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
Work can take you to some interesting places!
January 12, 2026 at 7:23 AM
Work can take you to some interesting places!
OpenAI's "Code Red"
Traffic down 6% since Google launched new Gemini and Banana models
Traffic down 6% since Google launched new Gemini and Banana models
December 2, 2025 at 7:21 PM
OpenAI's "Code Red"
Traffic down 6% since Google launched new Gemini and Banana models
Traffic down 6% since Google launched new Gemini and Banana models
- HP has margin pressure now.
- HP expects tougher conditions ahead.
- HP needs to reduce operating expenses significantly.
- AI provides a socially acceptable and market-friendly framing that shifts attention away from the fact the core business is struggling.
- HP expects tougher conditions ahead.
- HP needs to reduce operating expenses significantly.
- AI provides a socially acceptable and market-friendly framing that shifts attention away from the fact the core business is struggling.
November 26, 2025 at 7:35 AM
- HP has margin pressure now.
- HP expects tougher conditions ahead.
- HP needs to reduce operating expenses significantly.
- AI provides a socially acceptable and market-friendly framing that shifts attention away from the fact the core business is struggling.
- HP expects tougher conditions ahead.
- HP needs to reduce operating expenses significantly.
- AI provides a socially acceptable and market-friendly framing that shifts attention away from the fact the core business is struggling.
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
Been using more of Claude recently. One thing that's stood out is how unreliable it is (down at the moment)
status.claude.com
status.claude.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Been using more of Claude recently. One thing that's stood out is how unreliable it is (down at the moment)
status.claude.com
status.claude.com
AI-assisted coding is like the blind men and the elephant. Everyone's experiencing it from different vantage points.
Makes it genuinely hard to know whose experience is worth learning from.
Sketched a graph to illustrate & wrote about the patterns I'm seeing.
blog.robbowley.net/2025/10/26/y...
Makes it genuinely hard to know whose experience is worth learning from.
Sketched a graph to illustrate & wrote about the patterns I'm seeing.
blog.robbowley.net/2025/10/26/y...
October 28, 2025 at 8:03 AM
AI-assisted coding is like the blind men and the elephant. Everyone's experiencing it from different vantage points.
Makes it genuinely hard to know whose experience is worth learning from.
Sketched a graph to illustrate & wrote about the patterns I'm seeing.
blog.robbowley.net/2025/10/26/y...
Makes it genuinely hard to know whose experience is worth learning from.
Sketched a graph to illustrate & wrote about the patterns I'm seeing.
blog.robbowley.net/2025/10/26/y...
October 14, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Via @davefarley77.bsky.social keynote @ #FastFlowConf
October 14, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Via @davefarley77.bsky.social keynote @ #FastFlowConf
From a CTO WhatsApp group I'm in
October 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
From a CTO WhatsApp group I'm in
AI is the latest diet plan fad
Most AI adoption is failing, who could have possibly imagined? The ones seeing any benefit are focusing on org change too.
Yet "AI first" is the battle cry. Top down mandates measuring success on AI usage and output, not whether its creating any value 🤦
4/7
Most AI adoption is failing, who could have possibly imagined? The ones seeing any benefit are focusing on org change too.
Yet "AI first" is the battle cry. Top down mandates measuring success on AI usage and output, not whether its creating any value 🤦
4/7
September 4, 2025 at 1:49 PM
AI is the latest diet plan fad
Most AI adoption is failing, who could have possibly imagined? The ones seeing any benefit are focusing on org change too.
Yet "AI first" is the battle cry. Top down mandates measuring success on AI usage and output, not whether its creating any value 🤦
4/7
Most AI adoption is failing, who could have possibly imagined? The ones seeing any benefit are focusing on org change too.
Yet "AI first" is the battle cry. Top down mandates measuring success on AI usage and output, not whether its creating any value 🤦
4/7
In a client's office. This doggo has absolutely made my day.
Massive floof ball, does stand up human cuddles.
Massive floof ball, does stand up human cuddles.
September 4, 2025 at 11:59 AM
In a client's office. This doggo has absolutely made my day.
Massive floof ball, does stand up human cuddles.
Massive floof ball, does stand up human cuddles.
It is 2 am in the morning..we have just had our final (of 13) course of beetroot soup. I have never drunk so much vodka.
August 31, 2025 at 12:35 AM
It is 2 am in the morning..we have just had our final (of 13) course of beetroot soup. I have never drunk so much vodka.
A different study saying the opposite. I'm a bit sceptical of the timeliness (as ChatGPT4 barely released by late 2022) but they appear to have tried to account for wider (e.g. economic) factors.
They also say is correlation, not causation.
digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...
They also say is correlation, not causation.
digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...
August 28, 2025 at 6:41 PM
A different study saying the opposite. I'm a bit sceptical of the timeliness (as ChatGPT4 barely released by late 2022) but they appear to have tried to account for wider (e.g. economic) factors.
They also say is correlation, not causation.
digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...
They also say is correlation, not causation.
digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...
Oh look, yet another study showing (the relatively small) individual producivity benefits from GenAI coding are not resulting in any observable overall positive impact
storage.pardot.com/1045823/1752...
storage.pardot.com/1045823/1752...
August 20, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Oh look, yet another study showing (the relatively small) individual producivity benefits from GenAI coding are not resulting in any observable overall positive impact
storage.pardot.com/1045823/1752...
storage.pardot.com/1045823/1752...
Employees the most exposed to AI are the least impacted by unemployment
August 20, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Employees the most exposed to AI are the least impacted by unemployment
According to Semrush, AI gets most of its citations from Reddit
August 19, 2025 at 6:08 AM
According to Semrush, AI gets most of its citations from Reddit
Interesting study from Codurance on AI code assistants - 4x code, 4x complexity, early productivity gains but diminishing returns as the code runs away from you.
Download PDF here hubs.ly/Q03sDyDK0
Download PDF here hubs.ly/Q03sDyDK0
August 15, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Interesting study from Codurance on AI code assistants - 4x code, 4x complexity, early productivity gains but diminishing returns as the code runs away from you.
Download PDF here hubs.ly/Q03sDyDK0
Download PDF here hubs.ly/Q03sDyDK0
The solution is Continuous Delivery - optimising the whole flow, reducing wait states, and building quality in.
If your chart looks anything like this, you need to turn the value-creation ratio on its head - otherwise you'll see negative returns from AI-assisted coding, not gains.
5/5
If your chart looks anything like this, you need to turn the value-creation ratio on its head - otherwise you'll see negative returns from AI-assisted coding, not gains.
5/5
August 15, 2025 at 11:03 AM
The solution is Continuous Delivery - optimising the whole flow, reducing wait states, and building quality in.
If your chart looks anything like this, you need to turn the value-creation ratio on its head - otherwise you'll see negative returns from AI-assisted coding, not gains.
5/5
If your chart looks anything like this, you need to turn the value-creation ratio on its head - otherwise you'll see negative returns from AI-assisted coding, not gains.
5/5
The other 70% is spent in idle time or inspection - work waiting in queues, code reviews, manual testing, UAT, and pending release.
This pattern is the norm. It’s not even a bad case.
2/5
This pattern is the norm. It’s not even a bad case.
2/5
August 15, 2025 at 11:03 AM
The other 70% is spent in idle time or inspection - work waiting in queues, code reviews, manual testing, UAT, and pending release.
This pattern is the norm. It’s not even a bad case.
2/5
This pattern is the norm. It’s not even a bad case.
2/5
I often say that typing isn’t the bottleneck in software development - and here’s an example.
This is a cumulative flow diagram from Jira for a typical software delivery team. It shows that only about ~30% of the time is spent in the value-creation stage (Development).
1/5
This is a cumulative flow diagram from Jira for a typical software delivery team. It shows that only about ~30% of the time is spent in the value-creation stage (Development).
1/5
August 15, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I often say that typing isn’t the bottleneck in software development - and here’s an example.
This is a cumulative flow diagram from Jira for a typical software delivery team. It shows that only about ~30% of the time is spent in the value-creation stage (Development).
1/5
This is a cumulative flow diagram from Jira for a typical software delivery team. It shows that only about ~30% of the time is spent in the value-creation stage (Development).
1/5
