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Forbes
6 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
20 Hidden Benefits Of Composable Architecture In Enterprise Tech
Composable architecture structures systems using modular, interchangeable components, allowing organizations to adapt more quickly and deliver more tailored technology solutions. As the demand for agility, scalability and resilience grows, this approach is gaining traction across enterprise tech. Beyond the well-known benefits of flexibility and cost efficiency, composable architecture offers additional advantages that often go overlooked. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council highlight some of these lesser-known upsides, ranging from enhanced resilience and faster innovation to lower risk and improved team collaboration. 1. Decentralized Decision-Making Composable architecture boosts organizational agility via modular governance. It enables decentralized decision-making, empowering teams to innovate locally without disrupting the system. Policies can target specific components for streamlined compliance, and new talent can integrate seamlessly by focusing on individual components, avoiding the need for full system expertise. - Sadagopan S, HCLTech 2. Easy Maintainability One of the most overlooked benefits is easy maintainability, along with improved speed and innovation. Composable architecture allows responsibilities to be split across different teams. Once APIs are defined, each component can be implemented in different ways. Technical debt, evolution, innovation and even implementation changes can be managed independently, which adds significant value. - Gregorio Alejandro Patiño Zabala, Pragma Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify? 3. Enhanced Developer Experience Composable architecture's impact on talent retention is a significant, yet overlooked, benefit. By empowering smaller, autonomous teams to work on independent components, it enhances the developer experience and fosters a culture of ownership. This autonomy accelerates innovation and reduces frustration, making the organization a more attractive place for top engineering talent. - Miguel Llorca, Axazure 4. Quick Decommissioning Of Underperforming Modules Composable architecture lets teams retire or replace underperforming modules without a rewrite, slashing tech debt accrual. Quick decommissioning keeps the stack lean, cuts maintenance costs and frees budget and talent for new revenue-generating work. - Jon Latshaw, Advizex 5. Faster Experimentation One often-overlooked benefit of composable architecture is the ability to conduct faster experimentation. Teams can easily swap or update individual components without disrupting the whole system, enabling rapid testing of new ideas. This agility accelerates innovation and helps enterprises stay competitive in a constantly evolving tech landscape. - Paul Kovalenko, Langate Software 6. Empowerment Of Nontechnical Teams An often-overlooked benefit of composable architecture is its ability to empower nontechnical teams to innovate faster through low-code or no-code component reuse. This democratizes development, reduces IT bottlenecks and accelerates time to market. By decoupling services, enterprises enable agility across departments, fostering cross-functional collaboration and rapid experimentation. - Govinda Rao Banothu, Cognizant Technology Solutions 7. Selective Innovation One often-overlooked benefit of adopting composable architecture is business agility through selective innovation. Instead of overhauling entire systems, teams can upgrade or replace individual components (like payment, identity or analytics modules) without disrupting the whole stack. This modularity allows faster experimentation and faster time to market while reducing risk and technical debt. - Pallishree Panigrahi, Amazon Key 8. Rapid AI Integration A modular, composable architecture is key to AI-powered ERP transformation because it lets enterprises rapidly integrate, automate and optimize processes with AI agents—reducing manual effort, accelerating innovation and ensuring real-time adaptability across the entire ERP lifecycle. - Pankaj Goel, Opkey 9. Boosted Business Flexibility One often-overlooked benefit of composable architecture is how it boosts business flexibility, allowing teams to experiment with new ideas and innovate quickly through modular, adaptable systems. The impact lies in how this agility translates to quicker adaptation to changing market demands, customer preferences and operational needs. - Prasad Banala, Dollar General Corporation 10. Readiness For Rapid Strategic Pivots The most overlooked benefit in my opinion is organizational readiness for rapid strategic pivots. When your tech stack uses modular, API-connected components, you can swap entire business capabilities in weeks, not years. This agility transforms how fast you respond to market shifts, turning technology from a constraint into your competitive edge. - Faizan Mustafa, Aviatrix 11. More Independent Teams Composable architecture empowers teams to work independently by breaking systems into modular components like APIs and microservices. This autonomy accelerates delivery, reduces bottlenecks and boosts innovation. Enterprises use it to modernize platforms and improve agility—without overhauling entire systems. - Ranganath Taware, Capgemini America Inc. 12. 'Scope Creep' Becoming 'Scope Leap' Composable architecture's sneaky superpower? It turns 'scope creep' into 'scope leap.' By swapping monoliths for modularity, teams can safely experiment and scale ideas like LEGO bricks—without bringing the whole castle down. That freedom fosters innovation, not hesitation. It's like giving your devs a 'yes, and …' button. - Joel Frenette, 13. The Ability To Isolate Production Issues Having implemented composable architecture in the past, I've found that one overlooked benefit is its ability to isolate production issues to specific functionalities without impacting the entire system. This enables faster production issue triage and resolution, ultimately improving RTO and RPO for end users. - Sid Dixit, CopperPoint Insurance 14. Fast Innovation With Minimal Disruption Composable architecture provides the ability to future-proof business by enabling rapid integration of new technologies with minimal disruption. Because composable systems are modular and API-driven, enterprises can quickly adopt innovations, swap out outdated components, and scale up or down as needed without major downtime. This agility not only reduces operational risk, but also ensures the organization remains competitive. - Anusha Nerella, State Street Corporation 15. Faster Developer Onboarding One often-missed benefit of composable architecture is faster developer onboarding. Since systems are built in small, clear parts, new team members can quickly understand and work on just what's needed. This saves time, reduces errors and helps teams move faster without being stuck in complex old code. - Jay Krishnan, NAIB IT Consultancy Solutions WLL 16. Avoidance Of Vendor Lock-In Composable architecture helps enterprises avoid vendor lock-in by building modular, interchangeable systems. Businesses can swap out components as needed, adopt best-of-breed tools, lower costs and stay agile. This flexibility allows companies to adapt quickly to market changes while minimizing risk and long-term costs. - Dileep Rai, Hachette Book Group 17. Freedom To 'Fail Cheaply' Composable architecture lets you fail cheaply. When a component bombs, you swap it out without torching the whole stack. This makes teams braver about trying new tech. The real win isn't flexibility. It's the psychological safety to experiment without causing career-ending disasters. - Ishaan Agarwal, Square 18. Shorter Time To Value Composable architecture shortens time to value. You can pilot new tech, iterate product improvements and optimize features without overhauling the entire stack. This flexibility means faster proof of value, continuous delivery and reduced risk when swapping in better-fit tools or capabilities. - Karen Kim, Human Managed 19. Rapid Disaster Recovery Composable architecture enables rapid disaster recovery through modular component isolation. When one system fails, you can quickly swap or restore individual pieces without rebuilding the entire stack, minimizing downtime and data loss risk. - Chongwei Chen, DataNumen, Inc. 20. Reduced 'Cost Of Change' One often-overlooked benefit of composable architecture is its ability to reduce the 'cost of change'—enabling enterprises to adapt and innovate rapidly without the heavy overhead of modifying tightly coupled systems. This modularity streamlines updates, minimizes risk and frees resources for strategic growth, making IT a true driver of business agility and resilience. - Pradeep Kumar Muthukamatchi, Microsoft
Forbes
11-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
20 ‘Old Role/New Role' Transitions For An AI-Dominated Work World
As AI continues to reshape industries, many professionals are wondering what their current roles will look like in the years ahead—or if their roles will even exist. The emergence of generative AI, intelligent agents and automation is not only changing how we work, but also redefining what work means. As a result, familiar job titles are evolving into hybrid roles that combine human expertise with AI-powered capabilities. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council share examples of 'old role/new role' transitions that could take shape in the workplace of the future. With creative thinking and adaptability, professionals can forge new paths and thrive in a work world increasingly shaped by AI. 1. SEO Specialist/AIO Specialist AI is enabling teams to do more with less, but they are finding that existing roles are actually expanding. We will see a shift from SEO to AIO. With GenAI increasingly driving discovery and serving as the primary source for vendor shortlists, existing content marketers have to reevaluate their processes and tools. Focus on the augmentation and acceleration of existing roles and tasks right now. - Domenic Ravita, Plotly 2. Graphic Or Digital Designer/Story Architect In the AI-powered workplace, the designer becomes the story architect. We'll see a shift from marketers and designers spending time building presentations to refining narratives instead. Those who once acted as presentation designers or PowerPoint troubleshooters will become facilitators of strategic alignment. There will be less formatting and more framing; less deck-building and more decision-driving. - Jason Lapp, Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify? 3. Supply ChainRisk Analyst/Resilience Intelligence Strategist Today's supply chain risk analyst could evolve into a 'resilience intelligence strategist'—someone who trains AI models, interprets AI-driven insights and guides real-time risk management decisions across global supplier networks. While this role increasingly requires AI expertise, human oversight is a critical aspect of validating data quality and properly calculating risk. - Theodore Krantz Jr., 4. Clinical Insight Lead/Life Sciences AI Trainer And Researcher We are starting to see the shift already on the healthcare data side, where companies are using experts to start making their models better. Previously, clinical insights leads and analytic consultants were the ones who did complex analytics; now, their role is evolving into making use-case-specific