Search platform architecture
Product engineering for travel search, where search speed and customer experience both show up in commercial results.
Product and Technology Director
VillarDavid
Twenty-five years building software, and the businesses that have to sell it.
Now: putting applied AI into production workflows for the businesses I run and advise.
About
Software Engineer turned “Business Engineer”
My career started in software engineering. Over twenty-five years I have also taken on product, commercial strategy, team design and the day-to-day operations of the businesses I help run.
Today I work with founders and leadership teams whose technology needs to show a commercial return. Together we agree where the business is heading, set specific outcomes and choose what to work on first. We track a short list of measures so the team sees problems early and can change course.
Industries
Technology leadership across software architecture and operations.
SEO content publishing platform
A publishing platform that organises property content into SEO topic silos. The team uses it to create, publish and extend each topic structure.
Operational inventory systems
Inventory software designed around the organisation's existing processes and the staff who use it every day.
Technology leadership through scale
Technical leadership for a distributed home services business as it grew, covering architecture, team design and commercial priorities.
Building across four ventures
Co-founder, director and consultant roles across digital agency work, applied AI and offshore staffing.
Big ideas and proven results.
Four separate businesses, with a different role for me in each.
Each organisation has its own structure, services and responsibilities.CASPRCo-founder
A digital agency covering strategy, creative and technology, using AI on client projects where it saves time or improves the result.
Whitetower DigitalDirectorTechnical strategy, software delivery and day-to-day digital operations for client businesses.
Staff Connect AustraliaDirectorHuman-centred outsourcing and offshore capability for Australian businesses.
Sentrico AIAI consultantApplied AI strategy and technical advice, covering production deployment and team training.
Writing
Genuine innovation, without the posturing.
Long-form articles sit alongside informal blog posts, videos and shorts.
Recovering an automated workflow after a partial failure
If an automated workflow stops halfway through, some of what it did may already be sitting in other systems. Before you restart it, work out what actually finished and which steps are safe to run again.
Budgeting and governing an AI workflow after the prototype
When I budget an AI workflow I start with what the whole thing costs to run: review, support, failed runs and keeping the source data usable. The model call might be cheap, but it sits inside a process somebody has to own once the prototype gets approved.
Managing review when coding agents outpace it
Coding agents can now turn out changes faster than people can properly look at them. This is how I'd work back from that point through the task, the agent's working space and the merge rules so review still means something.
Designing an auditable AI capability assessment
If you let an AI run the conversation in an assessment, I'd keep it well away from the score. Here's how I'd set up the rules, fixtures and audit record so a reviewer can work out exactly how a result was reached.
Applying my own advice.
I work with founders and leadership teams on product direction, AI adoption, operating systems and technology decisions that affect budgets, customers and staff.
“I judge a strategy by whether the team can deliver it with the customers, software and budget they have.”
Villar David
Now
What I am spending most of my time on.
- Putting applied AI to work in production workflows
- Making business systems easier to run and change
- Building technical skills inside teams that stay after a project ends
Contact
Let’s talk about the work.
I’m open to engagements in product, technology and applied AI, as well as opinion pieces and articles. If 15 minutes of advice would help with a decision you’re facing, get in touch.
villar@villardavid.com.auRead about how I can contribute to your project, or send me an enquiry.
Ways to engage me Get in touch