The Hard Part of Agents Isn't the Model
Why the hardest challenges in agentic AI often lie outside the model—in identity, authorization, observability, execution controls, and operational accountability.
Writing
I write about the engineering decisions that determine whether emerging technologies work reliably in the real world—from building productive engineering platforms to operating secure, observable, and accountable AI systems in production.
My writing combines architecture, engineering practice, and operational experience, with a focus on turning technical ideas into systems that work at scale.
AI systems in production
As AI systems move from generating responses to taking actions, engineering discipline becomes essential. These articles explore evaluation, identity, permissions, operational controls, and the boundaries of agent autonomy.
Earning Agentic Autonomy: An Eval Architecture for AI Agents
How evaluation evidence, explicit decision criteria, and runtime enforcement can help determine when an AI agent is ready to act with greater autonomy.
Platform engineering and developer productivity
Engineering productivity is more than writing code faster. It depends on the platforms, workflows, feedback loops, and engineering practices that help teams deliver high-quality software consistently.
Unleashing Developer Productivity: A Technical Deep Dive into Internal Developer Platforms (Part 1)
An exploration of internal developer platforms and their role in reducing friction, enabling self-service, and improving software delivery.
Unlocking Advanced IDP Capabilities (Part 2)
Continuing the discussion of internal developer platforms and the capabilities that support standardization, automation, and developer experience.
Developer Productivity Engineering (DPE): Maximizing Developer Productivity with Engineering Strategies & Techniques
Engineering practices and strategies for improving developer productivity, feedback cycles, and the software development lifecycle. Published in 2023.
Boosting Developer Productivity and Efficiency by Unlocking the Power of Feature Flags
How feature flags can support controlled releases, experimentation, and safer software delivery.
Earlier technical publications
My earlier writing explored web application architectures and database integration. These publications reflect the foundations of a career spanning software engineering, platforms, data systems, and infrastructure.
- Emerging Web Technologies: XML Based Rich Clients— EE Times, 2005.
- Java Database Interaction Mechanism Using Oracle Reference Cursors— EE Times, 2005.
Continue the conversation
I also speak about production AI, agentic architectures, platform engineering, developer productivity, and operational resilience.Explore speaking topics and appearances.