My name is Richard Bown. I’ve worked in the software industry since the mid 90s. I’ve seen the boom and bust of telecoms, the dotcom bubble, Y2K, the iPhone revolution, Internet of Things, Big Data and now, of course, the spectre of AI, come to take all our jobs. However, I firmly believe that generative AI is just a distraction.
Software is rife with contradictions. It aims to make our lives easier, but often makes it more complicated.
It turns out that how we build software is no different.
There are roles that shouldn’t exist, people who do things that they shouldn’t, executives who make regular missteps, and a workforce that often holds all the power but just doesn’t realise it.
Having worked in the industry for thirty years, inspired by books such as ‘The Goal’ and ‘The Phoenix Project’, I wanted to shed light on the industry from a human perspective. Human Software is inspired by what I’ve observed while working for dozens of global companies in the UK, the Netherlands, and beyond.
As a writer and engineer, I’ve contributed to the world of Open-Source Software since the late-’90s. I’ve also worked as a technology journalist and continue contributing to the discussion about how we build more humane software engineering organisations. I have some thoughts on my blog. I’m also active over on LinkedIn. I also post on BlueSky and Mastodon.
Human Software is my debut novel and is coming out in September 2025.
You can contact me here.