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
Pinned
Rob Bowley
@robbowley.net
· Nov 16
Lots of new followers so thought I'd do an intro 🙂
This is me, without hat, in my garden, on a rainy morning in Manchester 🐝, UK
Been working in tech for 25 years - software engineer then various leadership roles. Nowadays I'm a product & tech leadership advisor, coach, consultant.
1/4
This is me, without hat, in my garden, on a rainy morning in Manchester 🐝, UK
Been working in tech for 25 years - software engineer then various leadership roles. Nowadays I'm a product & tech leadership advisor, coach, consultant.
1/4
Another good software engineering history lesson
What If Waterfall Was Right?
How the price of trying things shaped 60 years of software development
newsletter.productengineers.com
February 11, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Another good software engineering history lesson
Highly recommend this podcast with @booch.com. A tour of the history of software engineering, similar to some of my recent articles and posts. Plus, at least he has a positive outlook for the profession
What if we're actually in the middle of the third golden age of software engineering? This is what Grady Booch (@booch.com) sees happening. If you are anxious about the state of the industry, you want to watch/listen to Grady's longer-term perspective:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMA...
(cont'd)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMA...
(cont'd)
February 8, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Highly recommend this podcast with @booch.com. A tour of the history of software engineering, similar to some of my recent articles and posts. Plus, at least he has a positive outlook for the profession
Good write up on Claude Codes new agent teams or "swarms"
As described I cant help thinking of the antipattern of silo'd specialists in teams (so much for the full-stack engineer)
Local optimisation, coordination overhead, loss of shared intent, etc
As described I cant help thinking of the antipattern of silo'd specialists in teams (so much for the full-stack engineer)
Local optimisation, coordination overhead, loss of shared intent, etc
Claude Code Swarms
Claude Code now supports agent teams - coordinated swarms of AI agents that research, debug, and build in parallel. What was feature-flagged is now real. H...
addyosmani.com
February 8, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Good write up on Claude Codes new agent teams or "swarms"
As described I cant help thinking of the antipattern of silo'd specialists in teams (so much for the full-stack engineer)
Local optimisation, coordination overhead, loss of shared intent, etc
As described I cant help thinking of the antipattern of silo'd specialists in teams (so much for the full-stack engineer)
Local optimisation, coordination overhead, loss of shared intent, etc
I wrote this speculative piece over a year ago. Deflation didn't happen in 2025 but appears to be happening now
Otherwise a lot of it holds - asides from software engineering, still no big transformative use cases as yet
LLMs didn't hit a wall, have been improving incrementally...
Otherwise a lot of it holds - asides from software engineering, still no big transformative use cases as yet
LLMs didn't hit a wall, have been improving incrementally...
Will the Generative AI bubble start deflating in 2025? | Rob Bowley
blog.robbowley.net
February 6, 2026 at 5:53 PM
I wrote this speculative piece over a year ago. Deflation didn't happen in 2025 but appears to be happening now
Otherwise a lot of it holds - asides from software engineering, still no big transformative use cases as yet
LLMs didn't hit a wall, have been improving incrementally...
Otherwise a lot of it holds - asides from software engineering, still no big transformative use cases as yet
LLMs didn't hit a wall, have been improving incrementally...
Related, from Benedict Evans on LinkedIn
SaaS is in trouble generally though, see @edzitron.com's piece from a year or so back. AI upsell being their big hope www.wheresyoured.at/saaspocalyps...
SaaS is in trouble generally though, see @edzitron.com's piece from a year or so back. AI upsell being their big hope www.wheresyoured.at/saaspocalyps...
February 6, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Related, from Benedict Evans on LinkedIn
SaaS is in trouble generally though, see @edzitron.com's piece from a year or so back. AI upsell being their big hope www.wheresyoured.at/saaspocalyps...
SaaS is in trouble generally though, see @edzitron.com's piece from a year or so back. AI upsell being their big hope www.wheresyoured.at/saaspocalyps...
Financial markets gone into panic, with $ bns wiped off tech stocks after Anthropic launched a legal plugin for Claude Cowork. The concern being it's a SaaS killer.
What actually launched is a set of structured prompts and workflows - essentially a “skill”, for anyone familiar with Claude Code
What actually launched is a set of structured prompts and workflows - essentially a “skill”, for anyone familiar with Claude Code
February 6, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Financial markets gone into panic, with $ bns wiped off tech stocks after Anthropic launched a legal plugin for Claude Cowork. The concern being it's a SaaS killer.
What actually launched is a set of structured prompts and workflows - essentially a “skill”, for anyone familiar with Claude Code
What actually launched is a set of structured prompts and workflows - essentially a “skill”, for anyone familiar with Claude Code
Good guide to get you up to speed with all the bits and bobs that get you the most out of Claude Code
NEW POST
Powerful context engineering is becoming a huge part of the developer experience of modern LLM tools. @birgitta410.bsky.social explains the current state of context configuration features, using Claude Code as an example.
martinfowler.com/articles/exp...
Powerful context engineering is becoming a huge part of the developer experience of modern LLM tools. @birgitta410.bsky.social explains the current state of context configuration features, using Claude Code as an example.
martinfowler.com/articles/exp...
Context Engineering for Coding Agents
Notes from my Thoughtworks colleagues on AI-assisted software delivery
martinfowler.com
February 5, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Good guide to get you up to speed with all the bits and bobs that get you the most out of Claude Code
I wrote an article for Ada National College for Digital Skills, who run digital technology apprenticeships in the UK
GenAI is amplifying the skills gap in software engineering
All the available evidence suggests that GenAI-assisted coding is most powerful in the hands of highly experienced software engineers, while having neutral or even negative effects for less experience...
www.linkedin.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:41 PM
I wrote an article for Ada National College for Digital Skills, who run digital technology apprenticeships in the UK
Learn from history
What if we're actually in the middle of the third golden age of software engineering? This is what Grady Booch (@booch.com) sees happening. If you are anxious about the state of the industry, you want to watch/listen to Grady's longer-term perspective:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMA...
(cont'd)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMA...
(cont'd)
February 4, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Learn from history
Will they get a free login to the amazing UK Gov AI Skills Hub?
Barnsley rebranded UK’s first ‘tech town’ as US giants join AI push
Minister announces Microsoft, Cisco and Adobe to help apply AI to local schools, hospitals, GPs and businesses
www.theguardian.com
February 3, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Will they get a free login to the amazing UK Gov AI Skills Hub?
They did not really make sense previously either.
The most effective team size I have found work is usually 3 to 5 people, well supported with high automation - CD, automated tests, etc.
Larger teams are often a symptom of missing those capabilities rather than a genuine need for more people.
The most effective team size I have found work is usually 3 to 5 people, well supported with high automation - CD, automated tests, etc.
Larger teams are often a symptom of missing those capabilities rather than a genuine need for more people.
From a director at a more “traditional” company:
“We’re starting to rename 2-pizza teams to 1-pizza teams. With AI large teams just no longer make sense and slows things down.”
Teams are getting smaller in most places - even here
“We’re starting to rename 2-pizza teams to 1-pizza teams. With AI large teams just no longer make sense and slows things down.”
Teams are getting smaller in most places - even here
February 2, 2026 at 5:42 PM
They did not really make sense previously either.
The most effective team size I have found work is usually 3 to 5 people, well supported with high automation - CD, automated tests, etc.
Larger teams are often a symptom of missing those capabilities rather than a genuine need for more people.
The most effective team size I have found work is usually 3 to 5 people, well supported with high automation - CD, automated tests, etc.
Larger teams are often a symptom of missing those capabilities rather than a genuine need for more people.
Further thought, thinking about patterns.
They appeal to the automatic, emotive side of our brain (as per Khaneman) not the rational part.
People are super excited about Moltbot, but probably for all the wrong reasons
They appeal to the automatic, emotive side of our brain (as per Khaneman) not the rational part.
People are super excited about Moltbot, but probably for all the wrong reasons
Moltbot
- LLMs are very good at role-play
- humans are very good at projecting meaning onto patterns
It is fun, in the same way Conways Game Of Life is fun
- LLMs are very good at role-play
- humans are very good at projecting meaning onto patterns
It is fun, in the same way Conways Game Of Life is fun
February 1, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Further thought, thinking about patterns.
They appeal to the automatic, emotive side of our brain (as per Khaneman) not the rational part.
People are super excited about Moltbot, but probably for all the wrong reasons
They appeal to the automatic, emotive side of our brain (as per Khaneman) not the rational part.
People are super excited about Moltbot, but probably for all the wrong reasons
After a nice break from it, it appears the grifters are back in my LinkedIn feed.
Oh look, a big claim a big claim/prediction on GenAI
Check profile = SEO/Marketing manager
Oh look, a big claim a big claim/prediction on GenAI
Check profile = SEO/Marketing manager
February 1, 2026 at 5:14 PM
After a nice break from it, it appears the grifters are back in my LinkedIn feed.
Oh look, a big claim a big claim/prediction on GenAI
Check profile = SEO/Marketing manager
Oh look, a big claim a big claim/prediction on GenAI
Check profile = SEO/Marketing manager
Moltbot
- LLMs are very good at role-play
- humans are very good at projecting meaning onto patterns
It is fun, in the same way Conways Game Of Life is fun
- LLMs are very good at role-play
- humans are very good at projecting meaning onto patterns
It is fun, in the same way Conways Game Of Life is fun
February 1, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Moltbot
- LLMs are very good at role-play
- humans are very good at projecting meaning onto patterns
It is fun, in the same way Conways Game Of Life is fun
- LLMs are very good at role-play
- humans are very good at projecting meaning onto patterns
It is fun, in the same way Conways Game Of Life is fun
Reposted by Rob Bowley
A new study from Anthropic finds that gains in coding efficiency when relying on AI assistance did did not meet statistical significance; AI use noticeably degraded programmers’ understanding of what they were doing. Incredible.
The latest from Anthropic: using Anthropic's products makes you worse at your job
How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
www.anthropic.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:47 PM
A new study from Anthropic finds that gains in coding efficiency when relying on AI assistance did did not meet statistical significance; AI use noticeably degraded programmers’ understanding of what they were doing. Incredible.
