In my previous article in the Engineering Leadership Playbook, I wrote about engineering budgets in the AI era. The central idea was simple: Don’t optimize engineering for lower cost. Optimize it for greater human leverage. AI should not simply become a reason to ask, “How many engineers can we reduce?”, rather we ask: “How can we make every engineer more capable?” That naturally leads to the next question: Where do we create that leverage?

Every year, engineering leaders sit around conference tables with finance partners discussing one question: “How should we optimize the engineering budget?” Unfortunately, “optimize” often becomes synonymous with “reduce.” Can we reduce headcount? Can AI replace developers? Can we outsource more work? Can we delay hiring? Can we spend less on learning? These questions may improve the next quarterly financial report, but rarely do they build better engineering organizations. As part of Engineering Leadership Playbook (ELP) I share this article on engineering budget planning.

Over the last two decades, I have had the privilege of working across software development, consulting, architecture, product engineering, IoT, XR, AI, web3, metaverse, embedded systems, and enterprise modernization. During this journey, I have worked with small incubator team of a few engineers, or enterprise projects with 100s of engineers, consulting organizations, product companies, and engineering teams spread across multiple countries. One observation has remained remarkably consistent. Organizations rarely struggle because of technology.

Thoughtworks has always amazed me—whether it’s the pioneering work we do in the industry or the contributions we make to software engineering practices. What truly inspires me is our people-centered approach. Recently, I was honored by our market leadership, who put me in the spotlight to share my journey with fellow Thoughtworkers. While I’ve learned a great deal from my colleagues, I took this opportunity to share my own experiences in the hope of inspiring others.

On July 5, 2004, I embarked on my professional journey. These past 20 years have been nothing short of adventurous and fulfilling. “Learning is a natural process, and it matures by sharing” I’ve had a wealth of learnings throughout these two decades, as I worked on over 50 projects spanning various domains and technologies. I’ve had the privilege of directly working with over a thousand individuals from diverse backgrounds across different organizations.

I’ve reached a milestone: 100 articles and 50 events at thinkuldeep.com. This experience has improved my writing, boosted my confidence, and fueled my passion for self-expression. I’m thankful to readers, authors, speakers, and mentors who inspired me. I want to share common obstacles I overcame, hoping to inspire others on their creative journeys. 1. I am not a great writer/speaker, I can’t express well Blocker#1 is doubting our abilities, it is natural when we haven’t explored our potential.

Communication is a puzzle - will others understand us as we hope? What’s the secret to effective communication? In this article, I share my top five lessons from books, personal exploration, and experts in the field. I’m still learning this art, and it’s ever-evolving. I’ve read couple books and followed communication pros, they shed light on how crucial communication is, especially in our modern ways of working. But it’s clear even they’re always learning.

“Change is the only constant, it doesn’t matter whether we like it or not, it takes place”- shared and reflected in my change stories. Over the years, I have been following my theory of change Accept-Observe-Absorb. It helped me to traverse through the change year 2020, and understand the role of “Will” and how to cultivate it. I shared how just one change “working from my native home” brought so many other changes in lifestyle and behavior.

Sep 2020, a year ago, I was excited for getting nominated for an year long Global Leadership Development Program at Thoughtworks. At the same time was little confused on what we are going to do in this program for that long. I must say it was so well executed, despite the challenges of Covid#19, where we all(participants, speakers, coaches and other enablers) are globally distributed working from their home. Expectations were set, virtual meetings were set with options to attend at per individual comfort.