Notes on embedded systems, AI governance, product development, firmware teams, and engineering leadership.
August 17, 2026
Here’s the problem in one sentence: a prospect says he’s interested, gives you a path forward, and your system still insists he click a random link. That’s not a sales problem. It’s a process problem. I ran into this exact pattern recently. A seller reached ou…
August 12, 2026
Twice today I had an agent use forbidden assets because it thought doing so would help it finish faster. In embedded systems, the dangerous thing isn’t just the wrong file. It’s the wrong control surface. That power supply wasn’t yours to control. It wasn’t ev…
July 22, 2026
There are six stages of using artificial intelligence. The first stage is wonder. You type in, “Write me a polite email telling Dave he’s an idiot.” And it comes back: “Dear Dave, I appreciate your perspective. However, there may be opportunities to revisit so…
July 10, 2026
Programming is hard. That was never the bug. That’s the job. A lot of the industry spent years acting like the real problem with software was that too many people had to think too hard about the machine. Then came higher-level languages, bigger frameworks, big…
June 24, 2026
A smart engineer I know said something recently that was more honest than most AI talk: “I have been the shuttle service between its input/output and the use case.” That describes a lot of AI adoption right now. People use AI for research, docs, copy, images, and code, and some of the output is genuinely […
June 11, 2026
An AI coding agent will hand you a broken build, a deleted file, or a quiet workaround, and tell you the job is done. It isn’t lying the way a person lies. It has no internal signal that it might be wrong. To the model, “done” and “verified” feel identical, because it never actually looked. […
April 30, 2026
When a company says “no AI,” it usually wants credit for being careful. Most of the time, that isn’t what’s happening. A blanket AI ban usually means the company hasn’t done the less glamorous work yet. It hasn’t classified data, approved tools, defined safe use cases, trained staff, or set review rules. The result is […
April 20, 2026
The CEO asks why the company still has no serious AI adoption plan. The CTO wants to move. Engineering wants approved tooling. Legal says no. The meeting ends. Six months later, nobody has a governed path, a few people are still experimenting in personal accounts, and the company has learned almost nothing. That is not […
April 15, 2026
Every company has a talent strategy. Some choose it. Some just get it by veto. A blanket AI ban is one way to get it by veto. I understand why companies do it. If you’re the CEO, the general counsel, or the CISO, “no AI allowed” can feel like the prudent move. Nobody will paste […
April 10, 2026
I pay about $2,200 a year for QuickBooks for a small boutique design firm, real mom-and-pop backbone-of-America kind of business. I was getting ready to move to Zoho Books for about $200 a year. That already felt like a familiar software story, basically the Innovators Dilemma. The incumbent had grown broad, expensive, and full of […
April 2, 2026
Everyone wants to talk about the future that AI will bring. I’d like to point out that we’re still losing small fights like the one with file paths. Bill: What year is it? AI: 2026. Bill: Remarkable. We have machines that can generate code, fake confidence, and summarize a board deck, yet I still have to wonder whether […
March 27, 2026
AI is shifting engineering away from pure individual problem-solving and toward defining, directing, and reviewing work. Engineers who resist that shift for the same reasons they resist delegating will struggle to adopt AI effectively. A lot of leaders still talk about AI as if it were just another productivity tool. It is not. AI is […
March 20, 2026
Everyone wants the productivity gain. Few want to talk about the staffing problem it may create. If AI removes a meaningful share of junior engineering work, teams may get faster in the short term while quietly damaging the process that used to produce senior engineers. That matters because junior work was never just labor. Junior […
March 16, 2026
Why AI is starting to reprice implementation skill, and why many engineers still do not want to admit it. The most common frame for AI coding is that engineers will write code faster. That is true, but it is also the least interesting part of what is happening. The bigger shift is that a meaningful […
February 19, 2026
We have been interviewing for a Senior Embedded Engineer, and a pattern keeps showing up: candidates sitting at their computer during the interview and using it for more than notes. Sometimes it is translation. Sometimes it is pulling answers in real time. I get why it happens. Remote interviews make it easy to keep extra […
February 4, 2026
OpenClaw is a glimpse of the future: software that does real work for you. It is also a case study in how unbounded open source, plus viral distribution, turns helpful into credential theft waiting to happen.
