Welcome to The Intersection, a monthly newsletter with leadership lessons from literature, data, and everything between!

Recently, I asked myself a simple question: what's a good analogy for what's happening to coding right now?

The answer took me somewhere I wasn't expecting - to drafting rooms of the 1960s and 70s, to a profession that was transformed beyond recognition within a generation, and to arguments between tutors and students that sound remarkably like the debates we're having about AI today.

The piece explores what actually happened when CAD replaced hand drafting, what it felt like to be on the wrong side of that transition, and what it might tell us about where software engineering is headed. There's also a twist at the end I genuinely didn't anticipate when I started writing.

Read the full post, and my other recent posts, below...

Recent blog posts

Will AI Do to Code What CAD Did to Drafting? Looking at old photos of drafting rooms, I found a useful analogy for where software engineering is headed. Read article

The confidence that I have in my taste, and my ability to express what I feel The Rick Rubin approach to making digital products. Read article

Five things Dua Lipa can teach us about building trust Why Dua Lipa's book club interviews are a masterclass in earning trust (and how you can steal her techniques). Read article

Around the Web

​Myndarin​ I built this! Over the last three months I've been using Claude Code nearly every day to build the kind of language learning app I wish existed. Give it a try - I'd love to know what you think, and how I can improve it.

​How to Code With AI​ I really like what Brian Casel is doing here: he's providing resources for those of us who aren't strictly vibe coders (because we have a technical background), but we're not full-blown software engineers either. If that sounds like you, check out his YouTube channel.

​How to Enforce Architectural Patterns When AI Generates Your Code (Without Breaking Your Team)​ This is a long read, but if you want a deep dive into cutting-edge best practices when coding with AI then this is the piece for you. I've incorporate this into my own workflow with success.

That's all for now! If something here resonated with you, I'd love to hear about it - just hit reply (I read every email). And if you know someone who'd appreciate this blend of data, AI, leadership, and unexpected cultural insights, please forward this their way.

See you next time with more curious connections and practical wisdom.

Cheers,

Lee