Technical debt is often seen as an unavoidable part of software development, but if left unchecked, it can slow down feature delivery, increase system fragility, and create significant business risks. Engineering teams frequently struggle to balance rapid development with maintaining long-term code quality, leading to accumulating trade-offs that become bottlenecks in the future.

In this session, we will demystify technical debt by breaking it down into its different types (intentional vs. unintentional, design debt vs. code debt) and explore strategies to manage and reduce it without disrupting business operations. Rather than treating tech debt as an afterthought, we’ll discuss proactive approaches to integrating technical improvements into the development lifecycle without sacrificing velocity.

We’ll cover:
✅ The different types of technical debt (planned vs. unintentional)
✅ How to measure and prioritize tech debt with objective metrics
✅ Strategies for gradual refactoring vs. full rewrites
✅ Techniques to convince stakeholders to invest in tech debt reduction
✅ Real-world case studies from my experience leading engineering teams

Whether you’re an engineer struggling with legacy code, a tech lead planning long-term improvements, or a manager balancing business priorities, this session will equip you with practical strategies to take control of your software’s future.