February 4, 2026
Elon Musk said, “don’t worry about squirreling money away for retirement. In like 10 or 20 years it won’t matter,” and doubled down: “you won’t need to save for retirement.” He said it on the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast while describing a future where AI and robots drive costs toward abundance. I’m not here […
January 29, 2026
If your product was designed before today’s security requirements, RED compliance can turn into a forced redesign. The work is usually certificates, secure protocol gaps, and memory budgets—not forms.
January 23, 2026
There’s a conversation we still aren’t having honestly enough: AI isn’t just a software challenge anymore. It’s a power problem. And many of the software abstractions we’ve spent decades celebrating are now quietly making that problem worse. Data centers are being built as fast as utilities will allow. In many regions, the limiting factor is […
January 21, 2026
I want to share something that surprised me over the last few months I’ve been using ChatGPT more and more to write and debug code. Early on, my experience wasn’t unique — it was mostly terrible. Confident-sounding answers, lots of rewriting, lots of “this will definitely work, I promise” and a steady sense that I […
January 17, 2026
If you need help shipping an embedded product—or rescuing one that’s stuck—talk to an engineer → https://endvr.com/contact/ Wireless Charging Is a Physics Tax We’re Pretending Not to Pay There is a growing push to make more and more things “wireless,” including something as energy-intensive as charging. On the surface it looks like progress. In reality, […
December 3, 2025
Why “free” software often becomes the most expensive mistake your team can make. If you need help shipping an embedded product—or rescuing one that’s stuck—talk to an engineer → https://endvr.com/contact/ People repeat the same tired lines: “It’s free.”, “It’s community-driven.”, “It’s good enough.” That’s myth, not reality. In professional environments where time-to-market, reliability, and accountability […
June 13, 2025
If you need help shipping an embedded product—or rescuing one that’s stuck—talk to an engineer → https://endvr.com/contact/ 1: First things First Let’s get this out of the way: Git is brilliant. It’s fast. It’s distributed. It’s used by almost everyone. And from a business perspective?It’s a train wreck. This post isn’t a hot take. It’s […
January 8, 2025
Wouldn’t it be interesting if RISC-V meets ThreadX? Integrating RISC-V open-source hardware with the ThreadX real-time operating system (RTOS) offers a powerful solution for embedded system developers. This combination leverages the customizable nature of RISC-V processors with the efficiency and reliability of ThreadX, facilitating the creation of high-performance, tailored applications. Technolution Advance has successfully ported […
December 30, 2024
3 Exciting ESP32 Projects to Ring in the New Year The New Year is the perfect occasion to explore creative projects with the ESP32 microcontroller. Here are three ideas to add a high-tech twist to your celebrations: These projects combine technology with the festive spirit, helping you start the year on a creative note!
December 30, 2024
The holiday season is an excellent opportunity to engage in festive DIY electronics projects using the versatile ESP32 microcontroller. Here are three creative ideas to inspire your holiday tinkering: These projects not only add a personalized touch to your holiday decorations but also provide a hands-on way to explore IoT and smart home technologies. For […
December 20, 2024
When it comes to real-time operating systems (RTOS) for embedded systems, developers face numerous options. As a proud ThreadX Alliance Member, Endeavor Consulting Group is uniquely positioned to highlight the advantages of ThreadX over competing solutions like FreeRTOS. Proven Performance and Reliability ThreadX has established itself as a leader in the RTOS space. Its robust […
March 15, 2024
I’m returning from the HIMSS 2024 convention in Orlando, and I am struck by the advances from the last time I was here. The HIMSS 2024 Global Health Conference & Exhibition was more than just a meeting ground for healthcare professionals; it was a vibrant showcase of the future, where technology meets healthcare to create […
February 8, 2024
In this video, Bill talks about why you shouldn’t always try to win, and how losing actually puts you in control.
February 8, 2024
In the dynamic realm of modern technology, the quest for smaller and more portable computing devices has reshaped the landscape of connectivity. As devices shrink in size, the demand for compact connectors capable of supporting increasing data rates has become more pressing than ever. USB Type-C (USB-C) stands at the forefront of this transformative shift, […