Reposted by Rob Bowley
GenAI feels like another turning point for software development. It’s really just the latest moment in a long, repeating pattern of partial revelation and broad avoidance of how creating software needs to be approached.
blog.robbowley.net/2026/01/30/s...
blog.robbowley.net/2026/01/30/s...
Sixty years of learning the same lesson | Rob Bowley
blog.robbowley.net
January 30, 2026 at 11:15 AM
GenAI feels like another turning point for software development. It’s really just the latest moment in a long, repeating pattern of partial revelation and broad avoidance of how creating software needs to be approached.
blog.robbowley.net/2026/01/30/s...
blog.robbowley.net/2026/01/30/s...
GenAI feels like another turning point for software development. It’s really just the latest moment in a long, repeating pattern of partial revelation and broad avoidance of how creating software needs to be approached.
blog.robbowley.net/2026/01/30/s...
blog.robbowley.net/2026/01/30/s...
Sixty years of learning the same lesson | Rob Bowley
blog.robbowley.net
January 30, 2026 at 11:15 AM
GenAI feels like another turning point for software development. It’s really just the latest moment in a long, repeating pattern of partial revelation and broad avoidance of how creating software needs to be approached.
blog.robbowley.net/2026/01/30/s...
blog.robbowley.net/2026/01/30/s...
Reposted by Rob Bowley
I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!
AI Skills Boost - AI Skills Hub
aiskillshub.org.uk
January 28, 2026 at 12:07 PM
I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!
Reposted by Rob Bowley
Hang on, I had missed the fact that the AI Skills Hub cost £4m. mahadk.com/posts/ai-ski... If this wasn't tax payers' money it would be quite funny. Also, can only assume PWC spent some time rolling around in gold because they did NOT spend it on building this
The UK paid £4.1 million for a bookmarks site
Or, as they like to call it, the 'AI Skills Hub'. Which was built by PwC because of course it was
mahadk.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Hang on, I had missed the fact that the AI Skills Hub cost £4m. mahadk.com/posts/ai-ski... If this wasn't tax payers' money it would be quite funny. Also, can only assume PWC spent some time rolling around in gold because they did NOT spend it on building this
Reposted by Rob Bowley
I've written a piece for the @econ-observatory.bsky.social on the history of GDS. Notably, why you need change both top down and bottom up incentives if you're aiming to help a large, federated organisation adopt radical change.
JUST PUBLISHED – The UK government’s digital transformation: how did it come about?
By Tom Loosemore @tomski.com
By Tom Loosemore @tomski.com
The UK government’s digital transformation: how did it come about? - Economics Observatory
GOV.UK is intended to be the single point of online access for UK government information and services. The project leader in the Government Digital Service recounts the transformation in the early…
buff.ly
January 29, 2026 at 1:46 PM
I've written a piece for the @econ-observatory.bsky.social on the history of GDS. Notably, why you need change both top down and bottom up incentives if you're aiming to help a large, federated organisation adopt radical change.
Joined @johncrickett.bsky.social's Coding Chats podcast, if you like podcasts
Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Rr...
Spotify: lnkd.in/eNJw955r
Apple Podcasts: lnkd.in/epZnMjZz
Overcast: lnkd.in/eFNPGVvS
Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Rr...
Spotify: lnkd.in/eNJw955r
Apple Podcasts: lnkd.in/epZnMjZz
Overcast: lnkd.in/eFNPGVvS
What to do when AI gets expensive and other CTO challenges
YouTube video by Coding Chats
www.youtube.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Joined @johncrickett.bsky.social's Coding Chats podcast, if you like podcasts
Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Rr...
Spotify: lnkd.in/eNJw955r
Apple Podcasts: lnkd.in/epZnMjZz
Overcast: lnkd.in/eFNPGVvS
Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Rr...
Spotify: lnkd.in/eNJw955r
Apple Podcasts: lnkd.in/epZnMjZz
Overcast: lnkd.in/eFNPGVvS
Spec driven development (a la waterfall in disguise, yet again) is probably going to come and go quicker than the hype cycle that convinced people it was new
January 28, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Spec driven development (a la waterfall in disguise, yet again) is probably going to come and go quicker than the hype cycle that convinced people it was new
Reposted by Rob Bowley
I have Gas Town derangement syndrome and spent the last few weeks writing thousands of words on agent orchestration patterns; how they shift our bottlenecks and force us to ask whether and when we should stop looking at code
maggieappleton.com/gastown
maggieappleton.com/gastown
Gas Town’s Agent Patterns, Design Bottlenecks, and Vibecoding at Scale
On agent orchestration patterns, why design and critical thinking are the new bottlenecks, and whether we should let go of looking at code
maggieappleton.com
January 23, 2026 at 2:26 PM
I have Gas Town derangement syndrome and spent the last few weeks writing thousands of words on agent orchestration patterns; how they shift our bottlenecks and force us to ask whether and when we should stop looking at code
maggieappleton.com/gastown
maggieappleton.com/gastown