GD · 045°SField journal
Sheet 01 · NZTopo50 CB12
Contour interval 20 m
Scale 1 : 50,000

Gene
Dower.

A logbook on engineering leadership, hiring, AI in the toolchain, and the things you only think clearly about above the bushline. Co-founder & CTO at Scannable.

45° 01′ 52″ S
168° 39′ 45″ E
alt. 0,310 m
About this place

A small, slow blog from Queenstown, NZ. I write between releases — mostly engineering leadership, hiring, AI in the toolchain, and the occasional thing about training for a marathon.

Day job

Co-founder & CTO at Scannable — software for safety teams managing PPE in the field. Remote, distributed, mostly in mountain towns.

What you'll find

Leadership · high-performing teams · AI for engineers · building products customers love · the odd personal essay when a long run produces one worth writing down.

PLATE II — LK. WAKATIPU, EARLY AUTUMN
Lead essay · No. 014
Personal · Long read

My first marathon at 42.

Notes on training, taper, and the very specific calm that arrives at kilometre thirty — and what every kilometre of it taught me about running a company.

Read essay · 8min →

Other waypoints

06 latest · view archive →
KM 06
Teams · 11 min

Don't rush the hire

KM 12
Teams · 14 min

Building a great culture in a remote engineering team

KM 18
Leadership · 12 min

"Shape Up" — how a six-week cycle changed how we shipped

KM 24
AI · 9 min

What I look for in an engineer in the age of AI coding

KM 30
Leadership · 7 min

Should you get a CS degree if you want a career in engineering?

KM 36
Personal · 10 min

In tech, but not in the tech sphere — building from a small mountain town

Browse by topic

04 categories · 7 essays
Leadership · 2 essays

On leadership in tech

"Shape Up" — how a six-week cycle changed how we shippedMar 19
Should you get a CS degree if you want a career in engineering?Feb 21
Teams · 2 essays

Building high-performing teams

Don't rush the hireApr 18
Building a great culture in a remote engineering teamApr 02
AI · 1 essays

AI in the toolchain

What I look for in an engineer in the age of AI codingMar 03
Personal · 2 essays

Trail notes & personal growth

My first marathonMay 04
In tech, but not in the tech sphere — building from a small mountain townFeb 06

“Most of what I've learned about engineering leadership, I learned slowly, in places without much wifi. Pace beats heroics.Always.”

— From the lead essay, May 04 · 2026

The archive

2024 — 2026 · 7 essays · view full archive →
2026
7 essays · current
My first marathonMay 04
Don't rush the hireApr 18
Building a great culture in a remote engineering teamApr 02
"Shape Up" — how a six-week cycle changed how we shippedMar 19
What I look for in an engineer in the age of AI codingMar 03
2025
0 essays · complete
2024
0 essays · started here
The Sunday Letter

One letter, every other Sunday. That's the whole deal.

Notes on what I'm working through that fortnight — usually one engineering thought, one team thought, and one trail thought. No tracking, no funnel, no “as a thank-you.”

Issue 014 · sample

“Pace, taper, and the kilometre that breaks you.”

Two weeks out from the Queenstown Marathon, three things on my mind: the cost of pushing too hard in week eleven, what I'm pulling out of one-on-ones this cycle, and a small note on how I'm using AI to draft retros.

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