I’ve spent years building and leading hospitality teams that have generated millions in revenue, and now, I help professionals like you tell your unique story on paper.

As an executive resume writer with hands-on experience in operations, I partner with leaders who have well-deserved accolades but struggle to position themselves for the next significant step. 

I've sat on the other side of the table as a hiring manager, so I know what stands out. I excel at transforming your complex, behind-the-scenes accomplishments into clear, compelling narratives that grab attention.

Whether your background is in hospitality, operations, or broader business leadership, my goal is simple: 
To position you as the clear choice for high-profile roles, promotions, and opportunities that truly align with your skills and aspirations.

Specialties include crafting executive and professional resumes, optimizing LinkedIn profiles, and guiding career transitions in the hospitality and operations fields. 

I take pride in working with a select number of clients each month, ensuring a personalized and high-quality experience for each one. If you’re ready to take your career to the next level, let’s connect!

Luke Duggan

There’s one question I ask that tells me almost everything:
“What did you fix that no one asked you to fix?”
Most answers start with tasks.
Strong answers reveal judgment.
They talk about noticing friction.

Seeing patterns others ignored.
Making a decision when there wasn’t a clear playbook.

Leadership shows up before permission does.

Anyone can execute what’s assigned.
Not everyone takes responsibility for what’s missing.
The difference isn’t confidence.
It’s awareness.

When someone can explain why they acted, not just what they did, you’re hearing how they think under pressure.

That’s what hiring teams listen for, even when they don’t say it out loud.

📍How would you answer that question?

Luke Duggan 

Executive Resume Writer | Led Multimillion $ Teams, Now I Help You Land High-Visibility Roles

At the senior level, the best resume isn’t the one with the longest list of accomplishments.
It’s the one that shows you understand tradeoffs.

Most candidates highlight wins.
Few highlight the decisions behind those wins.

“I improved efficiency by 20%” is good.

But “I redesigned workflows to reduce staff burnout and still increased efficiency by 20%” is better.

Senior leaders get hired for how they think, not just what they achieved.

📍 What’s one line on your resume that could say more about your judgment?

There’s a point in every career where hard work stops being the differentiator.
Most professionals stay stuck in output mode: how much they produce, how fast they respond, how many responsibilities they can absorb.

But the roles people want, director, VP, GM, aren’t awarded for volume.
They’re awarded for how your work influences others.

Influence may sound abstract, but it’s practical:

 • People change how they operate after working with you.
 • Teams feel steadier because of how you communicate.
 • Leaders rely on your perspective, not just your execution.

Your resume should show that transition.
That doesn’t mean more metrics.
It means clearer causality: What changed because you were there?

📍 Where has your influence quietly reshaped a team, a process, or a result?

Here’s a thought:
Most people underestimate their strongest work because it came naturally to them.

You solved a conflict without escalation.
You rebuilt trust after a setback.
You mentored someone who now leads confidently.

Those aren’t soft moments, they’re leverage points.

A career story isn’t built on big wins.
It’s built on moments that reveal who you consistently are.

📍 What success felt small at the time but says something big about you now?

Not every gap is a liability.
Sometimes it signals intention.

The period in which you rebuilt, recalibrated, or realigned.

Hiring managers don’t care that you stepped away.
They care whether you can articulate what the return means.

A gap without a story feels defensive.
A gap with clarity feels strategic.

📍 If you reframed your gap as a turning point, how would you describe it?

Every professional reaches a moment where experience no longer fits inside job descriptions.

You’ve led people without the title.
You’ve solved problems that weren’t yours.
You’ve stabilized teams without getting credit.

And for years, you wrote resumes that hid that truth.

Then something changes. Maybe a rejection, maybe a chance conversation, and you realize the story you’ve been telling is too small.

That’s the year your career changes:
when you stop hiding the leadership you exercised quietly.

Documents don’t move careers.
Honesty does.

📍 What truth about your work have you avoided saying out loud?

Executives hire patterns.

They look for three things:
 📌 Judgment
 📌 Ownership
 📌 Transferable impact

If your resume reads like a job description, you’re not giving them any of those.

The fastest way to stand out:
Show the moment you carried the weight no one else wanted to touch.

📍 What moment of ownership belongs on your first page?

I once took on a project thinking it was “small.”
I took a conservative approach but positioned myself like a commodity.

The client was shocked at how genuine the finished version was.

We didn’t rewrite their resume.
We rewrote their identity.

