The human side
of building software.
I’m Brian Houck, Distinguished Scientist at DX and co-author of the SPACE framework. I study developer productivity, the experience of engineering work, and how AI changes both.
Ideas to put to work.
CAFE(S)
Your agent is only as good as its context. Five properties for understanding what good context looks like.
Read the articleSPACE
A shared vocabulary for developer productivity that brings the people, work, and system into view.
Read the articleEngThrive
Turning measurement into improvements in engineering speed, ease, quality, and wellbeing.
Read the articleResearch meets
the real world.
Essays and perspectives on what the evidence means for engineering leaders. Published in Engineering Enablement.
All writingDon’t measure AI Code Percentage on its own
What AI code percentage can help explain, and why it makes a poor optimization target.
Do you really need another framework?
Where CAFE(S) fits alongside established approaches to engineering measurement and AI evaluation.
Your agent doesn't have a model problem
What happens when agents inherit the context problems that people have been compensating for.
What are code reviews even for?
The knowledge, confidence, and shared ownership we risk losing when we rethink code review.
Better questions. Shared out loud.
Conference talks, interviews, and conversations with the people changing how software gets built.
Talks & webinars
Ideas shared on stage, in panels, and with engineering teams.
Podcasts & interviews
Conversations I’ve hosted and joined as a guest.
Enablement
How Meta reduced diff authoring time by 40%
Engineering Enablement
Watch the conversationHow AI Broke Developer Productivity Measurement with Brian Houck (DX)
HangarDX
Watch the conversationSummit
Beyond the Commit: A Fireside Chat on AI and Developer Productivity
DPE Summit 2025
Watch the conversationThe work behind the work.
I’m interested in what helps developers do their best work—and how we can tell whether the changes we make actually help.
At DX, I study developer productivity and the changing role of AI in software engineering. Before that, I spent 20 years at Microsoft, where I helped build EngThrive and co-authored the SPACE framework. My work connects empirical research with the decisions engineering leaders make every day.
That includes how we measure productivity, protect focus, support collaboration, and create the conditions for useful human–AI work.
More about my backgroundLet’s compare notes.
For conversations about research, engineering measurement, or speaking opportunities, connect with me on LinkedIn.