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Jun 2025

Developing at Speed

One of the main outputs of research development is the proof of concept. An early lesson I picked up when I joined HCL Labs was to deliver working code, not slides. And the key when building a proof of concept is speed. In some cases, it may end up proving why an approach won't work. In many scenarios, it may end up being put on a shelf indefinitely. Even if the concept proves appealing, the implementation choices may not be the preferred option for the final solution. So speed is of the essence: spending a couple of weeks building something that goes nowhere is acceptable; spending a couple of months is not. So the ability to get maximum results in the minimum time is key.

But how do you do that?

Adventures in Rust

One of my core principles for IT research development can be summed up by a saying more than 2500 years old, attributed to Solon and appearing twice in Plutarch’s Life of Solon: “I grow old always learning many things”. In many ways, to stop learning is to stop living.