Category: Organisational Design
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Team Topologies x EMLT
To provide more resources around the excellent conversation we had with Matthew Skelton on the Stream of Teams podcast in late 2024, we collaborated on an article summarising our chat, which was based on the final chapter of Effective Machine Learning Teams (EMLT). The article titled Team Topologies in action: Effective structures for Machine Learning…
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Waste not Programmable
Programmable 2025 Melbourne featured a fantastic program, heavy on practical data & AI in an apt reflection of the times. It was also a great chance to catch up with many in the Melbourne tech community. I presented my 7 Wastes of Data Production talk. In the spirit of continuous improvement, I made some minor…
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AI conversations for every role
We always envisaged Effective Machine Learning Teams (EMLT) speaking to multiple roles. Recently we’ve spoken to 4 distinct audiences about ML development, and you can listen in too. Whether you identify with: there’s a podcast* for you with popular presenters – see more below. Product We joined a Product Tank Melbourne event, along with Ana…
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Stream of Teams
It was great to chat with Matthew Skelton about the intersection of Team Topologies and AI/ML product delivery – watch the recording. This was the subject of the final chapter of Effective Machine Learning Teams, in which we used the Team Topologies model to explore effectiveness at the level of “between teams”. We covered a…
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Effective topologies for Data and ML teams
I presented this talk at the Melbourne Data Engineering meetup, on a wild and wet Friday night. Having your cake and eating it too – Effective topologies for Data and ML teams (slides) In the talk I explore how Team Topologies provides patterns for reconciling fast flow of value with (multiple) specialisations in data and…
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Hopsworks and multidisciplinary ML
I recently had a brief but fun chat with Hopsworks about the multidisciplinary nature of building machine learning products, as part of their 5-minute podcast series hosted by Rik Van Bruggen. See the transcript and video at 5-minute-interview-with-david-colls-nextdata. Rik and I talked about how David, Ada and I address this multidisciplinary perspective in our book…
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Effective ML Teams on Thoughtworks Tech Podcast
I recently recorded an episode of the Thoughtworks Technology Podcast with my Effective Machine Learning Teams co-authors Ada Leung and David Tan, hosted by Scott Shaw and Ken Mugrage. The episode is number 146 – Building at the intersection of machine learning and software engineering. It was great to chat about the book and share…
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EMLT Q&A
A fun Q&A with Thoughtworks on the drivers, key messages and writing process for Effective Machine Learning Teams (EMLT) with my fellow authors Ada and David. It’s neat to be featured alongside all the other many great books from Thoughtworks authors. Find the book, trial and purchase options at O’Reilly, and find yourself a nice…
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Dealing with data inventory
Data held by businesses is often described as an asset. This can be misleading or even incorrect. In any case, data managed inappropriately leaves value on the table, inflates cost, reduces responsiveness, and creates risk. Some data held by businesses would better be described as inventory. It might one day be a true asset, but…
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Effective Machine Learning Teams in print
My book Effective Machine Learning Teams is now in print! Building ML solutions requires multi-disciplinary collaboration. EMLT shows how to use design practices to identify the right products, how to apply good data science and software engineering practices to build products right, and how to structure ML teams and organisations so that they are right…