The Agentic Engineering Exosuit
Agentic engineering is not about having one impressive AI session. It is about building the systems, loops, and feedback paths that let agents safely scale your judgement.
Read articleJonathan Clarkin
Staff engineer for growth systems, software quality, and the high-leverage work that makes products better.
I am a Staff Growth Engineer at Shopify with more than two decades across product engineering, testing, SEO tooling, and technical leadership. I write about the systems, habits, and decisions that help teams ship better software without losing clarity.
Current focus: growth engineering, LLM-amplified development, and civic data tools that make public information easier to use.
- 20+ years building software professionally
- 25 articles and essays in the archive
- 7 practical guides and workshop resources
- Since 2014 long-form thinking on engineering craft
Selected writing
Recent essays from the archive
Writing on software testing, technical leadership, facilitation, and the product-facing reality of engineering work.
The Developer as Craftsman
How AI is transforming software developers from employees using company tools into craftsmen bringing their own toolkits - and why that matters.
Open articleThe Language Doesn't Matter
Reflections on how programming languages have evolved from assembly to AI, and why what really matters are the outcomes - not the code itself.
Open articleGuides
Practical playbooks
JavaScript Unit Testing in 2019: How the Landscape Has Evolved
A comprehensive guide to JavaScript unit testing in 2019, covering Jest and modern testing practices. Learn how the landscape has evolved since 2014 with integrated frameworks and improved developer experience.
The Peri-Mortem: How to Plan Your Departure and Strengthen Your Team
Learn how to conduct a 'peri-mortem' meeting before leaving a team to minimize stress, identify knowledge gaps, and ensure smooth transitions. A proactive approach to departure planning that benefits everyone.
Running Technical Workshops: Lessons Learned from Teaching Test Automation
Key insights from facilitating technical workshops, covering preparation strategies, audience engagement, and practical tips for successful knowledge transfer. Learn from real experience teaching Selenium WebDriver and automation concepts.
What I care about
Engineering that compounds
The common thread in my work is leverage: finding the technical decisions, team habits, and product insights that quietly make everything else easier.
- Software testing
- Growth engineering
- Staff-level influence
- Experimentation systems
- Facilitation
- Engineering craft