Tilt Engineering

After 18 months and ~800 incidents, our Rootly classification fields were mostly empty, no one fills in six drop downs at 2am. This post walks through how Tilt built an automated incident classifier: a scheduled .NET pipeline that scrapes the Slack channel, sends the conversation to Claude, and writes back the cause, vendor, component, and team, while quietly backing off any field a human corrected.

When 50+ Azure App Service instances restart simultaneously and all reach for the same Key Vault, things break. This post walks through how Tilt built TiltSecret, a lazy-loading, strongly-typed, pipeline-validated system that eliminated throttling, prevented deployment failures, and gave engineers a frictionless local dev experience.

On-call shouldn’t start with archaeology. This post shows how to build an AI-powered incident response workflow that triggers on alert, pulls the runbook, generates and runs KQL, reviews recent commits and feature-flag changes, then posts a Slack-ready summary with evidence. The key is a hybrid approach: AI for synthesis, APIs for facts, and typed outputs for reliability.

Tech has no shortage of meetings, but the 1:1 might be the last one where the truth still shows up. This piece is about protecting that space from sliding into performance theatre, noticing the subtle signs when trust is eroding, and creating enough room for the real stuff: fatigue, pride, hard conversations, and the context that makes great work possible. The 1:1 is the smallest unit of culture you still control. Treat it carefully, protect it, and it will quietly pay back in trust, and the kind of momentum you can’t roadmap.

Your AI is only as good as the ticket you hand it. We dig into how vague requirements sabotage both humans and machines, why Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) acceptance criteria act as a clarity multiplier, and how the simple Given-When-Then structure turns fuzzy intent into something AI can reliably execute. If you're leading teams, working with AI agents, or just tired of reviewing PRs that “technically work” but miss the point, this is your guide to writing tickets that actually get the right thing built.

Tilt (formerly Empower Finance) developed a context-aware review bot using Augment Code's context engine to transform code quality and velocity on its fintech platform. By leveraging Augment's deep codebase understanding of architectural patterns and team conventions, which distinguishes it from generic AI tools, the bot provides more consistent feedback and achieves faster review cycles, reducing cycle time by up to 40%. This solution allows engineers to focus on architectural decisions and complex logic, serving as an augmentation, not replacement, for human reviewers.

Most companies think buying an AI tool is the hard part, but the real challenge is building the scaffolding that makes it useful. At Tilt, adoption only worked once engineers invested in documentation, rules, and workflows that embedded AI into daily practice. This post explores how that infrastructure was built, why it matters, and what other teams can learn from it.

In the era of blazing fast compute and memory it’s easy for the performance characteristics of System objects to feel like a thing of the past. However scale in the end, can defeat all our expectations. With Strings we need to be considerate because they are immutable! This means operations like ToUpper() create a new string in memory. With large datasets this can lead performance issues.

At Empower(Tilt), a data-driven fintech startup, our lifeblood is understanding our users and how they interact with our products. To do that effectively, we need to get new features and product updates into their hands fast. If you've ever worked in a startup, you know the pace is exhilarating, and the need for speed is paramount. For our iOS team, that meant taking a hard look at our release process. We went from a painstaking weekly manual ordeal to a highly automated, almost "set it and forget it" system that allows us to iterate at lightning speed.

A seemingly simple FK constraint drop turned into a high-stakes locking issue that threatened database stability. This post dives into the surprising chain reaction between two related tables and reveals a clever zero-downtime workaround using sp_rename. Perfect for engineers who love creative solutions to tricky schema changes—plus some spicy alternatives if you're feeling bold. 

Empower's engineering team is redefining what it means to use "the best tools" in a world where AI isn’t just a novelty, but a game changer. In his latest post, James Garrett shows how innovative AI tools are transforming on-call support, QA, and code reviews—taking the timeless principles of the Joel Test into the future. Dive in to see how early adoption is turning everyday challenges into competitive advantages. 

Paul Gradie reveals how the notorious N+1 problem in EF Core—where seemingly simple data retrieval turns into a series of inefficient database trips—can be the hidden culprit behind performance woes. He breaks down how lazy loading and loops can lead to unnecessary queries, and shares actionable fixes to streamline your code. Dive in to uncover tips that will help you optimize your data access and keep your app running smoothly! 

Onsites are crucial for remote teams to build strong bonds and a thriving company culture. While remote work offers flexibility and efficiency, in-person gatherings provide unique opportunities to deepen relationships, foster collaboration, and align on shared goals. Empower, a fully remote company, has successfully integrated onsites into their work culture by balancing purposeful work sessions with unstructured downtime and engaging team-building experiences. By thoughtfully planning events that are inclusive and cater to diverse interests, Empower ensures that every onsite is enjoyable and memorable for all team members. Clear communication, adaptability, and empathy are key to creating a positive experience for everyone, and gathering feedback is essential for continuous improvement and future success. 

Disagreements are a natural part of the software development process, whether you're debating architectural decisions, choosing the right tools, or prioritizing features. However, conflict doesn’t have to be a source of tension—handled with the right mindset, it can lead to better outcomes and stronger collaboration. Drawing insights from Think Again by Adam Grant, this blog explores how software developers can embrace a scientific mindset in navigating conflicts. By questioning assumptions, fostering humility, and focusing on solutions rather than personalities, disagreements can transform into opportunities for growth, innovation, and improved teamwork. 

