I’m Matt, a lead software engineer and Scrum specialist based in Milton Keynes (~30 mins north of London). I started working in software in 2015, first across projects with large-scale manufacturing firms, then in cyber and security research, where I’d go on to lead projects for much of the next decade.
My plan, early on, was the Steve Wozniak path: deep technical specialism, always the person who knew the codebase best. By 2021, something had shifted. Most engineers I knew were moving deeper into their technical lane. I was moving sideways, and deliberately. The human side of software had started to interest me more than I’d expected. Not just collaboration, but understanding why teams struggle, how communication breaks down, and what actually makes projects succeed or fail. That pulled me toward Scrum and agile practice, and eventually into a Scrum Master role I’m still learning from.
This blog is about the tension that comes with that kind of shift: the pull between technical depth and soft skills, and how that ratio changes as a career evolves. I’m also watching closely how AI is reshaping that balance, and what it means for how we develop as engineers and leaders.
The other thread running through my writing comes from CodeYourFuture, a charity offering free technical training and career support to people from underrepresented backgrounds. I volunteer there as a career mentor and Product Owner on one of their internal products. It gives me a close-up view of the obstacles people face at the start of a tech career, and those early-career realities are worth keeping in view for those of us further along who mentor and manage.
I write candidly about what I’ve learned, what I’m still working out, and what I observe in the industry. If any of that sounds worth following, I’d be glad to have you along.