Notes on data, AI, IT
and security
No marketing fog. The way I think about real problems with founders and managers.
Year-end IT architecture review: questions for planning 2023
A set of concrete questions that help assess the current state of a company's IT architecture and set the right priorities for the coming year.
ChatGPT: the consumer interface to AI goes mass market
What the launch of ChatGPT means for companies and managers - not technologically, but in terms of how expectations around automation will change.
Analytic database versus operational database: when to separate them
Why one database cannot serve both transactions and analytics well - and how to recognise when the time to separate them has arrived.
Identity after the perimeter: what zero trust is and why founders need to understand it
The corporate perimeter has ceased to exist. A breakdown of what this means for security and what practical steps follow from this logic.
SSO and SaaS sprawl: why identity architecture matters before the breach
How the accumulation of SaaS tools creates an identity problem that security tools alone cannot fix - and what to do about it before something goes wrong.
Mobile robots in warehouse logistics: economics for managers
AMRs and AGVs are no longer only for large logistics centres. A breakdown of how to think about the economics of warehouse automation for mid-size companies.
Infrastructure as code: what it is and why a manager should care
A plain explanation of infrastructure as code for non-technical owners and managers - what it solves, what it costs, and what questions to ask your team.
SaaS sprawl: how subscriptions become invisible IT debt
Dozens of SaaS services in a company are not just a budget problem. They are an architectural issue that affects security, data, and manageability.
Supply chain visibility: why the data layer comes before the dashboard
How IoT sensors and real-time data pipelines are changing what companies can know about their supply chains - and where most projects stall.
Who owns the API: how to stop integration conflicts between teams
Why API design disputes slow down companies more than technical debt, and how to establish clear ownership without creating a bottleneck committee.
Kafka and event streaming: what a manager needs to understand
A plain explanation of why companies are switching to event-driven data flows, what Kafka actually does, and when it is worth the complexity.
Data contracts between teams: why they matter and how they work
When data crosses team boundaries without explicit agreements, things break. A breakdown of what a data contract is and when you need one.