Blog

Thinking like a VC when evaluating a startup role

strategy career startups vc

A summary of a framework for evaluating startup job offers with the rigour of a venture capitalist, and a reflection on its use in Europe.

On Simplicity in Software and System Design

technology software design system design architecture systems engineering

A summary of Sean Goedecke's principles on simple design, and a reflection on how they connect to broader concepts in Systems Engineering and TOGAF.

Fixing the context window for LLM agents

technology ai llm agents

A look at key strategies for managing context in LLM agents, inspired by an article from dbreunig.com and insights from Cognition AI.

Rethinking RAG with visual document analysis

technology rag ai search

An interesting approach from Morphik that uses images of pages for Retrieval-Augmented Generation, avoiding traditional parsing issues.

Understanding the ecosystem of MBSE, SysML, and TOGAF

technology systems-engineering mbse togaf

A practical overview of how Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), SysML, and TOGAF work together to manage complex system development.

A practical guide to MLOps with Databricks

technology mlops databricks resources

A detailed overview and personal take on the excellent MLOps with Databricks course series by Marvelous MLOps.

Beyond keys: The rise of semantic and prefix caching for LLMs

technology llm caching redis

An exploration of how new caching techniques from Redis, OpenAI, and Claude are tackling the expensive problem of repetitive LLM calls.

Onboarding AI with READMEs and quality gates

technology ai documentation best-practices python

A practical approach to structuring project documentation using READMEs for context and automated checks as 'Quality Gates' to improve AI-assisted development.

Simon Willison on the lethal trifecta and MCP security

technology ai security simon-willison

A look at Simon Willison's latest talk on AI security, focusing on his 'lethal trifecta' concept and the risks of the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

A periodic table for system design

technology systems-engineering design-principles resources

An exploration of Joy Arulraj's 'periodic table' of system design principles, with some reflections on its practical use.

A deeper look at AI's impact through the SPACE framework

technology developer productivity ai metrics

A reflection on a study that uses the SPACE framework to measure the real-world impact of AI on developer productivity, satisfaction, and collaboration.

A practical framework for trusting your gut

strategy intuition decision-making framework

Phil McKinney offers a three-step framework to turn unreliable gut feelings into a systematic and reliable tool for decision-making.

An oral history of how ChatGPT disrupted the field of NLP

technology nlp llm disruption chatgpt

A summary of a Quanta Magazine article that documents the shift in Natural Language Processing (NLP) following the rise of LLMs.

A practical guide to setting company policies

business policies management

A summary of and commentary on Stay SaaSy's excellent article about the lifecycle of creating, managing, and retiring company policies.

Leadership co-processing with LLMs

technology leadership llm links

A look at how Large Language Models can be used as a thinking partner for leadership tasks, inspired by an article from James Stanier.

Experimenting with Kilo Code and the Model Context Protocol

technology ai kilocode cursor

A look at my first experiences with Kilo Code, an open-source alternative to Cursor, and the process of getting the Playwright MCP working.