TWO MONTHS OF DECODE DIGITAL WORKS

August was our second month, and Decode Digital Works continued to expand across content, community, events, and new resources for executive technology leaders.

We published new executive perspectives, welcomed Chris Coleman to the Strategic Advisory Board, expanded the Executive Fellows Network, launched our first podcast video and broader podcast syndication, and introduced the Fellows Library, a new private knowledge and publishing environment built specifically for Executive Fellows.

FEATURED PERSPECTIVES

Incident Déjà Vu: How “Not My Fault” Became an Operating Model

Recurring incidents often aren't caused by a single mistake. They reflect an operating model built around fragmented accountability, where teams become better at proving they weren't responsible than preventing the next failure.

The briefing examines how organizational structures, ownership boundaries, and incentives can allow the same problems to recur and what leaders should reconsider if they want to break the cycle.

Read the briefing →
Incident Déjà Vu: How “Not My Fault” Became an Operating Model

Why Enterprises Keep Funding Custom Platforms That Never Differentiated the Business

Enterprises often continue investing in custom platforms long after the original rationale for building them has disappeared.

This paper examines how leaders can identify platforms that provide little competitive differentiation and use natural transition points, including cloud migrations, data center closures, infrastructure upgrades, and modernization programs, to reconsider whether those platforms should continue to exist.

The opportunity isn't simply to reduce legacy technology. It's to redirect engineering capacity and investment toward modernization, data, AI, and capabilities that can actually differentiate the business.

Read the article →
Why Enterprises Keep Funding Custom Platforms That Never Differentiated the Business

EXECUTIVE CONVERSTAIONS

August marked an important expansion in how Decode shares executive perspectives. We released our first podcast video and expanded Decode Digital Works Executive Conversations through podcast syndication.

Podcast Syndication

Decode Digital Works Executive Conversations also expanded beyond YouTube during August.

The podcast is now syndicated across major audio platforms, giving executives another way to follow Decode conversations and making the series available to audiences who prefer either video or audio.

ADVISOR SPOTLIGHT

Welcome Chris Coleman

In August, we welcomed Chris Coleman to the Decode Digital Works Strategic Advisory Board.

Chris brings more than 30 years of experience across enterprise infrastructure, systems engineering, SaaS platforms, customer operations, software quality, technical delivery, and solution engineering. His experience adds another practical perspective to the Board as Decode continues building a community around the realities of enterprise technology leadership.

Meet the Strategic Advisory Board →
Strategic Advisory Board

INTRODUCING THE FELLOWS LIBRARY

Turning Executive Experience Into Shared Knowledge

In August, we launched the Fellows Library, a private knowledge and publishing environment exclusively for members of the Decode Digital Works Executive Fellows Network.

The Library brings together Decode research, our six Executive Reference Frameworks, leadership perspectives, event materials, Fellow and Advisor contributions, and other resources in a structured, searchable environment.

More importantly, it gives Fellows a place to contribute their own experience.

Each Fellow has a private workspace where original content can be developed before moving through a structured Draft → Review → Publish process. Decode provides templates and guidance to help Fellows turn their experiences and lessons learned into useful executive content.

Search, tags, structured navigation, individual accounts, and multi-factor authentication support access and discovery as the collection grows.

The objective isn't to create another document repository. It's to capture knowledge gained through transformations, difficult decisions, successes, failures, and years of executive experience and make it useful to another leader.

WHAT'S NEXT

September starts with several new Decode initiatives, an expanding executive calendar, and new opportunities for Fellows to participate.

Outlook & Predictions 2027

We're introducing Decode Outlook & Predictions 2027, connecting enterprise technology change to practical executive decision-making.

Throughout the remainder of 2026, we'll gather perspectives and predictions from the community. In December, we'll publish the twelve official Decode Predictions along with the reasoning and research behind them.

During 2027, we'll revisit those predictions and track how they develop as technologies, markets, and enterprise priorities change. The community will also have an opportunity to submit predictions and explore perspectives contributed by others.

Executive Briefings & Roundtables

Executive Briefings and Roundtables continue in September, creating opportunities for leaders to examine issues together, challenge assumptions, bring alternative perspectives, and share lessons learned.

View the Executive Calendar →
Executive Calendar

Fellows Library Training

Our first Fellows Library training sessions are scheduled for September 3 at 9:00 a.m. PT and September 11 at 1:00 p.m. PT.

These practical sessions will introduce Executive Fellows to Decode platforms, tools, and participation workflows and help members begin using the Library and developing their own contributions.

Expanded Event Coverage

Our September editorial roadmap includes planned coverage of upcoming executive technology events.

September 1: VeeamON Tour Orange County 2026
Planned coverage will focus on data resilience, AI governance, cyber recovery, digital transformation, and practical insights for IT and security leaders.

September 10: Cybersecurity Summit San Diego
Planned coverage will focus on executive cybersecurity leadership, threat intelligence, regulatory trends, critical infrastructure protection, security innovation, and peer networking.

Fellows attending other conferences or virtual events are also encouraged to contribute their experiences and perspectives to Decode's event coverage.

Explore Event Coverage →
Event Coverage