Domain experience
The ground I've worked across. Some of it shows up in the thoughts, most of it is where the thoughts come from.
AI adoption and agentic systems
Getting AI into how teams actually build, not just into a pilot, and building the agentic systems and automation themselves. Workflows, guardrails, governance and MLOps, and proving one agent works before you build a hundred.
Related thoughts: The participation gapBurst pressureResearch, build, learn
Platform engineering
Building the layer below the line, so teams above it can ship without thinking about it. Platform as a product: paved roads, golden paths, self-service delivery and a developer experience people actually choose.
Related thoughts: Ingress and egress, day oneYour engineers will build it in secret
Observability and telemetry
Knowing what your systems are doing before a customer tells you. From software and platforms to SCADA and the physical systems they watch, where the data has to arrive, be trusted and be acted on, often in real time.
SRE and SecOps
Running live systems reliably and securely, and being in the room when they fail. Incident command, breach response, disaster recovery, and moving teams from firefighting to prevention.
FinOps and cost optimisation
Platform unit economics: finding what you pay for and don’t use, and cutting it without cutting the service.
Data platforms at scale
Large data estates that have outgrown their design. Fixing the bottlenecks, modernising the stores and streams underneath, and keeping it all secure while it’s in use.
Application modernisation
Re-architecting the software, not just moving it. Breaking up monoliths, retiring end-of-life risk and paying down technical debt as a programme, not a wish list.
Related thoughts: Five Kubernetes migrations later
Migrations
Moving workloads, accounts and whole estates from one place to another, and keeping the lights on while it happens.
Related thoughts: Ingress and egress, day oneFive Kubernetes migrations later
Private data centre decommissions
Getting out of the building: finding everything that still runs there, moving or retiring it, and switching off the last rack.
M&A due diligence and integration
Looking under the bonnet before a deal closes, then doing the hard part after it does: bringing the technology, platforms and teams together into one.
Engineering turnarounds
Taking on the platform or product that’s in trouble. Stabilising it, restoring confidence, and rebuilding the team and architecture so it stays fixed.
Governance and compliance
The evidence side of security. Identity and access, compliance frameworks for regulated platforms, and an estate you can audit without explaining the workarounds.
Related thoughts: Ingress and egress, day one
Transformation and change
Changing how an organisation builds and runs technology, and bringing the people with it. Org design, building product functions, measuring what matters, and making the new way stick after the project ends.
Related thoughts: The SDLC just got biggerKnow your surface areas
And others
This isn't the full list, and it isn't a menu. If you're facing something in one of these areas, or next to one,send a signal. Chances are I've been somewhere close.