Data, computation, and organizations

Once upon a time, everything fit in one machine. To scale, we then divided tasks by function: databases and applications. Today, we're moving away from the client-server model to semantic units of co-located data/compute. As Conway predicted, we see the same change in organizational structures.

Startups are initially amorphous: everyone does everything. Then comes growth, where activities are grouped by function. Finally, they evolve into independent pods based on meaningful goals.

Conway all the way!