I build the reusable system instead of the one-off feature.

I started in support, taught myself SQL and macros to fix the problems I kept seeing, and grew from there into a tech lead.

I spent four years as an engineering manager. I went back to individual-contributor work by choice, because the part I like most is designing the system other people build on.

These days I run a self-hosted Kubernetes platform with a fleet of AI agents, and I write about what I hand to them and how I check their work.