Jobs For Our Next Generation, Thanks To AI
AI infrastructure will not only need models and code. It could help Britain train a new generation of electricians, engineers and technicians for the physical economy.
Writing archive
Writing - Page 4
Older essays on agentic systems, governance, operations, incentives, and the work of making AI useful in real organisations.
280 pieces
Essays and notes
Published archive
Page 4 of 12
How Many Jobs Does A Data Centre Actually Create?
The permanent workforce is smaller than the headline, but a sustained data-centre build programme could help rebuild Britain's electrical and engineering skills base.
Not Everybody In Your Community Is Going To Be Your Cup Of Tea
A real community is not a room full of people who always agree with you. It is learning how to disagree, set boundaries, repair relationships and know when behaviour has crossed the line.
People Aren't Always Being Rude. They're Being Polite In Their Own Way.
Demanding leaders are paid to decide, challenge and move quickly. The difficult part is learning when directness is cultural, when silence means exit, and when behaviour has genuinely crossed the line.
The Coworker Is Here. The Employee Is Next.
Codex Voice already feels like a coworker. Long-running agents are beginning to feel like employees. What changes when we can brief them, leave them working and return to evidence?
What Is AGI? The Point Where AI Stops Being Just A Tool
There is no agreed AGI finish line. Here are the competing definitions, the public evidence and the five-part test that matters for organisations.
The Deployment That Didn't Happen
Preventing an unearned production release was a safety success. Failing to reach the smallest useful outcome was still a delivery failure. This is what the first Orchistra rollout taught me, and why the rebuild starts with Orchistra Zero.
Will We Be Getting Skill Patents?
The new portable skills and plugin moment makes professional know-how easier to package, share and copy. What can a licence, a hash and a common format actually protect?
What Does AI Cost This Month? August 2026
Pricing Watch 2: an August 2026 UK view of direct AI API prices, separating Anthropic Haiku's provider-price change from small GBP exchange-rate movement.
The Research Says. Which Research?
A citation is the start of a conversation, not the end of one. Here is the evidence trail that should sit behind the phrase: research says.
Give Every Codex Thread Its Own Voice
The working agent and the agent I talk to are not always the same job. Give every Codex thread its own persistent voice, project context and bounded technical lead.
Your AI Harness Should Teach While It Works
Long-running agents need supervision. The same narration that keeps them on course could turn every task into a lesson.
Your Data Will Never Be Perfect. Start AI Anyway.
Do not postpone AI until every system is clean. Use bounded, valuable data now, verify the work, and improve the wider data estate in parallel.
Stop Using Your Smartest AI For Everything
We have never had to choose an employee by intelligence setting. AI changes that. The practical rule is to use the smallest model and reasoning level that can reliably finish the work, then escalate on evidence.
OpenAI Just Made Frontier Models Easier For European Companies To Approve
Zero Data Retention removes a major practical objection to frontier AI. It does not make GDPR, permissions or company governance somebody else's problem.
The Future Is Either ERP Or AI
Companies need one coherent view of the work. They can get it by consolidating into ERP or by letting an authorised agentic layer orchestrate their existing systems.
What Does Electricity Really Cost In The UK?
Onshore wind and large solar really are cheap sources of bulk electricity. France shows existing nuclear can be competitive too. The hard part is comparing different services and whole-system costs honestly.
Why UK Energy Bills Are Still Higher Than Before The Crisis
The gas shock explains the surge in UK household energy bills. Britain now has unusually expensive household electricity but comparatively cheap gas, and the difference sits across fuel exposure, infrastructure, market design and how costs are recovered.
The Eclipse Made Me Realise We Don't Need To Be The Smartest
We may not remain the smartest things on the planet. We can still have an incredible life.
Codex On Linux Changes The Mac Mini Equation
The Linux desktop preview gives Codex users a cheaper route to dedicated agent machines, but price is only the first line of the specification.
How Do We Get Our Teams To Use AI?
AI adoption starts with one safe tool, protected time, bounded access and domain experts learning alongside technical people.
The AI Harness Is Becoming The Operating System
Codex and Claude are moving beyond chat and becoming operating layers for work. The kernel remains underneath, but the surface people actually use may be about to change.
The Hackers Are Already Using AI. Your Developers Should Be Too.
AI does not make software secure by magic. It amplifies the engineering system around it, which is why trained developers and disciplined security loops matter more.
Let's Have Competence In The Loop, Not Just Humans
A human in the loop is not automatically a safety control. Meaningful oversight requires task-specific competence, information, capacity, authority and accountability.