prompts and reviewing outputs from LLMs as life sciences AI trainers and researchers. - Rohit Mishra, Komodo Health 5. Content Project Manager/AI Orchestrator One change happening is that the project manager is now the AI orchestrator for content production. As AI generates content at scale, this new role manages prompts, models and workflows, overseeing both AI and human creators. It's no longer about crafting one perfect video, but producing 50 smart, targeted variations fast—each optimized for different audiences, platforms or times of day. - William Li, FancyTech 6. Customer Service Agent/Conversational AI Trainer An old role to new role scenario would be a customer service agent becoming a conversational AI trainer. Instead of handling every inquiry directly, former agents will fine-tune AI agents—training them on tone, response quality and escalation logic to ensure consistent and empathetic customer experiences. - Giridhar Raj Singh Chowhan, Microsoft 7. Individual Contributor/AI Agent Portfolio Manager Today's individual contributors will become 'AI agent portfolio managers'—much like hedge fund managers directing capital, they'll orchestrate AI 'teams' to execute their vision. Engineers will each manage 10 AI agents that handle different tasks while focusing on strategy. Success won't require deep tech skills, but strategic thinking about deploying AI resources, making everyone a mini-CEO of their domain. - Krish Ramineni, 8. Dispatcher/AI Data Strategist Dispatchers are evolving into AI data strategists, training and validating routing models that once relied on manual input. Recruiters may shift into talent workflow designers, curating prompts and refining hiring algorithms. These transitions retain institutional knowledge while empowering teams to work alongside AI, not beneath it. - Gaurav Sharda, Beacon Mobility 9. Financial Analyst/AI-Augmented BI Strategist The transition from financial analyst to AI-augmented business intelligence strategist exemplifies tomorrow's workplace evolution. Instead of manually building spreadsheet models, these professionals will architect AI systems that continuously monitor markets and generate insights, shifting focus from data manipulation to strategic interpretation and decision-making. - Hrishikesh Joshi, Okta Inc. 10. Insurance Underwriter/Custom Insurance Solutions Creator Insurance underwriters used to spend weeks manually collecting data, reviewing claims histories and assessing risk across disparate datasets and dozens of manual hand-offs. AI has made it possible to streamline the grunt work involved in that process, freeing up underwriters to spend less time extracting data and more time assessing risk and creating custom solutions for customers. - Vivek Jetley, EXL 11. Data Analyst/Insights Curator In a tech-forward workplace, AI can process massive datasets in seconds, but human interpretation is still gold. The traditional data analyst role will evolve into that of an insights curator—someone who doesn't just run reports, but who also crafts stories from AI outputs, aligns findings with business context, and asks better questions to unlock competitive advantage. - Alexander Kwapis, FusionPKG, an Aptar Beauty Company 12. SOC Analyst/AI-Augmented Security Operations Specialist A traditional SOC analyst focused on manual alert triage could transition to an AI-augmented security operations specialist. Instead of sifting through raw alerts, they'd train, validate and tune AI models, shifting from reactive incident response to proactive, strategic oversight of automated defense systems. - Michael Roytman, Empirical Security 13. Program Manager/Delivery Process Engineer Program manager roles will evolve from manual bookkeeping and grindwork, maintaining and driving processes, to playing a significant role in shaping the delivery machinery. Program managers are well-positioned to uncover bottlenecks at the intersection of product management and engineering/delivery execution. A single PgM will be able to oversee larger, more complex programs in a more high-impact role. - Krishnan Narayan, Palo Alto Networks 14. Instructional Designer/AI Learning Architect As AI reshapes education, instructional designers will evolve into AI learning architects—curating data, shaping adaptive learning paths and ensuring systems align with human development. It's not just about content design anymore, but governing intelligent, equitable learning ecosystems. - Timothy Kang, Fayston Preparatory School 15. Report Writer/AI-Powered Business Analyst AI is transforming roles by enhancing, not replacing, human expertise. For example, report writers can evolve into AI-powered business analysts, leveraging advanced tools to uncover insights and craft recommendations. Similarly, factory operators may become scenario planners, using AI simulations to optimize processes. Core skills remain crucial, but AI amplifies impact and accelerates results. - Daniel Kearney, Firmus Technologies 16. Marketing Content Creator/AI Content Strategist From a marketing perspective, I imagine marketing content creators evolving into AI content strategists. Instead of just writing copy, they'll be skillfully guiding AI tools, ensuring that the unique brand voice shines through and optimizing content performance with their strategic insights. The benefit is that it will allow them to leverage multiple media, boosting ROI, open rates and conversions. - Charles Yeomans, Atombeam 17. Data Analyst/AI-Assisted Evidence Builder Data analysts will quickly become 'AI-assisted evidence builders.' Instead of manual processing, they will craft questions, ensure data quality and interpret AI insights within policy contexts. Because of these changes, human expertise becomes more valuable in the