The Engineering Tax

The Engineering Tax

The Illusion of Speed: Why AI Is Making Teams Faster—but Not Better

We’re shipping more code than ever, yet delivery performance and quality remain flat. The real bottleneck hasn’t disappeared—it has moved.
READ THE LATEST
The Moment Process Starts Eating Your Day
As companies scale, governance expands and strategic capacity shrinks. Learn how process overload erodes engineering leadership effectiveness—and how to…
 • Alvaro Lorente
When You Realize Engineering Is Everyone’s Dependency
The structural coordination burden of modern engineering leadership
 • Alvaro Lorente
I Couldn’t Write While I Was Paying the Tax
A year of silence, scaling pressure, and why this newsletter is now called The Engineering Tax.
 • Alvaro Lorente
Are We Providing Feedback or Something Else?
Explore whether we're truly providing feedback when we claim to, or we are just sharing our own bias. Learn from definitions, prioritizing feelings and…
 • Alvaro Lorente
Transforming Systems Operations Teams into a Unified Platform Team
Discover how to revolutionize your organization's systems operations by transitioning from traditional, siloed teams to a unified platform team. This…
 • Alvaro Lorente
The Role of Transparency in Leadership
Discover why transparency is a cornerstone of effective leadership and how it contributes to a healthy chain of command. Learn how being open and honest…
 • Alvaro Lorente
Job Probation Period: A Two Way Street For Success
Discover how job probation periods benefit both employers and employees. Learn to maximize this evaluation time for mutual success and informed…
 • Alvaro Lorente
I Am Back!
My appreciation for still being here
 • Alvaro Lorente
Rethinking Technical Tasks: Define All Tasks As User Value
Discover how to eliminate the divide between technical and product tasks in your development team. Learn strategies for a unified approach to task…
 • Alvaro Lorente
The Engineering Tax
The Engineering Tax
Honest reflections on engineering leadership, scaling pain, AI reality, and the hidden costs of growth. For builders who care about leverage, not vanity metrics.
Recommendations
View all 6
Implementing
Implementing
Marco Moauro
Level up as a Tech Lead
Level up as a Tech Lead
Anemari Fiser
Data Gibberish
Data Gibberish
Yordan Ivanov
Engineering Strategy
Engineering Strategy
Aleix Morgadas
Tech Unfiltered
Tech Unfiltered
Jade Wilson

The Engineering Tax

Honest reflections on engineering leadership, scaling pain, AI reality, and the hidden costs of growth. For builders who care about leverage, not vanity metrics.
AboutArchiveRecommendationsSitemap
The Engineering Tax
© 2026 Alvaro Lorente · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture