VP of Platform Architecture at Digital Turbine

Delivering software for most companies is necessary to compete in a very fast-moving competitive business landscape. There are a few exceptions, but typically, even those companies rely on software produced by someone else to function. As the digital revolution continues, technology and software become critical. As such, the quality of the software that powers these new technologies becomes increasingly vital. Consider AI-powered use cases like self-driving cars. Taking it even further, what happens when Generative AI begins to pilot aircraft? Oh, wait, this technology is already used in military drones. So, if you ever said, "It's software, not rocket science," soon, it may become a distinction without any real difference carrying the same consequences.

So, you see, the quality of this software and how it is delivered is more important than it has ever been. For those who believe that Generative AI will solve this problem for us, the use cases for AI-generated code are promising but a poor replacement for a talented software engineering team. However, I will concede that progress is being made with AI code-generation assistants that can help with efficiency. Nevertheless, today, it is still extremely important that the teams of humans building software today do so with a deeply ingrained sense of responsibility. Those with a deep sense of ownership and commitment to quality produce the best software. However, that can be sustained if the organization has a culture that supports it.

  ​Building a world-class engineering organization can only be done on purpose  

Many companies indeed run billion-dollar software businesses with poorly written code and full of security vulnerabilities. History has already proven that these challenges impact the ability to produce new products, advance innovation, and retain customers who rightfully expect the performance of the products and services they rely on. If you are a technology leader suffering from the quality of your engineering organization but need help getting better outcomes, start at the beginning. Remember your engineering roots and have your teams go back to the basics.

What are the basics? Code coverage, managing cyclomatic complexity, test-driven and behavioral-driven development, and making security a first-class citizen in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). All the things mentioned have clear metrics that will allow you to understand where your teams are currently and how to understand progress over time. A quick way to determine how well your organization is doing is the presence or absence of these metrics and whether they are tied to performance in a data-driven, transparent manner. If you need to begin transforming your technology organization, then the real question is how. With the need to grow revenue and satisfy investors and customers with new products, where exactly do you find the time or money to make such a transformation successful? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers, but there is hope. As a quick guide, consider the following:

Determine if the current technology leadership team has the skills to facilitate such a sweeping change. Did the current state happen under their leadership? If so, can they be educated and motivated to make the progress required?

Can they build a plan for the staff they lead and put in place the data and metrics required to measure change?

It would help if you had external talent to upskill your existing staff.

Hiring all the best talent is impossible because they are likely employed elsewhere. You have to build it; to do that, identify the rockstars you already have and supplement that with external temporary talent. 

Like everything, this will require a plan, and a change management team (a good one) is the key to success.

You have to make the time and the budget to see this transformation through despite the pressure to drive revenue. It will not be something that will bear fruit in three months. You can and should, however, see the evidence of improvement. 

In summary, quality software is the key to your organization's competitive edge and the fastest time to market. It will require a change in the culture of engineering to be sustained. Building a world-class engineering organization can only be done on purpose. It is why you hire the leadership at each level. Hold them accountable with data-driven metrics. You cannot just rely on a few superstars because, in the end, the organization should survive everyone who has ever worked there, including you.