Serverless Craic Ep72 Map Your Tech Stack | Evolutionary Architecture & The Value Flywheel Effect
Send us a textIn this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly explore Chapter 15 of The Value Flywheel Effect — Map Your Solution. They discuss how Wardley Mapping and tech stack mapping create situational awareness, reduce friction between teams, and guide better architectural decisions.If you’re a software engineer, architect, or tech leader aiming to evolve your systems with serverless and cloud-native thinking, this conversation shows practical techniques to uncover bottlenecks, reduce technical debt, and align teams on strategic improvements.⏱️ Chapters00:00 – Intro: jumping from summer to winter01:00 – Mapping your solution: why it matters02:20 – Tech stack mapping in practice03:50 – Situational awareness and collaboration05:50 – Funding priorities and bottlenecks07:20 – Cloud services, serverless options, and evolution paths09:30 – Custom build vs buy vs adopt cloud-native11:00 – Organisational insights from mapping12:00 – Duplication and domain-driven design issues13:00 – Team Topologies and independent service heuristic14:20 – Total cost of ownership and well-architected lens15:50 – Target architecture and business impact16:50 – Using mapping for strategy and incentives17:40 – Context switching and leadership effectiveness18:10 – Takeaways: evolutionary architecture🔗 Resources📖 The Value Flywheel Effect Book – https://thevalueflywheeleffect.com🎥 Wardley Mapping 101 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP9Rl26Xeag🎧 Podcast: Wardley Mapping is a Game-Changer – https://open.spotify.com/episode/5cUQgQFBeIkOBWUe35rDRUServerless Craic from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
Send us a textIn this episode, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly dive deep into The Value Flywheel Effect (Chapter 14) — discussing frictionless developer experience, sense checking, feedback culture, AI in software engineering, DevOps, platform engineering, and marginal gain.We explore how AI and LLMs are shaping engineering practices, the importance of psychological safety, continuous improvement, and why code is always a liability. If you’re interested in serverless, DevOps, or building resilient modern software teams, this conversation is packed with insights.Chapters00:00 – Introduction & Belfast heatwave 🌞00:18 – Revisiting *The Value Flywheel Effect* (Chapter 14)01:11 – Sense checking & psychological safety in teams02:37 – Leadership, listening, and feedback loops04:12 – RFCs, well-architected reviews & threat modelling05:14 – Trusting AI feedback vs human feedback07:59 – Documenting engineering standards for AI09:33 – Human in the loop & cadence of reviews11:42 – Traceability, accountability & marginal gains13:56 – Scaling teams & expanding the “full stack”14:29 – Infrastructure as code, DevOps origins & AI parallels17:13 – Deployment pipelines & frictionless production18:01 – Platform engineering & hardened building blocks19:40 – Code as liability & avoiding bloat20:20 – Well-architected standards & AI context21:32 – Shifting security left & automated governance22:33 – Isolation, zero trust & resilience23:18 – Platforms as standards & consolidation25:23 – Less code, better docs, and evolving patterns27:06 – Avoiding command & control in engineering culture28:22 – Empowerment, enabling environments & AI’s role28:50 – Developer experience & future of AI in softwareServerless Craic from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
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Serverless Craic Ep70 Frictionless Developer Experience in the Age of AI
Send us a textIn this episode Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly continue their deep dive tackling Chapter 14: The Frictionless Developer Experience.The crew explore whether the principles of engineering excellence, developer enablement, and team topologies still stand strong in a world increasingly powered by AI and agentic systems. From **managing cognitive load** to **code as a liability**, they unpack how AI changes (and doesn’t change) the fundamentals of building high-quality software.📌 Topics include:Does AI really make development frictionless?Maintaining engineering excellence in an AI-driven worldEnabling constraints and team autonomyRevisiting the four team types in *Team Topologies*The enduring importance of DORA metrics and stabilityWhy code is a liability—and how AI impacts thisThe rise of specifications, contracts, and stronger test practices⏱ Chapters00:00 – Intro & recent travels01:20 – Go To Service Bangalore & serverless momentum02:40 – Frictionless developer experience in an AI world04:50 – Cognitive load & enabling constraints06:20 – Engineering excellence: still relevant?08:10 – Three characteristics of great software creation10:25 – Principles, context, and best practices in the AI era12:40 – Goal-driven frameworks & outcome-based leadership14:00 – Challenging teams with the right questions15:35 – AI as an enabler for strong engineers17:20 – Democratising