Conway's Law
October 18, 2026
- Products end up shaped like the teams that build them
- Where talking is easy, parts fit together well and change fast
- Where talking is hard, the seams show and change is slow
- It's not a choice, it happens on its own
- So you can flip it. Shape the teams the way you want the product to look
- Reorg the teams and the product drifts to match
- Parts that should fit tight go on the same team, parts that should stay apart go on separate teams
- Same goes for AI agents
- Keep the change inside a boundary you can test, and what the agent touches stays clear
- Go too wide at once and it falls apart, for people and agents alike
- Wide changes still work, just one small area at a time