The Agile On The Beach replays are live! Since speaking, I’ve had time to reflect on what’s changed, what I got wrong, and how fast AI-first software engineering is evolving. The replay of my AI at Collecting Cars AMA is here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHBEBt_a7H4 What I Got Wrong On stage, I implied I didn't trust or use … Continue reading AI at Collecting Cars, AMA Replay
Around the 1st of September I usually reflect on my year. It’s a natural time in the UK for reflection, the end of summer, start of the new school year. This time, it’s a month late, because... After 3 years and 1 month, it’s time to move on from The Collecting Group [TCG]. I’ve had … Continue reading Moving On: From TCG to Cognito
Building on my gambler or scientist post… One of the most rewarding parts of leadership is carrying the accountability for your team’s work. Accountability isn’t good or bad, it’s simply the responsibility for outcomes; the wins and the losses. On balance, it’s hugely rewarding. But it also means you’re the one delivering bad news to the … Continue reading Not all experiments succeed
The Bowling Alley One of my strongest beliefs as a leader is that I want to create an environment where everyone has the chance to excel. Over the years, the best way I’ve found to explain this is through the bowling alley analogy. This is one of two analogies I've come to depend upon, the … Continue reading The Bowling Alley
It had been a while since I last went to a tech conference, and within minutes of the opening keynote (which included washing potatoes in a washing machine), I regretted the time away. I’d forgotten how good these events can be. Conferences create space. Space to think, to hear new perspectives & ideas, to learn, … Continue reading Agile on the Beach 2025
I recently joined the team at Hypr Live for a conversation about how we’re using AI in engineering at Collecting Cars and The Collecting Group. It was great to dig into how AI is evolving, and how we’re evolving with it. You can watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMemQgXAw_8 Here are three takeaways from the … Continue reading How We Think About AI at The Collecting Group
In early 2024, I likened our platform and Tech Strategy at The Collecting Group to a Singer 911. It made sense at the time: take a solid base (the Porsche 964), iterate on it with care and craft, and transform it into something beautiful, powerful, exclusive, and meticulously engineered. Something rare. A halo product. A … Continue reading Evolving Our Tech Strategy: Singer to Raptor
I’ll admit to overusing two analogies: bowling alleys (a post for another day) and icebergs. Tech initiatives, especially the ones I refer to as Momentum Builders, Debt Paydowns, and Risk Reducers (see: Gambler or Scientist), often resemble icebergs. Only the part above the waterline is visible to the business. This makes selling and celebrating them … Continue reading Shipping Icebergs: The Quiet Triumph of User Merging
Win or lose? I prefer experiment and learn. 3 things occurred: 1. CTO Coachings on “Bets” – Learning to break work into plays (business cases) that I can sell to the business. Every initiative falls into one (or more) of four categories: Momentum Builders (iterative improvements, process gains) Debt Paydown (tech debt, foundational work) Revenue … Continue reading Gambler or Scientist
A team member asked if our strategy and approach was lifted from the Phoenix Project. They wondered if that’s why I split our engineers into two squads: one focused on features, owning our frontend repos, and the other on platform, owning the backend and cleaning up the “messy middle”. We have a learning budget at … Continue reading The Phoenix Project?
Olly Brand 