INSIGHTS

TOPICS

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  WHITEPAPER

  Measuring AI Productivity in Software Delivery

  AI & innovation

  Every leadership team in software delivery is asking some version of the same question: what productivity gains are we getting from AI, and what should we expect over the next twelve months?

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  Mark Rainford

  VP of Commercial & Innovation, 8 West Consulting

  Jul 03, 2026

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  ARTICLE

  The Rediscovery of Deep Specification: How LLMs will Rewrite the Agile Playbook

  AI & innovation

  strategy

  Agile moved us away from deep specification for good reasons. LLMs may have quietly removed them. Our Director of Engineering, Brendan Lawlor, makes the case that some assumptions shaping software development for 25 years are worth revisiting.

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  Brendan Lawlor

  Director of Engineering, 8 West Consulting

  May 26, 2026

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  ARTICLE

  Supply Chain Defense for Modern Package Managers

  security

  AI & innovation

  architecture

  Modern software imports code from hundreds of strangers at build time, and AI-powered attackers are making that risk harder to ignore. Our Software Architect, Russ, breaks down the practical defences every engineering team should have in place across TypeScript, C#, Python, Kotlin, and Rust.

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  Russ Painter

  Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

  May 20, 2026

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  ARTICLE

  Comprehension Debt: How Misusing AI Can Make You Worse At Your Job

  AI & innovation

  strategy

  Using AI to move faster is useful. Losing the reasoning behind what it produces is a risk most teams underestimate. Our Software Architect, Russ, explores comprehension debt, what it is, why it applies across every role, and how to avoid it.

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  Russ Painter

  Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

  Apr 28, 2026

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  ARTICLE

  Chrome Dev Tools AI Generated Code for Page Querying and Brainstorming

  AI & innovation

  Chrome 147 added AI code generation directly in the developer console, and it's more useful than it sounds. This article walks through practical examples of using it for DOM querying, data scraping, and quick rebranding proofs of concept without writing a line of code manually.

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  Russ Painter

  Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

  Apr 21, 2026

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  ARTICLE

  Caveman AI Skill for Terse Replies

  AI & innovation

  AI output is often too long, too polished, and full of filler. Our Software Architect, Russ, shares the Caveman skill, a practical way to strip AI responses back to what actually matters, with installation instructions and usage options for individuals and teams.

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  Russ Painter

  Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

  Apr 13, 2026

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  ARTICLE

  Brooks’ Law Still Holds. But Something Else Changed.

  AI & innovation

  strategy

  Brooks' Law hasn't broken, but something fundamental has shifted. Our Director of Engineering, Brendan Lawlor, explores how LLMs are moving the bottlenecks in software delivery and what that means for engineering roles at every level.

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  Brendan Lawlor

  Director of Engineering, 8 West Consulting

  Mar 25, 2026

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  ARTICLE

  What I Actually Want From AI in Software Delivery: Read the Logs, Write the Fix, Let Me Approve

  AI & innovation

  Code generation is only half the story. Our Software Architect, Mel Collins, makes the case for AI that stays in the loop after the code is written, reading logs, identifying root causes, preparing fixes, and handing the result to a human for approval.

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  Mel Collins

  Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

  Mar 16, 2026

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  ARTICLE

  IDE-Less Development with Codex

  AI & innovation

  Our Software Architect, Mel Collins, built a fully functional Android app in 5 hours using Codex, with no prior Android, Flutter, or Bluetooth protocol experience. A practical look at what IDE-less, conversational AI development actually looks like in practice.

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  Mel Collins

  Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

  Mar 11, 2026

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  ARTICLE

  CLEAR. Practical AI-First Design Principles for Real Codebases

  AI & innovation

  architecture

  AI tools have given architecture a second consumer alongside human developers. Our Software Architect, Mel Collins, outlines CLEAR, the practical framework for designing codebases where both humans and AI can reason effectively.

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  Mel Collins

  Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

  Jan 20, 2026

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  ARTICLE

  Understanding (and fixing) the LLM Hallucinations Problem

  AI & innovation

  LLM hallucinations are one of the most discussed limitations of AI, but what causes them and can they be fixed? This article explains why models hallucinate and the techniques being used to contain them. A practical read for anyone working with AI where accuracy matters.

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  Marcello Carboni

  Cyber Security Specialist, 8 West Consulting

  Nov 04, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  Agentic Coding in Practice: A Client Case Study

  health insurtech

  AI & innovation

  A real-world test of agentic coding on a production application for a dental insurance client, tracking every hour to measure what AI assistance actually delivers. The result was a 38.3% reduction in development time, with lessons on where human judgment remains essential.

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  Russ Painter

  Software Architect, 8 West Consulting

  Oct 22, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  How to Create Zero Trust Architecture

  security

  architecture

  The traditional perimeter model of cybersecurity has a fundamental flaw. once an attacker is inside, they can move freely. This article from our Cyber Security Specialist, Marcello Carboni, explains the Zero Trust architecture model, its core principles, and why never trust, always verify has become the standard approach for organisations operating in today's complex, cloud-first environments.

