Kevin London
I'm Kevin, a Staff Engineer at Snap who got here by way of film school and a post-production startup. I write about engineering craft, career growth, and learning to get out of my own way.
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Wider, Not Faster
Working with AI changed what I'm willing to attempt. It also changed me.
Getting out of my own way: Lessons from becoming a Staff Engineer
Becoming a Staff Engineer meant working through self-doubt, helping others do better work, and learning which problems to leave alone.
Know where you're going (and be open to change)
Choosing cinematography gave my film career direction. Moving into software later taught me that a clear goal can still leave room to change course.
Recent
Done-ish
I let an AI agent work through my backlog over a weekend. I came back to 66 pull requests and still had to decide what was worth doing.
Nothing to Catch
At 16 I passed off a Twilight Zone episode's plot as my own short film. My journal remembers what I did next.
Burning the 3:40 AM Window
Fable 5 costs 2x Opus and burns like 6x. I spent a month learning to ration my wishes.
Parachuting In
I don't hand-write code anymore. The hard parts didn't go away.
Two tables
Waiting tables taught me something about managing multiple AI agents. Including when to stop taking on more.
You can't borrow muscle memory
I copied 27 Claude commands and realized it wasn't doing me any favors.
Temporary is Permanent
Light Iron announced it was winding down. Some memories from my first job, my first family in LA, and where I accidentally started writing software.
You can use AI every day and still not get better
Working with AI isn't a binary skill. It's an instrument that requires deliberate practice.
Ideas Die in Drafts
Some of my best ideas used to die before anyone saw them. That's changing.
The Rock Tumbler
Some feedback is easy to act on. Other feedback takes work to process. That work might be the point.