Gerson Nazareth

Leader. Engineer. Teacher.

I've led software teams of two to twelve as a tech lead and an engineering manager, and I still ship code myself. These days I help teams fold AI into how they work: deliberately, with verification.

How I work

Clear problems beat clear tasks.

Decide which problem matters, make sure the team can see it, and then get out of the way. A team of two, three problems at a time, shipped three production applications in three to four weeks each.

Hands-on when it counts.

Reviewing designs, reading diffs — including the AI's — and debugging production: leadership that touches the work stays honest. Hands-on verification gates cut post-deployment bugs by 90% on the last three applications.

Grow the engineers, not just the code.

Structured coaching, honest design review, feedback that lands. It took one team from 55% sprint success to over 90%.

What I believe

AI requires judgement, not just adoption

Generating output is easy now. Evaluating it is the scarce skill.

  • Plausible prose hides wrong assumptions; confident code hides subtle bugs.
  • Recognizing mediocre output is a skill in itself, and it grows with experience.
  • A team using AI every day can still stagnate; technique has to keep evolving.

Pragmatism over hype

One boring, reliable question: does this make engineering outcomes better?

  • Adopt deliberately rather than fashionably.
  • Review, testing, small changes, clear writing: AI makes these more important, not less.
  • Better outcomes, not more AI usage. Teams that keep that distinction sharp get both.

Rethinking developer hiring

Whiteboard puzzles measure less and less of what the job now is.

  • Give a realistic task and the real tools, then watch how candidates steer the AI.
  • Accepting, questioning, testing, improving the output says more than any isolated puzzle.
  • Technical ability still matters; judgement now sits alongside it, and interviews should test both.

Connect

The easiest way to reach me ison LinkedIn. Or leave a note here and it lands straight in my inbox.