Ideas
Notes from the aethren team on design, detail, and building software.
August 2026
The friction in our product is deliberate. That is not a defence, it is the design. The trouble is that a design is only ever a claim, and the product is what happens in the user's hands.
July 2026
Veterinary software remembers every weight ever recorded, and has nothing to say about them. The difference between a system of record and software that notices.
February 2026
Insights from The Long Game of AI: why explainable agents and trust matter more than the veneer of intelligence from LLMs.
December 2025
Return on experience is still framed as something to be evaluated after an event, rather than designed into it from the start. If ROE matters, it needs to be shaped early and deliberately.
October 2025
A reflection on how technology always moves from the centre to the edge, and why AI may be about to follow the same path.
October 2025
Why the future of AI lies in small, specialised models rather than general intelligence. How domain-specific AI tools can deliver practical, immediate impact.
August 2025
How our definition of AI keeps shifting as technology advances. Why we keep moving the goalposts and what that says about human intelligence.
August 2025
Why persistence and energy beat luck: lessons from Franklin, Churchill, and Pinky & The Brain.
August 2025
AI is hungry. The future we're building runs on power, not just computing power, but electricity. And we're not ready.
July 2025
A recent study shows that developers using AI tools actually slow down. The reason might be deeper than the tools themselves.
July 2025
How AI is changing the game for product–market fit and what it means for the next generation of start-ups.
February 2025
How AI is empowering lean start-ups to punch above their weight.
February 2025
"Move fast and break things" is no longer relevant, now we move fast and build with purpose.
January 2025
Building a company on a foundation of clear values: Courage, Honesty, and Perseverance.
December 2024
A powerful reminder of what truly builds strong, resilient organisations.