Microsoft on Naorose (نوروز)

The Nebulous Nature of Software Engineering in an ML/AI Organisation

Mon, 21 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

neb·u·lous /ˈnebjʊləs/ adj.: Hazy, indistinct, lacking clear definition; still taking shape. An apt word for software engineering within machine learning: a discipline inventing its own practices in real time, where the right processes may not yet have names.

Update (2026): Since this piece was written, Cord has rebranded to Encord and grown into one of the more closely watched AI-infrastructure startups out of London. In February 2026 it raised a $60M Series C led by Wellington Management, taking its total funding to roughly $110M at a reported $550M valuation. The interview below reflects the company as it was in its earlier, scrappier days.

The Org Chart Is the Codebase

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Con·way’s Law /ˈkɒn.weɪz lɔː/ n.: Any organisation that designs a system will produce a design whose structure mirrors its own communication structure. — Melvin Conway, 1968

Update (2026): Since this article was written, Monzo has grown to serve over 10 million customers in the UK and achieved its first full year of profitability in 2023. SwiftKey was rebranded as Microsoft SwiftKey in 2023.

Abstract

Organisational structure is strongly tied to how a company scales. However, there is no ‘one size fits all’; the structure may need to evolve with the company as it grows in order to remain effective.

Symbiosis of Code Quality and Iteration

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

sym·bi·o·sis /ˌsɪmbiˈəʊsɪs/ noun: A mutually sustaining relationship between two unlike things. Neglect one, and the other quietly collapses too.

Code quality and rate of iteration are often thought of as conflicting principles. Intuitively, you might expect that spending a lot of time improving code quality slows down the rate of iteration and vice-versa. In this article, I spoke with an engineer at a growing startup to understand how they tackle this conflict, and compared their approach to companies of different sizes in an attempt to discover the role each plays in driving success.