Their confidence grew.
Their interviews changed tone.
Doors opened that they thought were closed.

I didn’t underprice the work.
I underpriced what it felt like for someone to be seen.

📍 When did you realize your value wasn’t in the task, but in how you helped someone transform?

You don’t get promoted because you’re busy. Everyone's busy.
You get promoted because you make other people’s jobs easier.

And that shows up in quiet ways:
 The meeting you de-escalated.
 The decision you clarified.
 The standard you held when no one else wanted to.

📍 What’s one invisible contribution you make that deserves a line on your resume?

Most job seekers chase volume.
Few chase relevance.
You can apply to fifty roles this month, or you can apply to five with clarity.

When your resume, profile, and outreach all signal the same message, 
This is exactly who I am, and this is the value I move, doors open faster.

The best candidates aren’t everywhere.
They’re unmistakable when they choose to show up.

📍 What would your search look like if you optimized for relevance instead of activity?

Every new year comes with a list of ambitions.
But most careers shift because of one habit, not ten.

For some people, it’s clearer communication.
For others, it’s finishing the work before the self-doubt kicks in. Damn you, imposter syndrome.
And for others still, it’s finally asking for what they’ve earned.

One habit creates the momentum that goals rely on.

📍 What habit, just one, would change the trajectory of your work this year?

Your profile is doing one of three things right now:
Making you look transactional.
Making you look dated.
Making you look like a leader with a point of view.

Most profiles fall into category one or two because they focus on tasks, not transformation.

If your profile doesn’t say who you help, how you think, and what outcomes you create it’s not competing in the right rooms.

A strong profile isn’t a summary.

It’s positioning.

📍 What message do you want people to take away after reading yours?

Most resumes fail quietly.
Not because they’re weak.
Not because the candidate lacks experience.
But because they don’t help the reader decide where to place trust.

A hiring manager isn’t asking, “Can this person do the job?”
They’re asking, “Can I rely on this person when things go sideways?”

That’s a different question, and most resumes never answer it.

Listing responsibilities doesn’t reduce risk.
Metrics without context don’t build confidence.

What does?
Judgment. Ownership. Decision-making under pressure.

When a resume shows why you made a choice, how you navigated constraints, or what changed because of your leadership, it stops being a record and starts being a signal.

The strongest resumes don’t try to impress.
They make it easier for the reader to say yes.

If your resume could belong to anyone in your role, it’s not telling the story that gets calls.

📍Which line on your resume would make a decision-maker trust you faster, if it were written differently?

I used to price my work based on effort.
Hours. Revisions. Scope.

Then I worked on a project that forced me to rethink everything.
The work wasn’t complex, but the clarity it created quickly changed outcomes. Decisions sped up. Confidence returned. Momentum followed.

That’s when it clicked:
People aren’t paying for effort. They’re paying for leverage.
The ability to see what matters.
To articulate it clearly.
To shorten the path between confusion and decision.

Once I understood that, I stopped undervaluing my contribution and stopped attracting work that treated it like a commodity.

📍Where in your work are you still pricing effort instead of impact?

No one is coming to champion you.

Not your boss.

Not HR.

Not even your closest mentor.

Your opportunities scale with two things:
 📌 How clearly you articulate your worth.
 📌 How consistently you deliver it.

📍 What advice would you give your younger self about ownership?

Every week has noise.
But patterns are quiet.

What you resist.
Where you hesitate.
What you avoid.
What you keep doing even when exhausted.

Patterns tell the truth about who you’re becoming.

📍 What pattern do you want to break before Q1 ends?

Being reliable keeps things running.
However, it doesn’t always move careers forward.

Leaders advance when they’re known for:
• resolving ambiguity
• making decisions that move the business forward
• raising standards without drama

If your brand is “dependable,” you may be overdue for a repositioning.

Reliability is what's expected of you in this role.
Impact must be your differentiator.

📍 What do people rely on you for, and what do they recognize you for?

It isn’t strategy.
It isn’t communication.
It isn’t even execution.
It’s discernment.

Knowing what deserves urgency, what needs a conversation,
what needs escalation, and what needs to wait.

Discernment is how senior leaders create calm inside complexity.

And it’s the skill hiring managers assume but rarely see.

📍 Where has discernment made your work easier this year?

Some progress is loud.
Most isn’t.

Success often shows up as:
• Better decisions
• Clearer boundaries
• More aligned opportunities
• Fewer tasks that drain you

Growth rarely announces itself.