years ahead—humans will make judgments about which patterns matter and how findings influence decisions while AI handles the computational work. - Nick Hart, Data Foundation 18. System Architect/Intelligent Systems Designer System architects focus on connecting tools and data. As AI becomes part of the core stack, that role is shifting into an intelligent systems designer—someone who decides where automation fits, when to loop in people and how to keep systems accurate as they evolve. It's a move from building stable systems to building systems that can adapt on their own. - Jēnna Reese, Connect Centric 19. Business Analyst/Multiagent AI System Designer Business analysts who currently map workflows and gather requirements will transition into designing multiagent AI systems. They'll architect how AI agents collaborate, defining which agent handles customer inquiries, which processes invoices and how they hand off tasks. Their process-mapping skills become crucial for orchestrating intelligent automation across entire business ecosystems. - Vinod Bijlani, HPE 20. Software Developer/AI Code Overseer As AI becomes more prevalent, entry-level developers will likely evolve into AI code overseers. Instead of just writing code, these individuals will manage AI-driven development. They'll need to understand why AI writes code in certain ways, ensuring accuracy and security. Rather than focusing on execution, the role will transition into intelligent oversight. - Steve Carter, Nucleus Security
Forbes
11-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Top Mistakes To Avoid When Monetizing A Browser Extension
A browser extension or Web-based tool often begins as a team's passion project or a convenience feature. But when a company tries to quickly turn such a tool into a new revenue stream, it can backfire. Missteps like adding a paywall too soon or overlooking what users actually value can damage trust and tank growth. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council break down some of the most common mistakes companies make when attempting to monetize browser tools—and what to do instead. Their insights can help you build a product that delivers real value and earns user buy-in for the long haul. 1. Assuming Your Brand Name Or 'AI' Is Enough To Lure Users Many companies push users away because the tool hasn't proven its value yet. They also think that just adding their brand name or the word 'AI' will make people pay, but that's not enough. Instead, they should focus on solving real problems and making the tool helpful. Once people find it useful and keep coming back, it's easier to add paid features that offer extra value. - Vikas Mendhe, LaunchIT Corp 2. Monetizing In Ways That Contradict Users' Expectations Don't jump to monetization that contradicts why users adopted your tool. For instance, ad blockers that monetize by showing 'allowlisted' ads dilute the original value proposition. Instead, build revenue streams that enhance the experience. For instance, Grammarly started as a free spell checker and then offered premium features like writing suggestions, plagiarism checks and so on. - Rachana Mansinghka, Gusto Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify? 3. Treating The Browser Like A Vending Machine One mistake? They treat the browser like a vending machine—insert user, press button and out pops cash. Instead, treat it like a coffee shop. Create an experience people want to linger in, come back to and maybe even bring their friends to. Monetization follows loyalty, not the other way around. - Prashanthi Reddy, Wasl Group 4. Prioritizing New Features Over Real User Value One of the most prevalent errors I see businesses make in attempting to monetize a browser tool is emphasizing features over actual user value. It is easy to fill a tool full of shiny features, but unless you are solving a customer's real problem or fitting well into their process, adoption and retention will be poor. Monetization is successful only when users see regular, substantial benefits. - Harshit Jain, Doceree 5. Chasing Revenue Too Quickly We're seeing a shift in the venture capital world—monthly recurring revenue and annual recurring revenue are valued more highly than simple user growth metrics, so everyone's chasing revenue without taking time to experiment or gather user feedback on a product. People assume it will work, but it mostly doesn't. Many browser tools today are not worth what they charge. Companies should instead launch a free version, get user feedback, iterate, and then launch a premium offering. - Rahul Arulkumaran, Yuma 6. Failing To Focus First On Trust When trying to turn a browser tool into a revenue stream, some companies rush to monetize features without first building trust. A browser tool without strong identity controls, proper logging or a clear consent model bleeds value. Instead, treat digital trust as the end product and the browser tool as the means to get there. Tie features to verified identity, enforce privacy by design and monetize the confidence. - Dan Sorensen 7. Skipping Product-Market Fit Validation One common mistake is launching a browser tool before validating product-market fit and/or without adequate experimentation. Without real user demand, even the best monetization strategy will fall flat. Instead, teams should first test for engagement, retention and value delivery, then layer on monetization once there's clear evidence the tool solves a real user need. - Karthik Subramanian, Mozilla Corporation 8. Relying On Selling User Data Unfortunately, we have an infrastructure today that means most companies turn to a revenue stream that's based on the sale of data, where human behavior is treated as a commodity. It might bring short-term profits, but