About me

I’m David Middleton, an engineering leader based in NSW, Australia. I care about building strong teams, clear product direction, and technology that actually helps people.

I combine deep technical experience with product and business thinking. That means I’m as comfortable in the details of how systems are built as I am thinking about strategy, customers, and how work gets done. I’ve led engineering organisations through agile and Lean Startup–style change, and I believe in giving people the freedom and support they need to do their best work.

I’ve helped teams drive an agile transformation and supported the delivery of advanced technology that customers rely on. I’m interested in product development, engineering excellence, and making sure the whole organisation—not just engineering—works as a cohesive system.

I’m particularly interested in AI-led development as a lever for quality. In practice I’ve often seen AI used to justify scope creep and a rush of features that compound into unmaintainable technical debt and a worse experience for users. I believe we need to be more disciplined using AI to sharpen focus and deliver product capabilities that are genuinely differentiated and valuable.

When I’m not working, I tinker with retro tech (including a heavily upgraded Commodore 128D), write here on the blog, and enjoy the Queensland coast. If you’d like to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn.