For years I managed marine construction projects. Now I build software for the same kind of work, and I still think like someone who has to answer for what gets delivered.
An unusual path to software
Most software people came up through computer science. I came up through civil engineering, then years of project management on marine infrastructure, and only then computer science.
Each step left me with something. Engineering taught me to respect constraints. Project management taught me how to deliver when a dozen people and a deadline are involved. Computer science gave me the tools to build the fixes I used to only complain about.
The Background
I started in civil engineering, building real things in rough marine conditions. As a project manager I handled the budgets, the negotiations, and the parts nobody warns you about, like planning concrete pours around tide charts and weather windows.
What stuck with me was how much time got wasted. Data lived in ten different places, decisions got made on last week's numbers, and good engineers spent their afternoons copy-pasting between spreadsheets.
The Pivot
It became obvious the biggest improvements wouldn't come from better materials. They'd come from better information. So I went back to school for computer science to build the tools I kept wishing I had.
That's what I do now. I can sit in a site meeting and a code review on the same day, and I build software that takes the domain seriously instead of treating it as an afterthought, using AI to kill the busywork rather than to look impressive.
What I care about
A few things I've come to believe after building in two very different worlds.
Software is for people
Every tool gets used by a real person having a real day. I build for them, not for the demo.
Plain beats clever
A simple thing that works beats a clever thing nobody understands. I reach for the boring solution first.
I own the outcome
Shipping a feature isn't the point. I care whether it actually made someone's job easier.
Start small, learn fast
I'd rather put a rough version in front of someone this week than a perfect one next quarter.
Cut what you can
Most of building well is deciding what not to build. I try to do less, better.
It has to hold up
I came from work where failure had consequences. I don't ship things I wouldn't trust.
Curious what I'm thinking about lately?
See my writing and videos