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What Is Harness Engineering (And Why Your Dev Team Needs It)

Most engineering teams adopting AI tools go through the same arc. Initial excitement, a few individual wins, a gradual sense that something isn’t quite scaling — then a plateau. The tools are being used, but the organisation isn’t getting dramatically more capable.

The reason is almost always the same: the team adopted the tool but didn’t build the harness.

What a harness actually is

In physical engineering, a harness is the system of cables, connectors, and guides that lets a complex component operate reliably within a larger system. It doesn’t generate power — it routes it precisely to where it needs to go.

Why Your Engineers Aren't Using AI Tools (And How to Fix It)

Every month I talk to a technology leader who bought AI coding tools for the team three to six months ago, achieved broad installation, and is puzzling over why adoption is shallow.

The tools are available. Some engineers are using them enthusiastically. Most are using them occasionally, for specific tasks. A few have quietly formed the view that the tools don’t fit their workflow and have stopped using them entirely.