Last week, I had the opportunity to turn a list of over one hundred manual processes shared by our department leaders into a cohesive 18-month automation roadmap. Normally, a strategic project of this scale would take weeks of analysis and planning. I had a personal deadline that made that impossible—I was heading out on vacation […]| zach wills
I’ve been in a number of conversations over the past couple of years where I’ve shared an idea or a piece of work, and someone has chimed in with a question that’s meant to be a gotcha: “Cool. But how much of this was AI?” The question is often delivered with a subtle implication that […]| zach wills
FYI – part 2 with copy/pastable agents + commands is out! A couple weeks ago I went heads-down and experimented with a new development model. The results were unexpected: a production-ready application, ~800 commits, and 100+ PRs in a single week. The core idea was to stop coding linearly and instead manage a swarm of […] The post I Managed a Swarm of 20 AI Agents for a Week and Built a Product. Here Are the 8 Rules I Learned. appeared first on zach wills.| zach wills
I’m doing a lot of hiring over the next few months, and as I prep for it, I’ve found myself stepping back to ask: What do I actually expect from great engineers today? Even six months ago, I was just starting to ask candidates about AI tools — whether they’d tried ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude, Copilot, […] The post The New Bar for Engineers in 2025: AI-Native or Behind appeared first on zach wills.| zach wills
We’ve all seen the posts: “Tried AI on a real task—deployed bad code, cost us $800.” “The model couldn’t complete the ticket. It’s not ready.” But when I read these, my reaction isn’t, “AI’s not there yet.” It’s more like: You’re using a nail gun like a hammer. The Tool Isn’t Broken; You’re Using It […] The post Stop Hammering with a Nail Gun: Why Most Engineers Are Misusing AI appeared first on zach wills.| zach wills
It’s never been faster to build something new. For years, we treated product development as a linear relay race: product ideates, design mocks, engineering builds, QA tests, launch. But now, with AI, that entire cycle has been flipped upside down. AI isn’t just accelerating how fast we build. It’s starting to reshape who builds, how […] The post How AI Is Reshaping Product Development (And Why It Demands a New Kind of Engineer) appeared first on zach wills.| zach wills
We often celebrate the discipline of saying no. Prioritize ruthlessly. Protect your roadmap. Guard your team’s focus. And while that’s important, at a certain point in your career, it’s actually easier to say no than it is to say yes. Saying no is safe. It avoids risk. It keeps you in control. But if you […] The post It’s easy to say no. appeared first on zach wills.| zach wills
I’ve been thinking a lot about how software development is evolving. At some point in the future, thanks to AI, software development will be commoditized. AI changes how humans add value. Tools like GitHub Copilot and Cursor or Windsurf are helping engineers write and debug code faster than ever. CodeRabbit is automating code review. On […] The post How AI is Transforming Software Development — and What’s Holding It Back appeared first on zach wills.| zach wills
In my experience as an engineering leader, I’ve seen that managing multiple software development projects can be quite a tightrope walk. Over time, I’ve developed a few strategies that have been instrumental in effectively navigating this intricate balancing act. Alignment is key Every project must be synchronized with the overarching business impact and goals. This […] The post Balancing Multiple Priorities in Software Development appeared first on zach wills.| zach wills
If you, or your team, find yourself dreading the scheduled one-on-one meeting, then you’re probably doing it wrong. One-on-one meetings provide an amazing opportunity to foster a stronger relationship with your team. It’s a place where you can catch up on personal and professional topics, provide guidance, and build trust. >> My One-on-one Template << […]| zach wills
engineering leader| zach wills
In my last post I talked about how I spent a week heads down using AI to work on a greenfield engineering metrics tool. As I built it, I’d often navigate the web app and spot things that needed to be fleshed out. Sometimes it was a small typo; other times it was a bigger […]| zach wills
