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Rob Bowley is a technology leader and product & leadership advisor with 25+ years' experience—ex-software engineer, consultant, coach and mentor focused on Agile, startups, community and inclusion.

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Technology Product development Leadership Agile and modern software delivery Start-ups and scale-ups Tech community building Diversity & inclusion in tech Mentoring and career development

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Coding speed is not the bottleneck in software development; understanding and decision-making are far more critical, as highlighted by industry experts over decades.
The article discusses the profound impact of AI on team dynamics and organizational structures, emphasizing that while AI can enable smaller teams and hybrid roles, it may also erode essential feedback loops and diversity of persp...
The article argues that the benefits of technology adoption often stem more from accompanying organizational and process changes than from the technology itself. It highlights the Solow Productivity Paradox, which suggests that de...
The article discusses the limitations of using large language models (LLMs) as an abstraction layer for software development. It argues that while LLMs could theoretically convert prompts into code, the inherent complexity of soft...
The blog post explores the historical evolution of software development and emphasizes the need for organizations to prioritize learning and feedback over traditional construction methods in the GenAI era.
GenAI enhances workflows but lacks the transformative power of past technological revolutions, as it operates within existing constraints rather than breaking them.
A study by Carnegie Mellon University analyzed 807 open source GitHub repositories that adopted the AI tool Cursor, comparing them to a control group of 1,380 similar repositories that did not adopt it. Key findings include a temp...
The article discusses the impact of AI-assisted coding on the software development industry, arguing that it exposes the mediocrity of most developers and the poor quality of code produced. While AI can generate code quickly, it o...
GenAI boosts productivity for seasoned engineers but risks diminishing learning opportunities for juniors, highlighting the need for organizations to prioritize skill development.
AI is expected to enhance organizational capacity by creating micro-specialists, rather than leading to significant job cuts in knowledge work.
The DX AI-assisted engineering: Q4 (2025) impact report provides an empirical analysis of how AI coding assistants influence software development. It highlights that the effectiveness of AI is heavily dependent on existing enginee...
The post discusses the polarized opinions on AI-assisted coding among engineers, highlighting that different groups have varying experiences and perspectives. It illustrates a chart showing perceived usefulness of AI tools versus ...
The post discusses the potential outcomes of the current AI investment boom, comparing it to the dotcom bubble. While the dotcom era led to durable, open infrastructure, today's AI investments are primarily in proprietary systems,...
The article discusses the concept of the 'lethal trifecta' as coined by Simon Willison, which highlights the risks associated with agentic AI when three conditions are met: access to private data, untrusted inputs, and the ability...
A study by Faros AI analyzing data from over 10,000 developers reveals that while AI-assisted coding tools may increase individual task completion and pull request (PR) merges, they do not lead to significant productivity gains at...
The DORA 2025 State of AI-Assisted Software Development report indicates that only a small minority of the software development industry is benefiting from AI-assisted coding. It categorizes teams into seven clusters, with only tw...
The text discusses the Solow Productivity Paradox, which highlights the disconnect between significant investments in IT during the 1970s and 80s and the lack of corresponding productivity growth. It draws parallels to the current...
The post discusses the inefficiencies in software development, highlighting that typing is not the main bottleneck. It uses a cumulative flow diagram from Jira to illustrate that only 30% of work time is spent on value-creation (D...
The author reflects on their unconventional career path in the tech industry, starting from a lack of direction after university to finding success in various roles, including content editing and web management. They discuss the b...