Articles

Building the Future

Something has been on my mind for months. The rapid evolution of AI agents has opened up possibilities I cannot ignore.

We are witnessing the emergence of semi autonomous agents that will fundamentally reshape how we work and communicate. The opportunities in this space are extraordinary. I am diving deeper into this world of AI agent development and product creation.

My newsletter is evolving. Instead of dispensing tips from a position of authority, I invite you on a journey of discovery. I will document my experiences building with AI, how to apply my tech experience in a new world, and navigating the inevitable struggles and setbacks.

Read on for several key areas I am exploring.

The Reality of AI Power Usage

AI power usage generates significant controversy. Headlines paint it as an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen. The reality proves more nuanced and potentially more optimistic than these dire warnings suggest.

A ChatGPT query uses 10 times more energy than a Google search. This sounds alarming until one realises it equates to running your hairdryer for six seconds. The entire data centre industry, including all AI operations, accounts for just 1.5% of global electricity consumption.

Here is a rundown of the more pressing issues with AI power usage.

AI Therapists: Self Reflection With AI

“I am not ready for this conversation.” We all know that feeling. The endless mental rehearsal. The anxiety building with each imagined scenario.

But what if I told you that AI could be your practice partner for both difficult conversations and deeper self-reflection?

Always Be Unblocking

The most impactful engineers I know do not just write code. They remove obstacles for others.

Your impact is not measured by the code you write. It is measured by how much faster your entire team moves because of you. At Cherrypick, we call this “always be unblocking” and it has become one of our core values.

Why Time Units Beat Story Points Every Time

Story points, t-shirt sizes, and fibonacci numbers. We have created an entire vocabulary to avoid saying what we actually mean. The truth is simpler: we should just use time units.

This realisation emerged from years of watching teams struggle with abstract estimation systems. The solution was right in front of us all along.

Startup Success Stories Are Flawed

In his book on mapping business strategy, Simon Wardley makes an observation that struck me hard recently.

You cannot learn chess from a list of moves. Even with access to every grandmaster game ever played, simply studying the sequence of moves will not make you a strong player. Without understanding the board position, the strategic context, and the invisible forces at play, these move lists are merely shadows of the actual game.

This observation triggered a thought that has been bothering me about how we approach startup knowledge and learning.

How To Get Clarity With a New Tech Team

You have just taken over a new tech team. There is pressure to deliver, not much signal, and everything feels urgent. Perhaps the roadmap is packed. Perhaps the team seems busy. But is anything really working?

This is your field manual. If you are overwhelmed and trying to get clarity, start here.

Coding with AI: How To Do It Well And What This Means

I am shipping AI-first production code every day. Not experimental features. Not throwaway prototypes. Real, deployed, mission-critical code powering Cherrypick’s tens of thousands of users.

Social media overflows with “vibe coding” demonstrations. These flashy but superficial examples show AI apparently conjuring perfect code in seconds. The reality of professional AI-assisted development runs much deeper. Real production work with AI is messier, more nuanced, and demands rigorous thinking, but very effective.

This is not about magical code generation. It is about a new way of thinking about development. It requires substantial real-world development experience to do well: the onus is upon those of us with this experience to teach the next generation how to harness these tools effectively.

This is how I am doing it, what it all might mean, and how we can help others find the way.

How to Rebrand Your Mobile App (Without Breaking Everything)

Rebranding a successful mobile app is like performing heart surgery while the patient runs a marathon. One wrong move risks destroying everything you have built.

Yet sometimes you must do it anyway.

I will share what I have learned about changing your app’s identity without losing your users in the process.

How To Avoid Bad Startup Culture

If you are not paying attention to your startup culture, I have news for you: you are already building a culture into your company. Chances are that is not the culture you want.

Every company has a culture. It is a summation of all the habits and practices that make up the work. It is every choice, good or bad, made by every person involved. Every action sets a precedent, a “how we do things here.”

This is how we are wired. We are naturally social beings and are strongly predisposed to fit in to the group we find ourselves in, and to emulate their behaviour. This reinforces culture further, and compounds when more people are involved.

A culture grows like plants in a garden. You cannot stop the life from growing, but you can decide how and where it grows. Left unattended, weeds will grow alongside the flowers. The key is recognising this and putting in the work to shape it.

Here is a quick primer on how to do the minimum to avoid bad culture, and how to get good culture going with a little attention every so often.