About

I’m Alison MacLellan. I’m a Principal Software Engineer, and this Substack is where I write about engineering, AI collaboration, systems thinking, and what it actually feels like to do senior technical work.

My writing is reflective rather than instructional. I’m interested in how tools shape judgment, how systems influence behavior, and how clarity reduces friction for people doing real work. I tend to write from lived experience, not theory, and I’m careful about over‑claiming.

This year I’ve begun a journey working with AI thinking partners. I use these partnerships to explore ideas, draft, question assumptions, and surface early thinking. I remain responsible for the final content, its intent, and its accuracy.

When a piece is written by someone else, I say so.
When a piece is written with support, I don’t hide that either.

This Substack is not a feed of hot takes or finished conclusions. It’s a place to think in public, with care. Some posts are technical. Some are personal. All of them are written deliberately.

If you’re here because you care about thoughtful engineering, responsible AI use, and making complex work more legible, you’re in the right place.

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