Meet James Ayers, Technologist

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‍Hey James. We have loved having you at Octave. Can you tell us a bit about your background and interest in tech?

Thanks! I’ve really enjoyed being here. It’s been great from day one.
I actually started out in a previous life as an industrial designer, which gave me a strong appreciation for good UX and human-centered design. That mindset still shapes how I approach engineering, whether it’s thinking about how users interact with a product, or how developers engage with the systems behind it.

Since then, my career has taken a few different paths through the tech world, but the constant has always been solving meaningful problems with technology. I’ve worked as a full stack developer on large-scale government platforms, where reliability, accessibility, and performance weren’t just goals but non-negotiables. It gave me a solid foundation in building systems that hold up under pressure and serve real people. Over time, I moved into more strategic roles – leading teams, working with stakeholders, and guiding product ideas from rough beginnings to well-architected usable systems.

What were you doing before you joined Octave?

Most recently, I was in a technical director role at DNA, guiding teams through everything from early discovery to final delivery. I worked closely with a wide range of client specialists, including business analysts, solution architects, security consultants, and everyone in between. I still enjoy being hands-on when I can, but what I find most rewarding is helping teams align, stay focused, and build with clarity and purpose.

A big part of my focus has been on technical discovery and architecture – understanding not just what we’re building, but why it matters and how it fits into the broader system. I’ve led several projects that started as technical audits and evolved into foundational re-architectures. That work helped unblock teams, improve scalability, and enable faster, more confident iteration. For me, good architecture isn’t just about performance or reliability; it’s about creating the conditions for innovation. It should clear the path, not stand in the way.

What interested you most about working at Octave?

What really stood out to me was the transparency, the clarity of vision, the sheer depth of experience across the team, and an obvious air of excitement about the work. From my earliest conversations at Octave, it was clear that people weren’t just showing up to move tickets across a board. There was a shared belief in where the company is heading, and that kind of alignment is rare.

When I spoke with Logan and Rich, it was obvious they were thinking long-term and making deliberate, thoughtful decisions. Technology wasn’t playing second fiddle to UX or vice versa – both were being treated as strategic levers, not just delivery mechanisms. That level of care in planning and execution really caught my attention.

I was also drawn to the culture of innovation here. There’s a clear willingness to challenge assumptions and try new things, both on the design side and on the technical side. Octave has the kind of environment where experimentation is actually possible, not just encouraged in theory. Joining a place that embraces modern technologies and architectural thinking – while still delivering with focus and discipline – was exactly what I was looking for. Also, the expertise of the DevOps team especially impressed me and I hope to learn a lot from them. 

One of the other things that really appealed to me was the strong product focus. This isn’t about building content websites or brochureware – it’s about creating apps and platforms that evolve, adapt, and deliver real value over time. Octave works really closely with product teams, which creates this great continuous feedback loop that’s really energising. It’s not just build-and-ship - it’s build, learn, and improve. That’s the kind of work that keeps you sharp.

How does strategic thinking inform your approach to development and technology? 

For me, strategic thinking in tech means looking beyond the immediate problem and understanding the longer-term ripple effects of your decisions. Anyone can build a feature or refactor a complex system – but the real challenge is doing it in a way that still makes sense 18 months from now. It’s about asking questions like: “What’s the right technology for this context?” “What’s the maintenance effort down the line?” and “Are we trading short-term speed for long-term pain?” 

I guess good engineering is not only about perfect clean code or scalable systems. It’s also about making choices that actually align with business requirements and keeping the team moving forward. Strategy helps connect the tech to the purpose. Without it, it’s very easy to get stuck – either spinning your wheels in complexity or defaulting to “the way we’ve always done it.” Another part of strategic thinking is building capability, not just leaning on familiar tools because they’re easy or safe. That also means making sure the team has the capability and space to grow into new approaches – so we’re not just rinsing and repeating old patterns to hit deadlines or invoice hours. Innovation needs both the willingness to try something new and the support to do it well. I like the saying: Just because you’re holding a hammer doesn’t mean everything needs to be a nail.

Thoughts on AI?

How do I answer this without sounding like I'm regurgitating a TED talk from 3 years ago? I’ll give it a try…

AI is going to change everything... and also nothing, depending on how we choose to use it. I still see a lot of hype around. It’s been 3 years since OpenAI launched ChatGPT (which, in AI years, is roughly one eternity and a half), but we’re still only scratching the surface of how AI’s can be meaningfully integrated into real everyday workflows. I think the most exciting potential is in building tools that amplify what people can already do and make entirely new things possible. I really hope it works out this way.

I talk to people who still think it’s a blue floating orb buried in a top secret facility somewhere. It’s not magic. It’s just applied mathematics. But we still need to be thoughtful about ethics, bias, and accountability. The tech is sprinting but our frameworks for understanding it are only limping along. Engineers especially have a responsibility to engage with these questions, not just keep feeding code into the machine and hoping for the best.

Personally, I use AI every day. It’s become a genuine part of my workflow – not to offload thinking, but to enhance it. A lot of people worry that over-reliance on AI makes you lazy or dumber, but if you use it with intention, it can actually make you sharper. I’ve learned a ton by seeing how it approaches problems – particularly in code by offering different angles or patterns I wouldn’t have considered on my own. It's like pair programming with a mildly erratic over-caffeinated genius who never sleeps.

What do you love doing outside work?

At home, I’ve got two great kids and an amazing partner, so a lot of my energy outside work goes into family life. Whether it’s playing games, navigating park-based chaos, chauffeuring everyone around, or executing bedtime routines with the precision of a small tactical unit. Home life is a different kind of challenge, but just as rewarding (usually).

I also have a bad habit of going down absurdly specific late-night technical learning holes – convincing myself I urgently need to understand how some obscure tech or architecture works or why everyone suddenly hates a JavaScript library I’ve never used. It’s how I relax, apparently.

When I’m not knee-deep in code or dwelling on technical solutions, I try to shift gears completely. For me, that’s snowboarding. I’m big into it… at least in theory. When there’s snow, time, fitness levels, and I can justify the cost of flinging myself down a mountain, I’m all in. Which realistically means I get out once every year or two and spend the rest of the time watching other people’s GoPro footage and lying to myself about “next season.” But when it does happen, it’s one of the few things that genuinely clears my head. It’s fast, physical, and completely disconnected from screens – which feels like a full system reboot.

On the nerdier end of the scale, I’ve been known to do a bit of scale modelling and more recently, I’ve found myself conscripted into being Dungeon Master for my son’s D&D group. It’s a bit chaotic, highly entertaining, and surprisingly similar to leading a sprint planning session, but with more firbolgs and less Jira.

‍Now that you’re here at Octave, what’s it been like?

It’s been energising. The team is sharp, kind, fun, and impressively aligned. Everyone’s here for the right reasons, and that shows in how we work together. There’s space for healthy debate, clear decision-making, and a strong sense of shared purpose.

What I’ve really appreciated is the balance between ambition and realism. We want to build great things, but we’re not chasing growth at all costs. There’s real thought put into building things that will hold up long-term.

There’s also a strong culture of innovation. Whether it’s exploring new technologies or rethinking how we work, continuous improvement runs across the whole org. It’s not driven by any one dogma – we’re encouraged to question, explore, and push things forward. 

And the client work has been a real highlight. I’ve already had the chance to work on some genuinely exciting projects. There’s a lot happening at Octave – lots of innovation, and definitely more to come. Watch this space.

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