The article analyzes the financial realities of software engineering teams, revealing that most organizations lack visibility into the true costs and economic value generated by their teams, leading to inefficient decision-making. It highlights how two decades of cheap capital masked these inefficiencies, resulting in large engineering groups seen as assets despite growing maintenance burdens and coordination overhead, a problem now exacerbated by AI advancements that drastically reduce development time. The piece argues that companies gaining competitive advantage will be those that rigorously measure and align engineering efforts with clear financial returns, adapting to an environment where understanding team economics is crucial.
https://www.viktorcessan.com/the-economics-of-software-teams/