Mental capacity is a bottleneck
AI removes bottlenecks until it reaches the one that doesn’t move: human cognition. The faster AI makes your system, the more your team’s mental capacity becomes the constraint. You can’t add more of it.
Leadership
113 posts
Taste is the moat
When AI closes the execution gap, taste becomes the differentiator. Curation, judgement, and the willingness to say “not this” compound over time in ways that models can’t replicate.
The authenticity tax
AI-generated content has made polished writing look suspicious. The deeper cost is the thinking you skip when you outsource the words that define your position.
The cost of the quick fix
The quick fix isn't cheaper. It's cheaper today. Bram Devries traces how deferred fixes compound into emergencies, and argues that naming the trade-off out loud is the only way to break the cycle.
The SaaS audit bingo card: insights after auditing 180+ SaaS companies
After auditing 180+ SaaS companies, the same patterns keep showing up: a CTO who does everything, documentation nobody updates, a backlog from 2019. Here's what the bingo card looks like, and what AI is changing about it.
Be a lobster
The processes that got you here will eventually constrain you. Like a lobster shedding its shell, scaling companies must periodically dismantle what worked intentionally, not in panic. Constraints aren’t a failure; they’re proof you’ve outgrown your current structure.
Who teaches the next generation?
AI has removed the junior work that used to build software engineers. Seven other industries faced the same disruption and didn't agree on an answer.
The disconnect between management and engineering
A mobile app, past its usefulness, was days from being phased out. One email reversed the decision. No discussion. No input from engineering. This is what happens when decision-making drifts too far from the work.
The CTO's guide to AI adoption strategy
AI adoption fails when treated as a tool rollout. This guide covers the decision framework, team dynamics, economics, and mistakes from 150+ technical audits.