Foundations To Outcomes A page refresh that took ten weeks in the last iteration took under a week this quarter. Same team. Same headcount. Different way of working. I lead a team of 7 engineers, a data engineer, and a DevOps specialist at The Collecting Group. In Q1 we shifted AI impact across our codebase … Continue reading AI First Q1 2026 Summary
A fireside follow-up, and the bits I wanted to underline I recently did a fireside chat follow-up to my AOTB 2025 AMA talk. It was meant to be simple. A few questions, a few stories, a bit of reality from the last 6 to 12 months. What I didn’t expect was how clearly a few … Continue reading AOTB Fireside Follow-up
In October 2025 I left Collecting Cars to try something new. Four months later, I’m back. The other role didn’t land how I’d hoped, and in that time I realised how much I missed what we have here: the team, the platform, and yes, the cars. I’ve rejoined as Head of Engineering. Thank you to … Continue reading Back at Collecting Cars
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
Olly Brand 