#system design
16 posts
The Repository Is All You Need
Tech startups don't need twenty platforms. The codebase is already the product — everything else is a file waiting to live beside it.
The Memory Illusion: AI Persistence Isn't Intelligence
AI memory systems solve storage, not memory. Retrieval precision and relevance judgment are both unsolved — and wrong context actively degrades quality.
First Principles Stopped at the Org Chart
Product decisions get first principles. Org structures get copy-pasted. Conway's Law guarantees the gap costs more than most leaders admit.
AI Doesn't Read Code. It Reads Patterns.
AI code generation works by pattern-matching, not reading intent. Why it fails in enterprise — and why pattern-first codebases feel like magic.
The Monorepo Is Your AI's Connective Tissue
The monorepo was always a bet on shared understanding. In the AI era, that bet pays exponentially — if you evolve what lives in the repo alongside the code.
Company Knowledge OS: Curation Over Accumulation
Most teams dump everything into a vector database and call it knowledge management. The ones that win curate instead — signal over noise.
The Age of the Personal OS
AI executes well, originates poorly. Personal operating systems are how structured expertise compounds into something a machine can act on, and scales to teams.
Designing for the Agent Era: A Paradigm Shift
Each paradigm shift in software has been architectural. AI agents are the next — but only if we design for them intentionally, not as browser overlays.
The Coming Divide: Cloud AI vs. On-Device Intelligence
Explore the emerging divide between cloud and on-device AI, where Google leads large-scale intelligence and Apple builds a private, local AI revolution.
From Models to Systems: Vertical Agentic AI
AI’s future lies in vertical agentic systems, multimodel pipelines that blend context, automation, and human expertise to amplify real business impact.
Signals: The Language of Search and Intelligence
AI should be a choreography of signals — models that interpret data, systems that share context, and architectures that inspire meaningful action.
Startup's Guide: Brownfield for Human & AI-Gen Code
Is rapid AI coding creating new legacy issues? Learn Brownfield development for startups to evolve all code—human or AI-written—effectively.
Why AI System Design Demands a New Engineering Mindset
AI engineering requires a shift from deterministic logic to data-driven inference. Explore the mindset and tools needed for modern AI development.
How Distributed Systems Manage Workloads
Learn how scheduling works in distributed systems, from priority queues to workload management, ensuring efficient task execution at scale.
Beyond One Model: How AGI Will Actually Work
True artificial general intelligence won’t be one model but a system of intelligent components. Learn why system design is the key to AGI.
System Design Principles for Long Term Success
Build scalable, maintainable systems with modularity, simplicity, and flexibility. Learn key design principles for resilient and future-proof architectures.