Human-Centric Engineering: Purpose Over KPIs

Summit fever is what happens when the top becomes the only thing that matters, when a team pushes so hard for the goal that it stops noticing the cost along the way. It’s a mountaineering term, but any engineering team chasing a delivery date will recognise it instantly.

Human-centric engineering is the antidote; building software as a fundamentally human endeavour, where purpose, trust and connection are treated as leading indicators of great delivery, not distractions from it. This talk explores what that looks like in practice, drawing on the Adventure Mindset and Guide Mentality, a leadership approach built on what makes an outdoor guide worth following; someone who keeps you safe and still stretches you to your edge.

Ben gives engineering leaders a practical lens for building teams that ship without burning out the people who build.