Agents write the code now.Borrow a CTO who can tell you if it is any good.
Most of the code entering your company this year will be written by a machine. The architecture it picks, the bill it runs up, the people you hire to steer it and the explanation you are given when it breaks still need someone who can judge them. In a company without a CTO, nobody can.
I run companies that way today, and I bring that judgment to yours. We work through the decision and put the result into practice, so your team can carry it forward.
I am the CTO of a proprietary trading firm that moves billions of baht through a Rust system. I did not write the Rust. In the companies I am a partner in, agents write nearly all of the code, day to day. Managing a team of agents is both like and unlike managing a team of engineers. I am not reading about that difference; I am in it every day.
Nobody in the building can grade the work.
Companies arrive at the same room through three different doors.
The CTO left
The person who could judge the work is gone. You cannot hire a replacement, because judging the replacement is the thing you could not do in the first place.
You never had engineers
The product exists. It was built by a vendor, or by a founder with an agent, or by somebody’s nephew. It works until it does not, and you have no way to know which day that is.
The ground moved
You have engineers and they are good, but the job changed underneath them. More code is written than anyone reads. Your old way of telling whether a team is doing well no longer measures anything.
The three look different from inside and identical from outside: work is happening, money is going out, and no one can tell you whether either is right.
How would you know?
Select the statements that describe your company today.
Work you can put to use, not just a slide deck.
The engagement ends with practical work you can use. The deliverables depend on the problem and usually include several of the following.
A documented system architecture
The decision, the constraints that forced it, and the options that were rejected with the reason. Written so the next person can disagree with it on the merits.
AI instructions and tests to evaluate the results
The preconditions your agents should have been given, and the test set that tells you when the output stops being acceptable.
Infrastructure as code
A Terraform baseline you own, with cost guardrails and budget alarms in it, so the bill cannot quietly go wrong.
Meaningful engineering metrics
What to put on the engineering dashboard now that lines of code and token burn measure nothing useful, and how to collect it from what you already run.
A structured interview process
The questions, the scoring, and the red-flag answers, so somebody nontechnical can run the interview and still grade it. I sit in the interviews; I do not source candidates.
The protocols
Who reviews what, what gets sampled, what must pass automated evaluations before release, and who is allowed to say no. The operating rules for a team where most code is not read.
Everything is yours, in your repository, in a form your people or your agents can use and maintain.
Two ways to borrow me.
A fixed-scope project
You brief me, I collect what I need, and I hand back the thing that sets you off in the right direction.
- A briefing, and as many interviews as needed
- The agreed deliverables
- A handover with the people who will use and maintain it
- Two weeks of questions afterwards, included
Project oversight
For projects where the direction is set, but execution still carries risk. You reserve twelve days of my time over twelve weeks, scheduled together. The engagement ends on the agreed date, even if the project is still underway.
- Twelve days, scheduled with you, across a twelve-week window
- In the room for the decisions that are expensive to reverse
- A written note to you or your board each week
We agree the scope and final fee in writing before delivery work begins. How engagements begin
Your deposit is fixed at 20% of the initial proposed fee. After reviewing your systems and interviewing the people involved, I confirm the scope and final fee with you. Until you approve both in writing and give me the go-ahead, your deposit is fully refundable.
I do the work myself, and you deal only with me. I keep this practice deliberately small alongside the companies I run, so I'm unable to take on smaller engagements.
We were going through a gap in senior technical leadership at a critical time: infrastructure costs were spiraling just as our credits were running out. Prathan stepped in, took ownership, and cut our monthly spend by nearly 90%. … What truly sets Prathan apart is how he works: an excellent communicator and listener, a genuine idea partner, and a problem solver who is always willing to help. I'd work with him again in a heartbeat.
Robert Zepeda, founder and CEO, Playbasis (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
Prathan Thananart
TalksI have given talks at organizations including SCG and G-Able, and at conferences including RubyCon and Code Mania.
Prathan came in and helped us set up how we work: the principles and the decision process behind developing the product. … He helped us see clearly where we were unsure how a business decision should go, so that we could make the right call. … He paid real attention to the context of our project and brought knowledge and experience that went straight to the point. That is why his advice actually changed how we work and how we plan.
Thitiwut Nantibhakhirund, founder, Wizes Creative Co., Ltd. Translated from Thai.Tell me what you cannot answer.
Write me a few lines about the decision in front of you and what you are unable to judge about it. If it is something I can help with, I will say so and suggest a next step. If it is not, I will say that too, and recommend someone better suited to help.
I reply within one business day. The first conversation is free and commits you to nothing.