But you can feel it when your work starts pointing in the right direction.

📍 What’s one quiet sign that your career is shifting in a healthier direction?

There’s a plateau that hits after competence.
You’re good at what you do.
You deliver results with ease.
You’ve earned trust where you are.
And yet, nothing moves.

More effort doesn’t create momentum.
More output doesn’t create opportunity.

That’s because advancement stops being about execution at this level. It becomes about articulation.

I’ve seen talented leaders stall here for years. Not because they lack ambition, but because they assume their work will speak loudly enough on its own.

It doesn’t.

Decision-makers don’t see your full body of work. They see fragments, resumes, conversations, and impressions formed under time pressure.

If you don’t translate your impact clearly, someone else fills in the gaps. And they rarely fill them generously.

This is the shift most people aren’t prepared for:
Working harder stops helping. Communicating better starts mattering more.
The leaders who break through this plateau learn to name their value without posturing. To frame their experience without inflating it. To make their judgment visible, not just their output.

📍Have you felt yourself working harder without moving forward, and wondered why?

I blend technical expertise with people-centered leadership, as both a Fractional IT Architect and qualified Executive Coach and mentor. With over 25 years of experience, I work closely with organizations to deliver complex, technically challenging IT projects, while using coaching and mentoring to foster collaboration, growth, and empowerment within teams.

In today’s fast-paced tech landscape, it’s not just about delivering solutions, it's about building teams that thrive. My approach combines in-depth knowledge of technology, software development, and IT architecture, with a coaching mindset that empowers teams to excel. I partner with individuals and departments, guiding them to unlock their true potential, embrace innovation, and navigate the challenges of delivering state-of-the-art, scalable technology solutions.

From blue-chip companies to NGOs, SMEs, and start-ups, I bring a flexible and adaptable approach to each project, ensuring that the unique needs of the business are met with creativity, pragmatism, and a focus on long-term success. My coaching background enables me to lead with empathy, while my technical expertise ensures that every solution is robust, reliable, and future-proof.

Whether I’m coaching leaders or mentoring teams, my goal is always to create a collaborative environment where everyone’s voice is valued, and every challenge is seen as an opportunity for growth. I specialize in Microsoft and JavaScript-based technologies, Agile methodologies, and Cloud architecture, but my real strength lies in helping teams come together to achieve more than they thought possible.

Let’s connect and explore how I can help your organization tackle complex IT challenges while building a team that’s ready to grow and succeed together.

Richard Stockley

The last one, Back from your Future Part III. Alas no time travelling trains 🚂 but i'll talk about how 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 helps you maintain your direction as the wheels fall off your plans.

It's an interesting time to consider 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, with probably the biggest, fastest revolution in human history being thrust upon us - #AI. If you imagine yourself at the end of 2026 now:

What has changed? 
What have you embraced? 
What have you dropped?
What do you need to learn?
Who do you need to speak with?
Are there any difficult conversastions to have?

This is where 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 comes in, it helps you to get to where you actually want to go, by understanding the real steps you need to take ... check it out in the comments 👇👇👇

A woman walking towards a decision, and her future self is guiding her from next to a Delorian. This represents herself who has preflected back from her future so she can make good decisions

Software Engineering as we know it is dead, right. 💀

But we all know it isn’t just going to fall off a cliff; there are organisations that haven’t even considered moving to the Cloud yet.

So what actually “died”? 🤔

It’s not code. It’s not programming languages. It’s not architecture.

What’s dying is the illusion that better tech solves human problems.

We keep rebranding the same hope:
Waterfall → Agile → DevOps → Cloud → AI → ✨Next Big Thing✨

And yet… projects still fail. Budgets still explode. Users still say: “That’s not what I asked for.”

The most fragile part of software has never been the code. It’s always been humans defining requirements for problems they don’t fully understand, in environments that won’t stay still. We write requirements as if:
- The world won’t change
- People can predict the future
- Ambiguity can be eliminated with Jira tickets

None of that is true.

AI didn’t kill Software Engineering. The Cloud didn’t kill it. They just made something painfully obvious:

👉 If you automate bad thinking, you get bad outcomes faster.

So, has AI killed Software Engineering, really? Or has it caused us to re-focus on the real challenge ...

What do you actually want to build?

#AI #SoftwareEngineering #ProductThinking #Agile #TechLeadership #DigitalTransformation #SystemsThinking

𝗠𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗜𝗗𝗗)

Transforming AI from chaotic productivity tools into disciplined development partners.

