how to tell which your company actually needs, and why a fractional CTO often covers both early on.

9 min read · May 29, 2026

A Non-Technical Founder's Guide to Engineering Leadership

You don't need to code to lead a software company — you need judgement. Here's how to close the gap: get the right leadership, learn enough to ask good questions, vet hires, and read the signals you can see.

6 min read · May 12, 2026

How we automated 15 workflows without a data team

A practical account of how we designed and shipped AI agents across a 100-person engineering organisation — what worked, what didn't, and the principles that separate automations that compound from ones that get abandoned.

7 min read · May 28, 2026

Building an MCP server for a 40-year-old industrial language

When the only person who understands your codebase goes on leave, everything stops. We solved this with a Model Context Protocol server that made a proprietary industrial language queryable by AI — here's exactly what we built and what it taught us about legacy knowledge bottlenecks.

7 min read · March 8, 2026

What Does a Fractional CTO Do? A Complete Guide for Startups

A fractional CTO provides part-time, senior technical leadership to companies that need strategic direction without the cost of a full-time executive. Here's what that actually looks like, week to week.

5 min read · March 5, 2026

7 Signs Your Engineering Team Needs an Audit

Missed deadlines, unclear ownership, and mounting tech debt are symptoms — not root causes. An engineering audit uncovers what's actually slowing your team down.

7 min read · March 1, 2026

Why Did Hiring More Engineers Slow Us Down?

You doubled the team but output barely moved. The problem isn't your people — it's the missing systems. Here's why more engineers often means less speed, and how to fix it.

7 min read · February 25, 2026

AI Costs Are Rising — Is Your Engineering Team Actually Getting Value?

AI tools promise productivity gains, but without strategy they just add to your bill. Learn how to adopt AI intentionally, control costs, and train your team to use it effectively.

8 min read · February 20, 2026

How Much Does a Fractional CTO Cost in 2026?

Fractional CTO pricing varies widely. Here's a transparent breakdown of what to expect, what drives the cost, how it compares to a full-time hire, and a simple framework for whether it's worth the investment.

6 min read · February 15, 2026

Why Your Engineering Team Keeps Missing Deadlines

It's rarely about effort. Chronic missed deadlines point to systemic issues in planning, ownership, and delivery structure. Here's how to diagnose and fix the root causes.

5 min read · February 10, 2026

When Should a Startup Hire Its First CTO?

Too early and you waste equity. Too late and you accumulate technical debt. Here's how to know when the timing is right — and what to do in the meantime.

6 min read · March 10, 2026

How We Measure Engineering Productivity

Most engineering leaders know when something is wrong. But knowing something is wrong and knowing exactly what to fix are very different things. That's where measurement comes in.

Thinking on engineeringleadership & scale