Jen Anderson · PhD Behavioral Neuroscience · MS Computer Science · Adjunct Professor of Statistics, Purdue Northwest · 15+ years shipping software
A fractional CTO for engineering teams that want to measure what matters and scale on it
If your engineering team is stuck, you probably can’t see why. I start by finding the few numbers that show where the work is slowing down, then help you sort out who owns what and how the team and process should change. I treat AI tools like everything else: try them carefully and measure what they do. You work with me directly.
Previously with
Why Jen
My PhD was in behavioral neuroscience, on how people miss early warning signs in complex systems. After that I spent more than fifteen years building software and leading engineering teams, and I kept seeing the same thing. The warning signs were in the data and nobody was looking. I call it Behavioral Drift: the slow move away from the plan that nobody notices.
I’ve noticed that most companies split this across three people. One spots the risk, one builds the fix, and one decides, and things get lost between them. I do all three.
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How an engagement goes
We start with a free call and a short discovery, then you decide how far to take it. Help with AI tools is available if you want it.
Measure
I find the few numbers that show where work gets stuck, baseline them from the tools you already use, and set targets you can defend. With 10 or more engineers, I bring in Operion here.
4–8 weeks02Structure
I sort out who decides what, how priorities and architecture calls get made, and how engineering reports to the rest of the business.
6–12 weeks03Scale
I shape the team, hiring and delivery process around those numbers, then check that each change moved the number it was meant to.
8–16 weeksNot sure where you stand with AI? Try the two-minute self-check, or see all services.
Notes on AI and engineering teams
I write about AI, engineering leadership and decision science on Substack. It’s free.
SubscribeThe first call is free.
Tell me what’s slowing your team down and we’ll talk about it for 30 minutes.
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