Tech is moving so quickly, and AI is so disruptive. You need to step back and really consider what is important, where you want to be, and how you are going to get there. For me, this is 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗜𝗗𝗗).

The gap between "vague idea" and "working system" is closing rapidly, which means the quality of our 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 directly determines the quality of our outcomes. If we specify badly, we're just building rubbish more quickly. 

Speed without clarity isn't progress, it's just faster failure.

Agentic AI will build almost anything we ask for, at breakneck speed. The question is: are we asking for the right thing?

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱, asking fundamental questions like:

1️⃣ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁? - What problem are we actually solving? What value does this create? Why does this need to exist?
2️⃣ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲? - What are the concrete outcomes we expect? How will we know it's working correctly? What are the acceptance criteria?
3️⃣ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀? - What specific test cases must pass? What scenarios need to be validated? What edge cases need to be handled?
4️⃣ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁? - What performance requirements, security implications, integration points, technical limitations must we consider?
5️⃣ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀? - Who is impacted by this being built? What could go wrong if this works exactly as specified? Are we building something we should build, not just something we can build? What biases or assumptions are baked into our intent?

IDD is for human-AI collaboration that front-loads the thinking where it matters most.

Just as TDD taught developers to think in tests, IDD can teach everyone to think in intent and outcomes first. It creates:
• 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 - clear intent means fewer "that's not what I meant" cycles
• 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 - you know exactly when you're done because you defined the tests first
• 𝗔 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 - intent is easier to discuss than code, improving collaboration
• 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗲𝗿𝗮 - standards that protect people when the field desperately needs them
• 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲-𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳𝘀 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 - as AI gets better at coding, defining good intent becomes the differentiating human skill

So, my focus in 2026: building out the concept of 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗜𝗗𝗗).

Just sayin' 🙂

#IntentDrivenDevelopment #IDD #AI #AgenticAI #SoftwareArchitecture #TechLeadership #TDD

A picture of a woman holding a clipboard where she is marking an AI, robotic pipeline that is building her human intent in software. This picture is a depiction of Intent-Driven Development

After my post on 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗜𝗗𝗗), I’ve had several great conversations about agentic flows, and questions asking: "How does IDD fit with UCD, TDD, BDD, DDD?"

These methodologies don't just coexist with IDD - they flow together in a complete agentic development cycle.

1. UCD discovers (Human-led)
2. DDD models (Human-led, AI-assisted)
3. 𝗜𝗗𝗗 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 (𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻-𝗹𝗲𝗱, 𝗔𝗜-𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱) 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝗗𝗗 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗗𝗗 
4. BDD communicates (AI-assisted, Human-validated) 
5. AI implements 
6. Automated validation 
7. Agentic exploratory testing (AI-led) 
8. UCD validation (Human-led)

What makes this powerful:
𝗜𝗗𝗗 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗗𝗗 - tests are part of the specification, not an afterthought. AI helps generate comprehensive test suites including edge cases humans miss.
𝗗𝗗𝗗 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 - it gives AI the mental model of your business world. Without it, AI builds technically correct but semantically wrong solutions.
𝗕𝗗𝗗 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 - AI can generate scenarios, but humans must validate: "Yes, this is what the business needs."

𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝗔 - AI agents systematically test:
• Functional edge cases
• Performance under load
• Security vulnerabilities
• Accessibility compliance
	
𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 - for discovering needs, defining business models, validating intent, and confirming real users are served; the 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁.

The principle: 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆, 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲.
	• AI generates tests → Humans validate they're the 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 tests
	• AI generates BDD scenarios → Humans validate business intent
	• AI implements code → Humans define what "correct" means
	• AI explores quality → Humans validate user experience

IDD doesn't replace the methodologies we trust. It's the specification discipline that makes them all work together when AI becomes your implementation partner.

Humans discover, model, specify, and validate. Agents generate, implement, and explore. Together, we build the right things, correctly, at speed.

𝗨𝗽 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗗𝗗-𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲-𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲-𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 …

#IntentDrivenDevelopment #IDD #UCD #DDD #BDD #TDD #AI #AgenticAI #SoftwareArchitecture #TechLeadership #HumanIntent

Pop art illustration of a woman checking a clipboard as arrows labelled UCD, DDD, BDD and TDD converge into Intent-Driven Development (IDD), with AI systems waiting to execute.

Yesterday I posted about 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, looking back from the future you want to achieve. 

I talked about how powerful it is in comparison to reflection, and how New Year's resolutions and goals have typically already fallen by the wayside.

Today, im going to give you some tips on how to 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 - link in the comments 👇👇👇

Where are you hoping to be by the end of this year? Have your resolutions already fallen by the wayside? 🤔 How are you going to get there?

Can I offer you an alternative way of making sure you get to your destination: 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻!!! Yes, it is a real word.

Link in the comments to Preflection – Back from your Future Part I 👇👇👇

A woman standing next to a Delorian, who has travelled to the end of the year so that she can look back from the future and preflect on her journey

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁-based agentic flows address one of the biggest barriers to enterprise AI adoption: 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹.

McKinsey's 2025 survey reveals:
• 88% of organizations use AI
• Only 39% report EBIT impact (most under 5%)
• 62% experiment with agents, but <10% scale them

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿.

After sharing how Intent-Driven Development (IDD) bridges UCD, DDD, BDD, and TDD (link in the comments 👇), all my conversations have revolved around:
"𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑡? 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑! 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑑𝑜 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦?"

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝟵𝟰% 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆! Most organizations are trapped with scattered wins, afraid of losing control, lacking a framework for gradual adoption with appropriate governance.

This is where 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁-based agentic flows can start to solve this with the addition of what I call 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀.

With risk dials, you set the control level at every human/agentic decision point:
🔴 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 = Human always reviews 
🟡 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 = Human spot-checks
🟢 𝗟𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 = Human monitors

The practical path, with example dates, looks like:
𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝟭-𝟯: Everything 🔴 - complete control, build evidence
𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝟰-𝟲: Move proven areas
	• Documentation, UI tests → 🟢
	• Standard features → 🟡
	• Security, payments, PII → Stay 🔴
𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝟳-𝟭𝟮: Mature state
	• 60% autonomous, 40% controlled
	• 3x faster, zero compromise on what matters
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳 🔴:
	• Strategic intent
	• Ethical decisions
	• Security & compliance
	• Production approval

These align with IDD's 5 core questions that I posted previously, where humans own strategic decisions, agents handle implementation.

The flow: UCD discovers → DDD models → IDD specifies + generates tests → BDD communicates → AI implements → Validation → Agentic testing → UCD validates → Deploy

Each step can have a risk dial that you control.


McKinsey found 6% of high performers pull ahead by treating AI as transformation and instituting human-in-the-loop governance. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁-based agentic flows can give you what those 6% have.

Start cautious 🔴
Build trust through measurement 🟡
Move gradually 🟢
Never surrender ethics, strategy, or accountability ❌

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟲% 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟵𝟰% 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀?

Full article + previous posts in comments. 👇👇👇

#IntentDrivenDevelopment #IDD #AgenticAI #EnterpriseArchitecture #AIGovernance #TechLeadership

Pop art illustration showing a businesswoman turning a control dial from manual to fully automated, representing intent-driven development, human-in-the-loop governance, and agentic AI workflow automation in an enterprise setting.

Fab opportunity to work with a fab team, doing cool stuff!!! What more can you ask for!?

Seasoned Technology leader with a passion for people, growing teams, and fostering great cultures.

Happy New Year All!

If you are feeling a little bit  "New Year, New Me", then I might have just the solution - I'm hiring!!!  If you are looking for something new and challenging in 2026, and are a skilled and experienced React Native app tech lead, full stack dev (.Net/React.js), or hybrid QA (manual/Playwright), then this could be exactly what you are looking for, as I am building out a small but perfectly formed Tiger team (https://lnkd.in/eXrU5j-j), based in our Manchester office.

This is an incredible time to join Network, with so much change already happening around our brand, products, UX, and technology stack.  The Tiger team will play an important role in delivering multiple initiatives, along with spearheading introduction of genuinely commercial AI products and solutions.  So if you have an entrepreneurial spirit and want to be part of something challenging, valuable and different, that genuinely makes a difference to our 3 million member's lives, then please get in touch.

Note that this is a flexible/hybrid role based in the Manchester office with an average of 2 days a week.  We believe in the power of problem solving via face to face collaboration, and want to speak to people who feel the same way as us.

NO RECRUITERS ATM PLEASE

If you would like to know more, please send me a message - full recruitment pack/job description available on request.  Also please share this with your network or tag someone you know in the comments below.

Thanks!

PS here's a gratuitous picture of me with my dog (which are welcome in our office btw), just to help those reposts! 😀 Simon

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