Rob Bowley
@robbowley.net
Product & Tech Leadership Advisor, Consultant, Coach & Mentor
Tech, Software Development, Science, History, Economics, Politics
https://blog.robbowley.net
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbowley
https://pragmaticpartners.co.uk
Manchester, UK
Tech, Software Development, Science, History, Economics, Politics
https://blog.robbowley.net
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbowley
https://pragmaticpartners.co.uk
Manchester, UK
Pinned
Rob Bowley
@robbowley.net
· Nov 16
Lots of new followers so thought I'd do an intro 🙂
This is me, without hat, in my garden, on a rainy morning in Manchester 🐝, UK
Been working in tech for 25 years - software engineer then various leadership roles. Nowadays I'm a product & tech leadership advisor, coach, consultant.
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This is me, without hat, in my garden, on a rainy morning in Manchester 🐝, UK
Been working in tech for 25 years - software engineer then various leadership roles. Nowadays I'm a product & tech leadership advisor, coach, consultant.
1/4
Reposted by Rob Bowley
I am thoroughly enjoying how every few hours I see a new & improved version of this diagram. Here’s today’s latest.
November 21, 2025 at 9:14 PM
I am thoroughly enjoying how every few hours I see a new & improved version of this diagram. Here’s today’s latest.
Having finally had a chance to get head down for a decent amount of time with some AI assisted coding in anger, I can't possibly imagine how you do it without thorough automated testing in place
November 21, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Having finally had a chance to get head down for a decent amount of time with some AI assisted coding in anger, I can't possibly imagine how you do it without thorough automated testing in place
Reposted by Rob Bowley
Is it 'online training course'?
June 17, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Is it 'online training course'?
Reposted by Rob Bowley
Reductionism can be wrong, but actionable.
Complexity can be right, but paralyzing.
cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-389-ov...
Complexity can be right, but paralyzing.
cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-389-ov...
TBM 389: Overthinker!
From a young age, being accused of “overcomplicating” or “overthinking” things felt like a dismissal of who I was.
cutlefish.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reductionism can be wrong, but actionable.
Complexity can be right, but paralyzing.
cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-389-ov...
Complexity can be right, but paralyzing.
cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-389-ov...
AI use isn't exploding. The latest Similarweb data shows growth in a few tools like OpenAI and Claude, but most AI categories are flat or falling.
www.similarweb.com/corp/wp-cont...
www.similarweb.com/corp/wp-cont...
November 14, 2025 at 11:12 AM
AI use isn't exploding. The latest Similarweb data shows growth in a few tools like OpenAI and Claude, but most AI categories are flat or falling.
www.similarweb.com/corp/wp-cont...
www.similarweb.com/corp/wp-cont...
Duolingo share price now down 63% since May. TBF it doesn't seem to (now) be down to user perception re: their AI first disaster. They're still growing and revenue matched targets. More seems investors want payback and CEO wants to focus on growth
November 6, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Duolingo share price now down 63% since May. TBF it doesn't seem to (now) be down to user perception re: their AI first disaster. They're still growing and revenue matched targets. More seems investors want payback and CEO wants to focus on growth
I'm sympathetic to what the author is trying to do, but how many times have I seen new tech manifestos that basically say do Agile as it was actually intended in the first place
The Agentic Manifesto: Engineering in the Era of Autonomy
Traditional SDLC fails for autonomous AI. The Agentic Manifesto introduces the Agentic Delivery Lifecycle (ADLC)—a new operating model for engineering, governing, and tuning non-deterministic systems ...
caseywest.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I'm sympathetic to what the author is trying to do, but how many times have I seen new tech manifestos that basically say do Agile as it was actually intended in the first place
Amen.
How many times I've witnessed the almost seasonal transformations in orgs, fixing the problems cause be the last one.
How many times I've seen orgs pendulum swing from one op model to another, once they realised what they lost (Chesterton's Fence)
How many times I've witnessed the almost seasonal transformations in orgs, fixing the problems cause be the last one.
How many times I've seen orgs pendulum swing from one op model to another, once they realised what they lost (Chesterton's Fence)
Transformations never work. Even when they do.
Find out why transformations are a fundamentally flawed approach to organizational change:
Find out why transformations are a fundamentally flawed approach to organizational change:
Why Transformations Never Succeed: Even When They Do
A fundamentally flawed approach to change
medium.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Amen.
