Andy Farmer

Hi, I'm Andy - to friends and peers I have simply been known as Andy, however during my early career as part of a large development team filled with Andy's (six including myself) for a select few, I was formally known as "Farmer".

I have been working the web since early 1997, and have constantly been involved with the evolution and adoption of web technologies within the Travel industry up until 2025. This has meant seeing the birth and death of Flash, a world pre Google, introduction of jQuery, CSS including CSS Zen Garden, the release of Bootstrap and the take over of Javascript into the modern web eco-system.

I have moved from being a developer, to being a Software Development / Engineering Manager and leading teams of Web Developers, Quality Assurance and even DevOps practitioners. On the podcasts, I share my views from both software development side, and try to bring to light some of the pragmatic views that an organisation needs from its engineering teams.

I utilise my technical and leadership experiences and views to share my views on trying to understand the balance between technical excellence, business delivery and the emotional / empathetic challenges of leading, mentoring and coaching engineers.

I share similar beliefs with Paul and Oliver, that tech should be an enabler, not a hinderance and constraint to achieving sustainable outcomes. The greatest teams achieve the best outcomes with trust in each other. Leading teams, as in the words of Simon Sinek is a lot like love.
Love is about giving someone the power to destroy you and trusting that they won’t. It’s about being completely vulnerable with someone and believing they will stand by you, even when things get tough.

I try to lead our technical teams with a similar mantra, as the outcome of the team should be greater than that of an individual.

Outside of tech, I am an avid Movie Goer and enjoy going to the cinema, an avid reader of various types of books - with an interest in learning about leadership and reviewing how tech teams can be maximised. The rest of my spare time is monopolised by family and dog walks - watch this space as there may be more new in this space very soon.

If I can cause you to pause, reflect and find an alternative view on the way you work, and the outcomes you achieve daily and care about your team mates then we have achieved in the goal of enriching lives with technology.