Mar 23, 2026 AI Industry
Escaping Nulliverse
What if we could create a social network with no humans involved at all? And we'll build a company for it that won't employ any humans either. Then who is it for?
The Elder Scripts
Engineering blog: data engineering, AI, software development, and team leadership.
I also offer data & AI engineering services.
Mar 17, 2026 Data Engineering Hiring
How to hire a data engineer in 2026
The old hiring playbook is history. In the zombie shark infested lagoon of the 2026 hiring market, how do you find a great data engineer?
Mar 16, 2026 Data Engineering AI
Why you need a data engineer in 2026
AI agents will happily dive into your data lake and produce exactly the right report. What they won't tell you is that data warehouses should more properly be called data mazes.
Feb 18, 2026 AI Data Engineering
Baking the context cake
If you ask 10 executives which roles they need to run an AI adoption project, 9 of them won't mention data engineers. I believe this is a major reason why 80% of enterprise AI projects fail.
Nov 26, 2025 AI Engineering
Why LLM API Calls Break in Production
When you build an integration with an LLM provider and test it locally, everything usually looks fine. The problems start when you deploy the same code to a cloud environment.
Oct 27, 2025 AI Engineering
Grounding LLMs in the Logic of Planning
How I combined elements of Hierarchical Task Network planning with LLMs to create a more consistent and flexible planning system.
Aug 27, 2025 AI Engineering
Self-correction in LLM calls: a review
Self-correction strategies where LLMs don't just generate content but actively review and refine their own outputs to fix errors autonomously.
Aug 15, 2025 AI Engineering
Improving Structured Outputs from LLMs: A Two-Step Pattern
LLMs can reason about complex input. They can also follow formatting instructions. But when asked to do both at once, they often fail. This post explains a two-step method that improves reliability.
Jan 22, 2022 Management
Forget your values
When does a former startup start to feel corporate? What is culture, and what deserves to be written on the office walls?
Jan 13, 2022 Hiring Career
Hiring manager interview. User manual.
The hiring manager interview is often a free-form conversation that candidates don't take seriously. That's a mistake. Here's how to make the most of it.
Jan 9, 2022 Data Engineering
Explained: data governance vs data management
Defining data governance from first principles and explaining its place in the larger area of data management.
Jan 4, 2022 Career Engineering
Vital non-technical skills for an engineer
Next to technical expertise, the best engineers possess skills that amplify their impact. Let's talk about the 'soft' skills that aren't soft at all.
Dec 31, 2021 Engineering Management
How to become a 10x engineer
The concept of a 10x engineer sparked debates. But the real multiplier isn't coding speed — it's the team culture that amplifies everyone's impact.
Dec 22, 2021 Data Engineering Career
Data Engineering Skills
A comprehensive list of skills that will get you a data engineering position and help you succeed in this role.
Dec 16, 2021 Engineering Management
Maximum Viable Weight (and Minimum Viable Lift)
Why is there seemingly so much legacy everywhere you look? And is there something we can do to reduce the negative effect of legacy in our teams and companies?