knowledge & rapid learning18:40 – Team Topologies in the AI landscape20:45 – Socio-technical changes & enabling teams22:15 – Will teams be smaller or just better?23:30 – Autonomy, mastery, and purpose25:05 – Engineers’ mastery in the age of AI26:00 – DORA metrics: throughput & stability28:00 – Code as a liability & maintainability concerns29:20 – Specifications, contracts, and test-driven approaches31:00 – Shared outcomes & embracing AI in delivery🔗 Resources & Links📚 Team Topologies: https://teamtopologies.com by Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais📖 Accelerate by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble & Gene Kim🌐 The Serverless Edge https://theserverlessedge.com)– Blog & resourcesServerless Craic from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
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Serverless Craic Ep69 Serverless myths debunked for modern cloud teams
Send us a textServerless myths debunked for modern cloud teams: In this episode, we dive into the second part of Chapter 13 The Serverless First Edge from The Value Flywheel Effect book. We explore common serverless myths, how relevant they still are in 2025, and what’s changed since the early days of serverless adoption.From cold starts and testing challenges to cloud lock-in and the rise of AI, we reflect on the evolution of the landscape — and the mindset shifts still needed across engineering and leadership teams.💥 Packed with practical insights and real-world experiences, this is a must-watch for anyone navigating modern cloud architecture, serverless patterns, or leading engineering teams in the age of AI.⏱ Chapters:00:00 - Intro & weather chat00:34 - Chapter 13 overview: "The Serverless First Age"01:17 - Cold start problems: Still a myth?05:11 - Serverless is hard to test? Solved with cloud-native testing09:34 - Observability: You can't see what's happening?12:48 - Serverless isn’t the next big thing? The AI distraction16:23 - Vendor lock-in fears & multi-cloud myths20:00 - “We’re different” & custom standards fallacy23:02 - Serverless is more expensive?25:26 - Engineers won’t do what I tell them26:23 - Engineers are disconnected from the business27:24 - “This worked last time, let’s use it again”28:02 - “We only work on the cool stuff”28:27 - Organisational myths: “We’re under capacity”29:54 - Security is blocking serverless?30:41 - Finance myths: OPEX model resistance30:54 - Sunk cost fallacy in cloud transformation31:37 - Outsourcing strategy to consultancies32:47 - Wrap-up & what’s still relevant🔗 Links & Mentions:The Value Flywheel Effect book ServerlessDays BelfastTalks by Jeremy Daly, Yan Cui , Adrian CockcroftBizTech Evolution by Ivan Krnić Serverless Craic from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
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Serverless Craic Ep68 The Serverless First Edge
Send us a textServerless First: Focus, Not FunctionalityIn this episode, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann and Michael O’Reilly dive into Chapter 13 of the Value Flywheel Effect—focusing on the concept of “Serverless First” and what it really means for engineering teams and product leaders today.🔍 Topics include:Why code is a liability and how to identify what to build—and more importantly, what not to.Embracing a frictionless developer experience to enable speed and innovation.The shift from legacy cloud to modern cloud and the pitfalls of lift-and-shift thinking.Understanding core vs. supporting domains through DDD and how that informs what to offload.The enduring value of good architecture*and how modern cloud constraints can be enabling.A powerful reminder that the point of serverless isn’t tech—it’s focus.🚀 Whether you're navigating cloud migration, modernising your stack, or wondering how to leverage AI without drowning in infrastructure, this conversation will help you elevate your thinking.Serverless Craic from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
Welcome to Serverless Craic from The Serverless Edge with Dave Anderson, Mark McCann and Mike O'Reilly. We want to share our tools and techniques so that you can use them to communicate your Technical Strategy with your C-Suite and business owners. We want to help you to build a serverless first organisation. We will show you how to use Wardley Mapping to gain situational awareness of where your cloud applications and business are. And then how to develop your technical capability in away that builds engineering standards to set your organisation up for sustainable success.Sounds like the tools and techniques that you need - then hit the subscribe!-ABOUT- Dave, Mark and Mike are senior technical architects/leaders passionate about driving technical strategy. They have led transformation journeys, technical excellence, cloud adoption and tech strategies in many industries.Active in various technologies including ML/AI, Public Cloud (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), Engineering, Product, Cyber and UX.
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