James MacDonald

James MacDonald How Australia hires, builds and leads tech teams in the age of AI.

Building Tech Teams tracks the hiring signals, leadership conversations and AI workforce shifts shaping Australian technology teams.

28/08/2026

What I love about the AI discussion right now is the unknowns and interesting conversations. Just this week the topic of AI has varied from:
- Just a tool, and we'll become more efficient because of it
- We will get to Universal Basic Income, as AI will make most jobs non-existent

27/08/2026

Bump someone's salary outside the pay review cycle... have you ever seen it happen?
Matt McFarlane makes a great point here when it comes to retaining your best employees.

20/08/2026

Is ESOP still a driver to join startups?

Thoughts from Matt McFarlane who has this discussion more than most in the startup space.

I wonder if we'll see a few AI-based companies reach an exit faster than SaaS companies did over the past few years. And whether that triggers ESOP becoming a bigger driver again?

19/08/2026

In the competitive AI landscape, skills are vital, but passion drives top talent. As I recruit senior AI Engineers, I've found that while salary discussions are a necessity, what candidates truly care about is the company's Mission and Vision. Their interest peaks when they see what they are building and how they can make a meaningful impact.

14/08/2026

AI Constraints and Measurement.
This week I've spoken about AI measurement and AI salaries more than ever. The salary and token expenditures become easier to discuss once you understand and can measure the value being provided.

12/08/2026

AI is your advantage in providing a better customer experience and winning more market share.

10/08/2026

One person should own your AI strategy - also, how bad is it when the frame freezes when you're mid-talking?

Back to the strategy part, though - the companies moving the needle and getting AI into production have a strategy; they have a plan and someone responsible for the ex*****on of the plan. Get that right, like any other technology, and things start to fall into place.

p.s. the "-" in both paragraphs, that's how I have always written, its not AI.

06/08/2026

Everyone can build, but what's under the hood?
A strength of Senior Engineers, and also a strong argument for Software Engineering degrees is the understanding of quality software engineering principles.

04/08/2026

Most companies don't need an AI strategy. They need to fix one ugly workflow.

"How do we become AI native" is such a big question nobody knows where to begin. Start with the piece of work everyone hates. The form that needs manual re-entry. The report that takes four hours every week.

Document the process. Automate the predictable parts. Use AI only where judgment or language is needed. Measure it. If it's right, do it again, then pick the next one.

That's where the real wins are sitting.

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