Finding the right engineering job goes beyond matching your technical skillset—it’s about creating a balance between your professional ambitions and personal lifestyle. As James shares from his own experience at Empower, achieving long-term career satisfaction means pinpointing your non-negotiables, asking insightful questions during interviews, and ensuring the culture, team dynamics, and leadership style truly align with your unique values and goals. 

Drawing parallels between online gaming and modern work environments, this blog explores the challenges of fostering trust and collaboration in virtual teams. Discover actionable insights to accelerate team cohesion, improve communication, and harness the unquantified power of shared experiences—even from miles apart. 

 Struggling to balance speed, quality, and technical debt in your software projects? Discover actionable strategies to manage trade-offs, prioritize critical decisions, and deliver reliable products faster. Dive into insights from Empower's CTO, Justin Ammerlaan, and learn how to leverage technical debt without compromising on quality. Read now to transform your engineering processes! 

 Running out of range on a primary key in SQL Server is a ticking time bomb, especially for high-traffic production tables. This article dives deep into the process of migrating a primary key column from INT to BIGINT, tackling challenges like constraints, clustered indexes, and data synchronization. Learn the tested strategies, performance tweaks, and lessons from a real-world scenario involving 650 million rows—ensuring scalability and reliability for your database. Perfect for engineers navigating similar database dilemmas. 

Transitioning from Senior Engineer to Staff Engineer is a defining moment in your career—one that demands more than just technical expertise. At this level, your ability to influence, strategize, and lead initiatives takes centre stage. But how do you stand out and pave your way to the next milestone? In this post, we’ll explore three game-changing strategies to elevate your impact, showcase your achievements, and take control of your career trajectory. Whether you're eyeing a Staff Engineer role or aiming even higher, these actionable insights will help you unlock your full potential and accelerate your growth. 

This blog post, written by James Garrett, a software developer at Empower, discusses the importance of metrics in software development and how Empower uses them to guide feature development, prevent premature optimisation, and build a fun and supportive work environment. It details how Empower's focus on metrics helps them avoid building features with no business value, optimize performance without unnecessary effort, and foster a strong team culture through remote working and team events. The article encourages readers to join Empower, highlighting the company's values of ownership, trust, and excellence.

This article outlines six core principles for developing robust and maintainable Azure pipelines. The author, Paul Gradie, highlights the importance of decoupling build processes from deployment processes to improve efficiency and speed. He also emphasises designing pipelines at the job level to ensure clarity and maintainability. Furthermore, Gradie advocates for the use of templates as functions to encapsulate logical groupings of behaviours within pipelines, promoting reusability and readability. The article explores the distinction between intrinsic and non-intrinsic values when parameterising templates, suggesting that behaviours should be intrinsic to templates while details should be parameterised. It also stresses the importance of parameterising values likely to change to avoid hard-coding and potential maintenance issues. Finally, the author discusses the use of a global variable template as a convenient way to access common variables across multiple pipelines, while acknowledging the need for careful consideration to maintain transparency and avoid introducing "magic" into the pipelines.

This article from Empower Finance discusses the importance of 1:1 meetings between managers and their direct reports. The author, Dirko Swanepoel, outlines the benefits of regular 1:1s, including building trust, providing feedback, and resolving issues before they escalate. The article provides practical advice on how to make 1:1s more effective, such as preparing an agenda, maintaining a regular cadence, and scheduling them at a time when both parties are focused. Ultimately, the author emphasizes that 1:1s are a valuable tool for fostering professional growth, promoting communication, and ensuring both employee and company success.

The concept of Server-driven UI (SDUI), a technique that allows for more rapid iteration and deployment of mobile applications by shifting client-side logic to a remote server. The author, Hamish Cundy, details Empower's implementation of SDUI, using Kotlin and GraphQL to decouple the client app from the backend, enabling quicker updates and product experimentation. He provides a detailed overview of the architecture, including components, actions, and screen definitions, illustrating how SDUI empowers mobile developers to deliver new features and bug fixes with significantly reduced timeframes. The article concludes with a discussion of the benefits and future possibilities of SDUI, showcasing its potential for increased agility and user-centric development in the mobile landscape.

Adopting functional programming concepts can improve the quality of C# code. The author, James Garrett, highlights four key concepts – immutability, state management, LINQ, and functional programming in general – and explains how they can simplify complex logic and reduce bugs. The post uses several code examples to demonstrate the benefits of functional programming, including the use of immutable variables, factory methods, and LINQ queries to streamline operations and avoid unnecessary state changes.

This post from Empower Finance’s blog discusses a conceptual model for optimising software delivery by decoupling the build and deployment processes. The author, Paul Gradie, explains how to create a “language” for automation through the stages of versioning, publishing, testing, and deploying. He emphasizes the importance of structured steps and clearly defined concepts for efficient and high-quality software delivery. The article highlights how this approach has led to a significant reduction in delivery time and improved reliability at Empower Finance.

The Empowered Engineering Podcast aims to share the Empower Finance team's engineering journey and foster a culture of continuous learning by showcasing their innovative work and collaborative spirit. The podcast seeks to build a community of passionate problem-solvers and inspire talented engineers to grow with them.