it's a mistake for us as a society to accept it. We need to reverse this trend and focus on creating value for people instead of exploiting the most private parts of their lives. - Jan Jonsson, Mullvad VPN AB 9. Charging For Previously Free Features Often, companies put a paywall on features users have already been using and expect to be free, alienating their existing base. Instead, add premium features that enhance the core experience, like advanced analytics, team collaboration or enterprise integrations. - Swati Tyagi 10. Trying To Monetize Before Building A Loyal User Base Attempting to monetize too early—before establishing a committed user base and demonstrating the tool's value to the community they have built—is one key mistake. It's crucial to first focus on engaging and retaining users. A strong foundation of loyal users not only enhances long-term monetization potential, but also drives organic growth through advocacy, feedback loops and co-creation. - Mohan Subrahmanya, Insight Enterprises 11. Ignoring Pricing Tiers And User Segmentation A frequent misstep is imposing uniform pricing, disregarding the nuanced needs of diverse user segments. This approach alienates both power users and casual adopters. In pricing, one size doesn't fit all. Implementing modular pricing with defined upgrade paths and usage thresholds optimizes user value delivery and enhances revenue capture across the spectrum. - Nitesh Sinha, Sacumen 12. Launching Internally Built Tools Without Preparing For Scaling A common mistake is assuming an internally developed browser tool is ready for commercial use. Without reworking the architecture for scale, adding error handling and load testing for volume, companies risk launching something that breaks under pressure or that is not prepared to handle real-world uses that fall outside of the initial use cases. - Josh Dunham, Reveel 13. Mistaking Convenience For Capability Many companies mistake convenience for capability, assuming a browser tool can scale into a product without rethinking security, UX or data integrity. Instead, they should design for resilience from day one. Build around real workflows, test for failure modes and layer in monetization only after proving consistent value and trust with users. - Jason Nathaniel Ader, Qryptonic, Inc. 14. Switching To A Paid Model Without Warning A common mistake is suddenly switching a free browser tool to a paid model without warning users, which leads to backlash and lost trust. Instead, companies should communicate changes early, offer a free tier (freemium) and focus on building trust and a strong user experience. - Ajit Sahu, Walmart 15. Prioritizing Revenue Over CX To build a sustainable revenue model and achieve long-term growth, companies must go beyond focusing solely on revenue. Instead, prioritize customer experience and cultivate a loyal customer base by offering a service that becomes essential to their lives. Neglecting these aspects for short-term monetization will ultimately limit future growth potential. - Abhi Shimpi 16. Overloading Tools With Ads Or Paywalls One common mistake is neglecting user experience by overloading the tool with intrusive ads or paywalls, which drives users away. Instead, companies should focus on understanding the audience and delivering value. Create a seamless, user-friendly experience that encourages engagement and builds trust before monetizing. - Lori Schafer, Digital Wave Technology 17. Monetizing Generic Features Instead Of What Users Truly Value Misaligned value anchoring is a common mistake. Companies err by monetizing generic features, not what users value (for example, seamless checkout), which can significantly cut retention. Instead, study usage to find the core value users love, then monetize premium add-ons such as analytics or integrations. This keeps users engaged with free essentials and hooked on essential functionality while driving upsell and cross-sell revenue. - Durga Krishnamoorthy, Cognizant Technology Solutions 18. Monetizing Before Solving A High-Stakes Problem The common mistake is trying to monetize a tool before proving it solves a high-stakes problem. Just because users log in doesn't mean they'll pay. Before adding pricing, clarify the economic buyer, the problem you're solving and how it impacts their bottom line. Otherwise, you're monetizing convenience, not value. - Chandler Barron, Barron Advisory™ 19. Gating Basic Features Too Early Gating features up front under the guise of personalization often impedes adoption. Basic features should be available for anyone to try and use freely with no signup. Almost every feature set should be set up for a freemium model, with monetization kicking in for increased consumption. Classic examples of this are Google and They allowed usage with no sign-ups; ChatGPT had to follow suit. - Bharath Balasubramanian, Salesforce 20. Monetizing An Interface Instead Of Utility A browser tool isn't a product, it's a behavior lens. A mistake is monetizing the interface, not the behavior it reveals. Instead, turn behavioral data into insight, insight into prediction and prediction into enterprise-grade utility. Revenue flows when you sell the foresight, not the form. - Roman Vinogradov, Improvado
Forbes
03-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Proven Ways To Foster Project Ownership Among Dev Teams
When developers take ownership of their work, they tend to be more productive, engaged and invested in a project's success. But fostering that sense of responsibility doesn't happen by accident—it takes intentional leadership and a culture that supports autonomy and accountability. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council share strategies they've used to successfully cultivate project ownership within their teams. Read on to learn how the right mix of clarity, autonomy and recognition can transform task-focused developers into truly empowered collaborators. 1. Give The Team Meaningful Autonomy The most effective way to nurture genuine project ownership in developers is by giving them meaningful autonomy right from the project's outset. Allowing team members to define and shape the solutions encourages accountability and inspires deeper personal investment. This approach leverages developers' intrinsic motivation, significantly improving project outcomes. - Serge Beck, Omniwire 2. Pair Engineers Up With Sales Or Customer Success Leads I've found that pairing engineers directly with sales or customer success leads on key features creates a strong sense of project ownership. At Ratio, this simple act turns a developer into a stakeholder. When they see how their work shapes the customer's experience or drives revenue, they start to think beyond code. It shifts the mindset from task execution to product impact. - Ashish Srimal, Ratio Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify? 3. Hire Team Members Who Can Anticipate Issues Hiring a high-level talent who is a proactive thinker, not just a task executor, instills a project ownership mindset. Beyond delegation, growth comes from team members who anticipate issues and take the initiative to solve them and seize opportunities. Autonomy accompanied by strategic communication fosters trust and accountability, essential for scaling quickly and efficiently. - Benjamin Claeys, QR TIGER 4. Share The 'Why' Developers feel ownership when product owners share the 'why.' Technical architects involve them early in tech decisions and actively invite their ideas. Engaging devs in frequent feedback boosts pride, trust and responsibility, transforming coders into empowered project stakeholders. - Matthew Cloutier, Sticky Strategy 5. Let Team Members Know You Have Their Backs In my experience, the idea of someone having my back no matter what has helped me build that mindset of ownership in a given situation. The same concept can be applied to dev team members. Everyone is working toward a collective goal with a shared responsibility to make any project a success. - Leena Waghmare, Gilead Sciences, Inc. 6. Allow Developers To Focus On Quality Through Deployment Using Agile development, test-driven development (TDD) and shift-left practices empowers developers to own features, test early and focus on quality through deployment. This builds pride in seeing their work live and sharpens accountability—if it breaks, they're on call. The result: better quality, stronger ownership and energized teams. - Sal Visca, Vertex Inc. 7. Encourage Team Members To Complete Project Management Professional Training Encourage all team members to complete foundational PMP training so they understand the full project lifecycle, key dependencies and stakeholder expectations. The education creates alignment across roles and fosters ownership by showing how their contributions impact delivery, risk and client outcomes. - Mike Hyzy, CGI 8. Align The Team With Business Outcomes One effective strategy is to align developers with business outcomes, not just tasks, and give them end-to-end responsibility for features, including user impact and metrics. This fosters accountability, deeper engagement and innovation, as team members see the real-world value of their work beyond code commits. - Hrushikesh Deshmukh, Fannie Mae 9. Allow Them To Make Key Technical Decisions Grant team members autonomy within clear, well-communicated constraints. When empowered to make key technical decisions, employees will often shift from task execution to outcome ownership. This builds intrinsic accountability, strengthens problem-solving and fosters pride in results—which can help drive sustained engagement, better collaboration and higher-quality deliverables. - Oka Kiyoshi 10. Let Them Weigh In On 'How,' Not Just 'What' We should empower our dev team members with significant autonomy and decision-making authority over 'how' a project should be built—not just 'what' needs to be built. This strategy is effective because it increases engagement, fosters accountability and leverages expertise. - Ambika Saklani Bhardwaj, Walmart Inc. 11. Pay A Small Bonus For Every Uncovered Bug Pay devs a small bonus for every bug they uncover in peer reviews. Fault-finding becomes a team sport, boosting code quality, pride and shared ownership. Further, it catches flaws early, saving sprint time and proving that quality is everyone's job. - Erick Grau, Chibitek 12. Assign Temporary Ownership Of Components Or Feature Areas One effective strategy is rotating tech stewardship by assigning each dev temporary ownership of a component or feature area. It empowers autonomy, encourages long-term thinking and builds cross-functional empathy. This works well because it balances accountability with trust, reinforcing that ownership isn't about titles, but about stewardship and care for outcomes. - Raghu Para, Ford Motor Company 13. Embed Developers In The Discovery Phase Embedding developers early in the product discovery phase while involving them in user research, design conversations and outcome mapping fosters a stronger sense of ownership. This strategy is particularly effective because it ties technical contributions to real-world impact, increasing engagement, accountability and intrinsic motivation to drive both product quality and business success. - Nicola Sfondrini, PWC 14. Let Developers Give Their Services Fun Names Let developers name their services with terrible puns. Nobody abandons a microservice called 'DataBased' or 'Cache Me Outside.' Pride in bad wordplay creates stronger ownership than any RACI