Heat, Huts and Hockney

The year began badly, and 2026 has mostly passed in a blur since. In mid-May I started working on a startup with some former colleagues, which has taken most of my energy and is why posts have slowed. I’m still trying to stick to monthly updates. Relaxing by the Isar Summer in Munich has been a scorcher, as it has been for much of Europe. A few weeks were unbearable, though we live within walking distance of the Isar, where we swim after work. Almost no flat here has air conditioning, and I doubt that holds for much longer. Work-wise, product management is shifting from coordinating people to steering AI agents. I spend most of my day brainstorming with machines that will confidently attempt almost any task I give them, and the results arrive fast. It can also feel draining. The output is often competent but flat, with none of the texture you get from someone actually making something. It’s both exciting and worrying to live through another technology revolution, and sometimes I wish…