How many times I've witnessed the almost seasonal transformations in orgs, fixing the problems cause be the last one.
How many times I've seen orgs pendulum swing from one op model to another, once they realised what they lost (Chesterton's Fence)
How many times I've witnessed the almost seasonal transformations in orgs, fixing the problems cause be the last one.
How many times I've seen orgs pendulum swing from one op model to another, once they realised what they lost (Chesterton's Fence)
Reposted by Rob Bowley
DX's latest study into AI-assisted coding says the same as DORA's recent report - AI won’t save you from your (broken) engineering culture.
But it goes further: the biggest gains come from better ways of working, not AI.
Wrote up my analysis here 👇
But it goes further: the biggest gains come from better ways of working, not AI.
Wrote up my analysis here 👇
Findings from DX’s 2025 report: AI won’t save you from your engineering culture | Rob Bowley
blog.robbowley.net
November 5, 2025 at 10:09 AM
DX's latest study into AI-assisted coding says the same as DORA's recent report - AI won’t save you from your (broken) engineering culture.
But it goes further: the biggest gains come from better ways of working, not AI.
Wrote up my analysis here 👇
But it goes further: the biggest gains come from better ways of working, not AI.
Wrote up my analysis here 👇
DX's latest study into AI-assisted coding says the same as DORA's recent report - AI won’t save you from your (broken) engineering culture.
But it goes further: the biggest gains come from better ways of working, not AI.
Wrote up my analysis here 👇
But it goes further: the biggest gains come from better ways of working, not AI.
Wrote up my analysis here 👇
Findings from DX’s 2025 report: AI won’t save you from your engineering culture | Rob Bowley
blog.robbowley.net
November 5, 2025 at 10:09 AM
DX's latest study into AI-assisted coding says the same as DORA's recent report - AI won’t save you from your (broken) engineering culture.
But it goes further: the biggest gains come from better ways of working, not AI.
Wrote up my analysis here 👇
But it goes further: the biggest gains come from better ways of working, not AI.
Wrote up my analysis here 👇
John Lewis Xmas advert hits. Well done.
November 4, 2025 at 8:51 PM
John Lewis Xmas advert hits. Well done.
Quite - if I'm getting in touch with support, it's because I need to speak to someone. I've very rarely found AI chatbots help answer my question because I've already looked at your FAQs!
The promise of AI chat assistants: they solve 90% of the problems users have (by looking up the docs and telling them)
My reality: need to spend 10 minutes trying to get to a human, to solve an issue I need customer support to look into
Around minute 8 I sign up to a competitor
My reality: need to spend 10 minutes trying to get to a human, to solve an issue I need customer support to look into
Around minute 8 I sign up to a competitor
November 4, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Quite - if I'm getting in touch with support, it's because I need to speak to someone. I've very rarely found AI chatbots help answer my question because I've already looked at your FAQs!
The New Calculus of AI-based Coding
A collection of posts by Joe Magerramov
blog.joemag.dev
November 4, 2025 at 3:46 PM
I have been quoted by Martin Fowler! 😍
I can die now
I can die now
Concerns about LLM-enabled browsers, the different perspectives on AI-Coding, and looking back at the loss of an iconic helmet.
martinfowler.com/articles/202...
martinfowler.com/articles/202...
Fragments Nov 3
a short post
martinfowler.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:26 AM
I have been quoted by Martin Fowler! 😍
I can die now
I can die now
Reposted by Rob Bowley
November 3, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Unbridled techno-optimism is nothing new to SV - in fact, it's why it's been so successful.
Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Against the Day is great for understanding America’s enduring faith in progress - and how that same spirit often leads it astray.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/40...
Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Against the Day is great for understanding America’s enduring faith in progress - and how that same spirit often leads it astray.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/40...
Against the Day
Spanning the period between the Chicago World's Fair of…
www.goodreads.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Unbridled techno-optimism is nothing new to SV - in fact, it's why it's been so successful.
Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Against the Day is great for understanding America’s enduring faith in progress - and how that same spirit often leads it astray.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/40...
Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Against the Day is great for understanding America’s enduring faith in progress - and how that same spirit often leads it astray.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/40...