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A Review of The Different Philosophies of AI Coding Tools

AI-coding tools are taking a range of approaches to how they will assist us to write code. Let's do a stock take of the of the tools and how they differ so you can choose what's right for you.
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Recent posts

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Reclaiming Focus: Why SaaS Fatigue Is Fueling the Rise of AI Agents
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Has AI Finally Made Fred Brooks' Surgical Team a Reality?
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Paid Subscribers Only: When Budgets Are Tight – A Leader’s Guide to Amplifying Software Product Engineering Impact
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Is AI-assisted Coding About Augmenting or Replacing Devs And Does the Distinction Even Matter?
There's rhetoric I've heard a lot recently where well-meaning people seek to clarify that AI-assisted development is about augmentation not replacement…
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You Can't Assess AI-assisted Development Through Theory Or Tyre-kicking Alone
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A Review of The Different Philosophies of AI Coding Tools
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Great CTO - Dedicated to helping CTOs thrive.
Great CTO - Dedicated to helping CTOs thrive.
A resource for tech leaders: Be a more helpful leader by giving teams the context they need to do their best work: practical advice and proven practices for CTOs by an experienced CTO and CTO Coach.

Leadership

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Paid Subscribers Only: How executives can help achieve positive change and greater impact
Opportunities to improve effectiveness are endless, but it’s easy to deprioritise them—especially when growth through hiring seems simpler or change…
 • 
Daniel Walters
The Rapid Evolution of How We Interface with Models (And The Elephant Paths We Tread)
On Elephant Paths, AI-models and The Unfolding Mystery of How We Will Eventually Interface with Them.
 • 
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When the AI Behemoths Stumble, AI-Assisted Development Will Still March On
Even if the AI giants fall, AI-assisted development won’t—because the real shift is in how we build, not who powers it.
 • 
Daniel Walters
Should CTOs stop hiring and focus on AI?
I've had this question from several CEOs. In some cases they shrunk in last year's tough economy. In other cases they have new funding but are deciding…
 • 
Daniel Walters
Rethinking the Advice: When CTOs Should Stay “On the Tools” in the Age of AI-Assisted Development
What if the smartest move for today’s CTO isn’t stepping away from the code—but stepping back into it, strategically?
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Daniel Walters
3

Focus with goals (OKR etc.)

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A response to 'By what means? Management without objectives'
Readers may have noticed that I had been having a discussion with Martin Chesbrough about OKRs. You may have missed a long comment of mine on his blog…
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Multiple Points of Coherence can Help People be More Confident They are Aligned
In performance measurement and goal setting, the pattern of separating the goal from the evidence of progress has another benefit: testing and…
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'Are OKRs Management Malpractice?' Part 5: How practitioners and OKR experts recommend OKRs be practised is poorly understood outside those…
There's been an evolution of OKRs are recommended to be practiced over the last decade but this shift is more apparent within the OKR practitioner…
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2
'Are OKRs Management Malpractice?' Part 4: It strongly depends on what you hire OKRs for—management vs alignment.
OKRs appear to present a solution for two distinct needs of executives. One enables the empowerment of their teams, and the other is something much more…
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'Are OKRs Management Malpractice?' Part 3: The worst forms of OKRs may be the most popular.
The growth in OKR's popularity attracts the certification industrial complex and tool vendors keen to cash in on the interest. Bad managers reach for…
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Temperate AI - posts that cut past the hype through to practical application of AI

View all
Stop Pretending Your Code Is a Stradivarius
Most code isn’t crafted for the symphony—so why are you still carving it by hand?
 • 
Daniel Walters
Should CTOs stop hiring and focus on AI?
I've had this question from several CEOs. In some cases they shrunk in last year's tough economy. In other cases they have new funding but are deciding…
 • 
Daniel Walters
Rethinking the Advice: When CTOs Should Stay “On the Tools” in the Age of AI-Assisted Development
What if the smartest move for today’s CTO isn’t stepping away from the code—but stepping back into it, strategically?
 • 
Daniel Walters
3
Reclaiming Focus: Why SaaS Fatigue Is Fueling the Rise of AI Agents
Drowning in logins, scattered SaaS tools, and overpriced subscriptions? Here’s how AI agents are quietly dismantling the old software stack.
 • 
Daniel Walters
1
Has AI Finally Made Fred Brooks' Surgical Team a Reality?
What if one developer could outperform a team—not by working harder, but by working with AI as their surgical support crew?
 • 
Daniel Walters

communication

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Language Matters: Terminology in tech and its influence on behaviour
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How a CTO can Reduce Friction Amongst Teams
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Alternatives to Software Estimation: First, know what problem you are trying to solve.
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Getting Support for Technical Improvement
The CTO is responsible for making the right technical investments, but this isn't easy. Engaging the right level of support for investment requires…
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Instinctual time-saving wastes the most time.
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Strategic pillars are a goal-setting antipattern
A shortcut organisations use to show why it is doing something is to categorise work under 'pillars' with a supposed relationship to a positive outcome…
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How different forms of jargon can alienate
Do you find it hard to get support for significant technical investments? In my ongoing series of posts on communicating in ways that reach your…
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