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Practical thinking, rooted in the work we do.

Research-backed writing on operational software, AI governance, platform modernisation, and security. Grounded in real engagements and the evidence behind them, not the hype cycle.

  • Operations
  • AI Governance
  • Modernisation
  • Security

Recommended reading

Operations

Off the spreadsheet: turning manual operations into software

Spreadsheets and group chats scale a business further than most owners expect, then quietly become the constraint. Here is how to tell when you have crossed that line, and what to build first.

June 18, 2026 · 6 min read

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Where our thinking is grounded.

Operations

3 articles

Latest: Off the spreadsheet: turning manual operations into software

Read the latest

AI Governance

3 articles

Latest: Approval-gated AI: automation you can actually audit

Read the latest

Modernisation

3 articles

Latest: Modernising without the big-bang rewrite

Read the latest

Security

3 articles

Latest: Getting ahead of post-quantum: what to inventory now

Read the latest

Latest analysis

AI Governance

Approval-gated AI: automation you can actually audit

The organisations getting value from AI are not the ones with the flashiest demos. They are the ones that treat automation like any other privileged actor: scoped, logged, and gated by a human where it matters.

Girder GroupMay 27, 2026 · 7 min read

Modernisation

Modernising without the big-bang rewrite

The full rewrite is the most expensive and riskiest way to modernise a platform, and usually the least necessary. A staged approach delivers value earlier and lets you stop when the returns flatten.

Girder GroupMay 6, 2026 · 6 min read

Security

Getting ahead of post-quantum: what to inventory now

Post-quantum cryptography is no longer a research topic. With the first standards finalised, the near-term work for most organisations is not migration. It is knowing where cryptography lives in your systems.

Girder GroupApril 15, 2026 · 7 min read

Operations

The real cost of context switching in operations

Every interruption has a tail. Research on knowledge work puts a number on how long it takes to get back on task, and it explains why fragmented operations feel slower than the org chart says they should.

Girder GroupMarch 25, 2026 · 5 min read

Operations

Knowledge work is mostly searching for information

Before automating a workflow, it helps to know where the hours actually go. Studies of knowledge work consistently find that much of the week is spent looking for information rather than acting on it.

Girder GroupMarch 4, 2026 · 5 min read

Modernisation

Why big software projects overrun, and how to avoid it

Large IT projects do not just run late on average; a meaningful share run catastrophically over. The distribution of outcomes is the strongest argument there is for delivering in small, shippable stages.

Girder GroupFebruary 12, 2026 · 6 min read

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All insights

12 articles

Operations

Off the spreadsheet: turning manual operations into software

Spreadsheets and group chats scale a business further than most owners expect, then quietly become the constraint. Here is how to tell when you have crossed that line, and what to build first.

Girder GroupJune 18, 2026 · 6 min read

AI Governance

Approval-gated AI: automation you can actually audit

The organisations getting value from AI are not the ones with the flashiest demos. They are the ones that treat automation like any other privileged actor: scoped, logged, and gated by a human where it matters.

Girder GroupMay 27, 2026 · 7 min read

Modernisation

Modernising without the big-bang rewrite

The full rewrite is the most expensive and riskiest way to modernise a platform, and usually the least necessary. A staged approach delivers value earlier and lets you stop when the returns flatten.

Girder GroupMay 6, 2026 · 6 min read

Security

Getting ahead of post-quantum: what to inventory now

Post-quantum cryptography is no longer a research topic. With the first standards finalised, the near-term work for most organisations is not migration. It is knowing where cryptography lives in your systems.

Girder GroupApril 15, 2026 · 7 min read

Operations

The real cost of context switching in operations

Every interruption has a tail. Research on knowledge work puts a number on how long it takes to get back on task, and it explains why fragmented operations feel slower than the org chart says they should.

Girder GroupMarch 25, 2026 · 5 min read

Operations

Knowledge work is mostly searching for information

Before automating a workflow, it helps to know where the hours actually go. Studies of knowledge work consistently find that much of the week is spent looking for information rather than acting on it.

Girder GroupMarch 4, 2026 · 5 min read

Modernisation

Why big software projects overrun, and how to avoid it

Large IT projects do not just run late on average; a meaningful share run catastrophically over. The distribution of outcomes is the strongest argument there is for delivering in small, shippable stages.

Girder GroupFebruary 12, 2026 · 6 min read

Modernisation

Technical debt is a measurable drag, not a metaphor

The phrase invites hand-waving, but the cost of technical debt shows up in hard numbers: the share of engineering time it consumes and the delivery performance it erodes.

Girder GroupJanuary 28, 2026 · 6 min read

AI Governance

Automation bias: when a human in the loop is not enough

Adding human oversight to an automated system is the standard safeguard. Decades of human-factors research show why oversight only works when it is designed for, and why a rubber-stamp reviewer is worse than none.

Girder GroupJanuary 14, 2026 · 6 min read

AI Governance

Human oversight and the accountability gap in AI

Regulators and standards bodies have converged on a common requirement: AI used for consequential decisions needs meaningful human oversight and a record of how decisions were made. Here is what that means in practice.

Girder GroupDecember 3, 2025 · 6 min read

Security

The economics of fixing defects early

The cost of a software defect rises the later it is caught. That single relationship is the economic case behind 'shift left', and behind designing quality in rather than testing it in.

Girder GroupNovember 12, 2025 · 5 min read

Security

What breach data says about response time

The annual breach-cost studies contain a consistent, actionable signal: the longer a breach goes undetected and uncontained, the more it costs. Detection and response are not only security concerns; they are financial ones.

Girder GroupOctober 22, 2025 · 5 min read

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