Fragments: September 24 — Immediate AI risks, readable code, and the real job of forward-deployed engineers

The useful part

Cyber attacks have already cost millions of dollars in lost economic output, often without AI being involved at all. Too often agents are deployed in situations where they include the Lethal Trifecta, opening up a gaping security hole. Not because of what the models might become, but because nobody has worked out how to do this safely yet.

How it works

• We are building on something we don't know how to contain, and shipping it to everyone while we work it out.
• The FDE is a developer who "sits with" their users, applies customizations.
• I also like his suggestion to use background colors for light mode work.
• If you know me at all, you'll not be surprised by my lack of surprise at this observation: A few months ago, a16z launched the Forward Deployed Engineer Fellowship and I was nominated as one of the fellows,...
• In one part of the conversation an FDE was a sales engineer who joined 'the second call,' somewhere else it was a quota-carrying rep who could write Python, and a few seats down it was closer to a...

What to take from it

An FDE engagement that ends with one delighted account and nothing changed upstream has failed at the only thing the role exists for. September 24 Martin Fowler 24 September 2026 Rob Bowley is "flipping tables in his head" with anger at the current media coverage of the danger of AI killing us all The risk I'm worried about isn't a future machine deciding to wipe us out. ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ I ran into Nikita Prokopov's post: I am sorry, but everyone is getting syntax highlighting wrong.

Example or evidence

• Yes, it's easy for me to remark that it's nothing more than the Agile Manifesto's principle that "Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project", or the desire to co-locate...
• Your eye adapts and considers it a new norm: everything is bright and shiny, and instead of getting separated, it all blends together.
• He recommends using an absolute minimum of colors, in his case four: string, constants, comments, and top-level definitions.
• He agrees that this good when there is excessive commenting, but when comments are used properly they are important so need bright highlighting.

Details worth keeping

It's today's AI, being wired into everything, carelessly and fast. What we really need to slow down on is wiring it all up to everything. if everything is highlighted, nothing stands out.

Related coverage

• Martinfowler: Reports of agentic hacking continue, in this case it happened back in May and it seems OpenAI did not disclose that they were responsible.
• Survivalblog: This Week in History: On September 27, AD 70, the walls of upper city of Jerusalem were battered down by the Roman army.