Hi, I'm
Aaron Saray
I make things better.
As a coach
Good teams are managed on purpose.
I coach engineering managers, and the developers who report to them. “We tried that before” is true, but it's never accurate.
Managing well means embracing conflict instead of smoothing it over, protecting developers' time, and encouraging people to reinvent the wheel when appropriate.
As a developer
Boring but beautiful code always wins.
The longer I write code, the less of it I want to keep. I skip the abstraction until I need it, delete dead code on sight, and automate work that steals valuable time.
Tooling matters, too. I understand the problem before I reach for a solution, even when that solution looks like it could just be AI.
As a CTO
Translation from business to technical, and back again.
I stay current with the technology to know the costs and the risks, and then explain them to the people deciding. Stakeholders bring the problem instead of the solution, trusting the tech team for the rest.
A smaller team isn't immune. With fewer people, you need someone weighing the risk for you before you decide.
I want what's best for your project. Not for me.
Bring me the problem and I'll tell you what you actually need. Sometimes it isn't a technical problem at all. And if what you need isn't me, I'll say that too.
Let's talk