matrix. The engineer who named it will defend it like their first pet. - Ishaan Agarwal, Square 15. Foster A Deeper Understanding Of Dependencies Giving developers knowledge-graph-driven visibility into system identities, access pathways and governance fosters a deeper understanding of dependencies. When developers see how their work affects security and operations, it drives accountability and ownership. This transparency also empowers better decision-making around secure design and risk mitigation. - Craig Davies, Gathid 16. Let Them Work Directly With Customers Involve devs directly in customer interactions—from discovery to proof of concept to demo. When engineers hear real needs, questions and feedback firsthand, they're more invested in outcomes, not just outputs. It builds accountability, empathy and a deeper sense of ownership across the build lifecycle. - Karen Kim, Human Managed 17. Give End-To-End Responsibility One highly effective strategy to instill a project ownership mindset among developers is to give engineers end-to-end responsibility, from design to deployment to post-launch monitoring. This strategy works particularly well because it aligns technical contributions with business outcomes. Developers begin to see how their work impacts users and performance metrics. - Pratik Badri, JPMorgan Chase & Co. 18. Shift The Focus From Outputs To Outcomes Shift the team's focus from measuring outputs (lines of code, for example) to measuring outcomes (business impact). This encourages developers to think like the end user by connecting their technical work directly to real-world results and user value. This strategy naturally fosters a sense of ownership and accountability for the project's overall success. - Kevin Cushnie, MC Systems 19. Build Ownership And Active Communication Into Your Culture There are two parts to this. Culture is one. Ownership needs to be built in as a standard in any organization. If you can't own a project, you don't belong. Second, there needs to be a lot of active communication. Make sure devs know they are heard and that their ideas and recommendations come before profits and deadlines. - Sabrin Freedman-Alexander, Cloudvoid 20. Rotate The Scrum Master Role I empower developers by rotating the Scrum Master role each sprint. They get to lead, present to stakeholders, make key decisions and own the outcomes. This fosters true accountability and leadership. It's remarkable when they feel that personal stake in the results—beyond just code, their work and dedication truly flourish. - Uttam Kumar, American Eagle Outfitters
Forbes
24-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How To Build Scalable, Reliable And Effective Internal Tech Systems
In many businesses, platform engineers serve two sets of customers: external clients and internal colleagues. When building tools for internal use, following the same user-centered design principles applied to customer-facing products isn't just good practice—it's a proven way to boost team efficiency, accelerate development and improve overall user satisfaction. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council share key design principles platform engineers should keep front and center whether they're building for clients or colleagues. From prioritizing real team needs to planning ahead for worst-case scenarios, these strategies can ensure internal systems are scalable, reliable and truly supportive of the teams they're built for. 1. Minimize User Friction The one core design principle platform engineers should keep front and center when building internal tools is minimizing user friction by streamlining the journey and improving cycle time. Additionally, internal tools should include clear feedback mechanisms to help users quickly identify and resolve issues, along with just-in-time guidance to support user education as needed. - Naman Raval 2. Build With External Use In Mind You should always consider the possibility that an internal tool may eventually end up being an external tool. With that in mind, you should try not to couple core logic to internal user information. - David Van Ronk, Bridgehead IT Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify? 3. Design With Empathy It's important to design with empathy. Internal tools should prioritize user experience for the engineers and teams who rely on them. Simple, intuitive interfaces and seamless workflows reduce friction, enhance productivity and encourage adoption—making the tool not just functional, but loved. - Luis Peralta, Parallel Plus, Inc. 4. Focus On Simplicity Ease of use and intuitive design must be front and center when building internal tools. Features that are overly nested or require significant learning time directly impact productivity. This inefficiency can be quantified in terms of human hours multiplied by the number of resources affected, potentially leading to substantial revenue loss, especially for larger organizations. - Hari Sonnenahalli, NTT Data Business Solutions 5. Adopt Domain-Driven Design And A 'Streaming Data First' Approach Platform engineers should prioritize domain-driven design to explore, access and share data seamlessly. As cloud diversification and real-time data pipelines become essential, embracing a 'streaming data first' approach is key. This shift enhances automation, reduces complexity and enables rapid, AI-driven insights across business domains. - Guillaume Aymé, 6. Build Scalable Tools With A Self-Service Model A self-service-based scaled service operating model is critical for the success of an internal tool. Often, engineers take internal stakeholders for granted, not realizing they are their customers—customers whose broader use of an internal tool will make or break their product. Alongside scalable design, it will be equally important to have an organizational change management strategy in place. - Abhi Shimpi 7. Prioritize Cognitive Leverage Platform engineers should prioritize cognitive leverage over just reducing cognitive load. Internal tools should simplify tasks, amplify engineers' thinking and accelerate decision-making by surfacing context, patterns and smart defaults. - Manav Kapoor, Amazon 8. Empower Developers With Low-Dependency Tools The platform engineering team should strive to minimize dependencies on themselves when designing any solutions. It's crucial to empower the development team to use these tools independently and efficiently. - Prasad Banala, Dollar General Corporation 9. Lead With API-Driven Development Platform engineers should prioritize API-driven development over jumping straight into UI when building internal tools. Starting with workflows and backend design helps map data, avoid duplicated requests and reduce long-term tech debt. Though slower up front, this approach creates scalable, reliable tools aligned with actual business processes, not just quick fixes for internal use. - Jae Lee, MBLM 10. Observe Real Workflows Platform engineers should design for the actual job to be done, not just stated feature requests. They should observe how teams work and build tools that streamline those critical paths. The best internal tools solve real workflow bottlenecks, not just surface-level asks from teammates. - Alessa Cross, Ventrilo AI 11. Favor Speed, Flexibility And Usability You have to design like you're building a food truck, not a fine-dining kitchen—fast, flexible and usable by anyone on the move. Internal tools should favor speed over ceremony, with intuitive defaults and minimal setup. If your engineers need a manual just to order fries (or deploy code), you've overdesigned the menu. - Joel Frenette, 12. Ensure Tools Are Clear, Simple And Well-Explained When building internal tools, platform engineers should focus on making them easy and smooth for developers to use. If tools are simple, clear and well-explained, developers can do their work faster and without confusion. This saves time, reduces mistakes and helps the whole team work better. - Jay Krishnan, NAIB IT Consultancy Solutions WLL 13. Embrace User-Centric Design Platform engineers should prioritize user-centric design. They must focus on the needs, workflows and pain points of internal users to create intuitive, efficient tools. This principle ensures adoption, reduces training time and boosts productivity, as tools align with real-world use cases, minimizing friction and maximizing value for developers and teams. - Lori Schafer, Digital Wave Technology 14. Prioritize Developer Experience Internal platforms must prioritize developer experience above all. The best tools feel invisible—engineers use them without friction because interfaces are intuitive, documentation is clear and workflows are streamlined. When developers spend more time fighting your platform than building with it, you've failed your mission. - Anuj Tyagi 15. Bake In Observability Platform engineers should treat internal tools as evolving ecosystems, not static products. A core design principle is observability by default—bake in usage analytics, error tracking and feedback hooks from day one. This ensures tools organically improve over time and are grounded in real-world behavior, not assumptions, creating systems that adapt as teams and needs evolve. - Pawan Anand, Ascendion 16. Leverage Progressive Abstraction Progressive abstraction lets internal platforms scale with developer maturity. Engineers can start with guided, low-friction 'golden paths' for beginners while enabling power users to customize, script or access APIs. This balance avoids tool sprawl, supports growth and keeps platforms inclusive, adaptive and relevant over time. - Anusha Nerella, State Street Corporation 17. Streamline Processes Through Predictable, Intuitive Interfaces Internal tools must streamline processes instead of creating additional obstacles. Focus on clear, intuitive interfaces; fast onboarding with minimal documentation; and solid default settings that include advanced options for experienced users. Build in observability and self-service support, and strive for consistent, predictable behavior. - Saket Chaudhari, TriNet Inc. 18. Design Easy Authentication And Authorization Systems There should be ease of authentication and authorization. When building internal tools, you shouldn't design in silos. You must consider how many clicks it takes for an analyst, mid-call with a client, to launch what they need for troubleshooting. Seamless access, least privilege and contextual authentication aren't just security features—they're reflections of good architecture and thoughtful design. - Santosh Ratna Deepika Addagalla, Trizetto Provider Solutions 19. Engineer For High-Stress, Critical Scenarios A word of advice is to engineer for the worst day, not the average day. Internal tools become critical lifelines during incidents, yet we often design them for sunny-weather scenarios. When a system is melting down at 3 a.m. and the on-call engineer is bleary-eyed, that's when your tool's UX truly matters. Simple interfaces with clear error messages become worth their weight in gold. - Ishaan Agarwal, Square 20. Ensure Users Don't Need Deep Platform Knowledge Design for self-service and extension. Internal tools should empower teams to solve problems without deep platform knowledge. Engineers should hide complexity behind sensible defaults and include clean abstractions that allow extensions and clear documentation. Platforms succeed when others can build confidently without needing to ask for help every time. - Abhishek Shivanna, Nubank