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  Marcello Carboni

  Cyber Security Specialist, 8 West Consulting

  Oct 02, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  AI and Deveolpment

  AI & innovation

  Can AI go beyond prototypes and help build real production tools? Our Technical Lead, Simone Medas, put that question to the test using Cursor, sharing what worked, where human judgment was still essential, and what it means to work with AI as a development partner.

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  Simone Medas

  Technical Lead, 8 West Consulting

  Jun 26, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  The Emergence of Package Hallucination Attacks

  security

  AI & innovation

  When AI generates code referencing packages that don't exist, attackers can register those names with malicious software. Our Cyber Security Specialist, Marcello Carboni, explains how this emerging supply chain attack works and what teams can do to protect against it.

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  Marcello Carboni

  Cyber Security Specialist, 8 West Consulting

  Jun 06, 2025

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  WHITEPAPER

  Well-Architected Framework Overview

  architecture

  Many organisations are running cloud environments that are underperforming, over-spending, or carrying hidden risk. This whitepaper walks through the Well-Architected Framework review process, covering all six pillars, and shows how a structured assessment delivers the visibility, roadmap, and expert guidance needed to optimise your cloud infrastructure with confidence.

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  8 West Consulting

  Your Vision Realised

  Jun 03, 2025

• 

  WHITEPAPER

  FinOps & Cost Optimization Overview

  architecture

  The FinOps & Cost Optimization Overview outlines how a FinOps-driven approach enables organisations to optimise cloud spend, improve visibility, and align cost with business value.

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  8 West Consulting

  Your Vision Realised

  Jun 03, 2025

• 

  WEBINAR

  Getting Started with Datadog

  architecture

  Datadog is a key tool in our cloud engineering team's Well Architected Framework Audits which help organisations realise cost savings on their cloud environments, as well as map out a path to improved maturity in performance, reliability and security.

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  8 West Consulting

  Your Vision Realised

  Jun 02, 2025

• 

  ARTICLE

  A Quick Look at the Evolution of Phishing

  security

  Phishing has evolved from low-effort scams to one of the most sophisticated attack vectors in cybersecurity. Our Cyber Security Specialist, Marcello Carboni, traces that evolution from the early AOL days to AI-driven phishing in 2025, and what it means for organisations trying to stay ahead.

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  Marcello Carboni

  Cyber Security Specialist, 8 West Consulting

  Apr 22, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  Jailbreaking AI: How Large Language Models Can Be Exploited

  security

  AI & innovation

  LLMs are advancing fast but remain surprisingly easy to manipulate. Our Cyber Security Specialist, Marcello Carboni, explores how jailbreaking works and why it matters as AI becomes more embedded in everyday workflows.

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  Marcello Carboni

  Cyber Security Specialist, 8 West Consulting

  Mar 19, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  Embracing Journey-Centric Design

  ecommerce

  health insurtech

  strategy

  design

  Most digital experience problems are not caused by poor products. they are caused by the gaps between them. This article explores how Journey-Centric Design moves beyond isolated improvements to create seamless, end-to-end experiences that drive real business outcomes.

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  Brendan Foley

  Director of Creative and UX, 8 West Consulting

  Feb 28, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  Technical Deep Dive on converting native app to React Native

  ecommerce

  architecture

  A technical walkthrough of how 8 West migrated an iOS Swift app to React Native, covering the architecture decisions, state management approach, and performance considerations that made the transition a success, and what teams considering a similar move should know.

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  Catalin Mirza

  Full-Stack Engineer, 8 West Consulting

  Feb 18, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  Why Build in React Native

  ecommerce

  architecture

  Maintaining separate iOS and Android codebases costs more than it needs to for most apps. This article explains when React Native makes sense as a cross-platform alternative and what the tradeoffs are worth knowing before you make the switch.

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  Alison McDonnell

  Project Manager, 8 West Consulting

  Feb 13, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  ECSO: Cybersecurity in Healthcare - Key Takeaways

  security

  health insurtech

  Healthcare is one of the most targeted sectors for cyberattacks, yet cybersecurity remains an afterthought across much of the industry. Our Cyber Security Specialist, Marcello Carboni, summarises key findings and proposed solutions from ECSO's recent healthcare cybersecurity webinar.

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  Marcello Carboni

  Cyber Security Specialist, 8 West Consulting

  Feb 12, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  Redefining Online Retail with AI

  ecommerce

  AI & innovation

  AI is not just changing how retailers operate. it is reshaping how consumers buy. This article from Mark Rainford looks at how AI-driven sales agents and conversational commerce are set to make traditional ecommerce playbooks obsolete, and what smart retailers are already doing about it.

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  Mark Rainford

  VP of Commercial & Innovation, 8 West Consulting

  Feb 06, 2025

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  ARTICLE

  Generative AI and Offensive Security

  security

  AI & innovation

  AI is making software teams more productive. It is doing the same for attackers. This article from our team looks at how generative AI is already being used in real-world attacks, from convincing phishing campaigns and deepfake scams to polymorphic malware that evades detection.

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  Marcello Carboni

  Cyber Security Specialist, 8 West Consulting

  Jan 21, 2025