Time: 1:00 PM
Room: ASC C
From Technical Debt to Product Investment: A Playbook for Sustainable Software Development
Engineering teams often face challenges balancing feature delivery with the technical investments required to maintain system quality. Left unchecked, technical debt can lead to skyrocketing costs, eroded trust between product and engineering teams, and the fear of introducing critical changes. But what if technical debt could be reframed as a strategic, value-centered investment?
This session provides actionable insights and tools to transform how technical staff approach technical debt. Attendees will learn practical strategies to identify the conditions that allow debt to accumulate, prioritize technical improvements, and foster collaboration between engineers and product managers.
Key Takeaways:
- Understand the root causes and adverse outcomes of unchecked technical debt.
- Negotiation techniques for working with product and business partners to align technical investments with customer benefits.
- Manage a hybrid backlog of features and technical tasks effectively.
- Core technical practices to improve developer experience and sustain delivery quality.
David Laribee
CEO & Cofounder
Nerd/Noir
David Laribee is a change strategist, international speaker, award-winning developer, and co-founder of Nerd/Noir. Over the last 25+ years, he’s helped product development teams and organizations unlock their full creative and productive potential, working across a wide variety of industries. David was an early practitioner and pioneer in several key evolutions in software development, including Domain-Driven Design, immersive learning, product discovery & agility, lean & kanban, and engineering craft.