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How to Build a Problem Prevention Culture (AWS Well-Architected Explained)
Stop firefighting — start preventing problems.
In this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly explore how engineering teams can create a problem prevention culture using the AWS Well-Architected Framework.

They unpack lessons from Chapter 17 of The Value Flywheel Effect, showing how high-performing cloud teams use SCORP reviews (Security, Cost, Operational Resilience, Performance) to operationalise engineering excellence.
Learn how to:
✅ Shift from reactive to proactive problem solving
✅ Build dashboards that actually drive team learning
✅ Scale architecture reviews across hundreds of teams
✅ Foster psychological safety and positive peer pressure
✅ Future-proof your organisation for the AI-driven cloud era

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Intro and setup
00:40 – What is a problem prevention culture?
02:20 – Recognising unseen engineering work
04:30 – Balancing delivery and engineering excellence
05:40 – Defining “good architecture”
07:00 – The AWS Well-Architected Framework
08:40 – From theory to practice: SCORP sessions
10:30 – Scaling Well-Architected reviews
13:50 – Using dashboards for insight and improvement
15:00 – Building trust and psychological safety
17:00 – Peer learning and positive pressure
19:00 – Continuous improvement in real teams
21:00 – Measuring long-term maturity
22:30 – Looking forward to AI-driven cloud operations
25:00 – Outro and what’s next

🔗 Resources

📘 The Value Flywheel Effect → https://theserverlessedge.com/the-value-flywheel-effect

🧭 AWS Well-Architected Framework → https://aws.amazon.com/architecture/well-architected

🧩 SCORP Process & Templates → https://theserverlessedge.com/scorp-process-cycle

🎙️ Serverless Craic Podcast → https://theserverlessedge.com/podcast

💡 Follow The Serverless Edge on LinkedIn and YouTube

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In this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly share key takeaways from two major events — AWS Community Summit Manchester 2025 and AWS Cloud Day Dublin 2025.

From psychological safety in engineering teams to serverless adoption patterns, event-driven architecture, and the rise of AI agents with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, the discussion highlights what’s shaping cloud-native development today.

If you’re a software engineer, cloud architect, or tech leader interested in modernisation, AI in the enterprise, serverless-first strategies, and community-led learning, this episode is for you.

⏱ Chapters
00:00 – Intro & catching up
00:55 – AWS Community Summit Manchester highlights
02:10 – Psychological safety in engineering teams
05:30 – AI hype, misuses & team impact
07:10 – Women in Tech track & allyship
08:30 – Event-driven architecture & domain-driven design
10:45 – Modernisation talks & API boundaries
12:00 – The reality of AI adoption in enterprises
14:55 – Serverless adoption patterns & challenges
15:53 – AWS Cloud Day Dublin highlights
17:45 – AI agents and Amazon Bedrock AgentCore
19:14 – Challenges of agentic user experiences
20:15 – Securing and testing AI systems (OWASP LLM Top 10)
21:00 – Well-Architected Framework (SCORP) talk
21:39 – Power of community learning
22:22 – Wrap up & next episode preview

🔗 Resources & Mentions

The Serverless Edge Website: https://theserverlessedge.com

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-serverless-edge/

The Serverless Edge GitHub – SCORP: https://github.com/ServerlessEdge/SCORP

Amazon Bedrock & AgentCore: https://aws.amazon.com/bedrock/

Event Catalogue: https://eventcatalog.dev/

Serverless Craic from The Serverless Edge
Check out our book The Value Flywheel Effect
Follow us on X @ServerlessEdge
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In this episode Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly revisit their time at Liberty Mutual, exploring how one of the world’s largest insurers transformed from legacy systems and SOA to cloud-native architectures and serverless-first strategies.

Discover how Wardley Mapping, empowered engineering teams, and a strong cultural foundation enabled Liberty Mutual to modernise at scale and deliver business value faster.

We cover:

Moving from mainframes and monoliths to microservices and serverless

Building agile, product-led teams that own security, testing, and operations

Using Wardley Mapping to make strategic technology bets

Lessons on cloud adoption, change management, and leadership in a Fortune 100 enterprise

👉 If you’re a CTO, software architect, or engineering leader, this case study is packed with insights on modernisation and enterprise cloud transformation.

⏱️ Chapter Markers

0:00 – Introduction
0:34 – Liberty Mutual in Belfast: tackling hard problems
2:21 – Strategic mindset of a mutual insurance company
3:49 – Early SOA systems and first encounters with cloud
4:49 – Microservices before it was mainstream
6:14 – Enter serverless: below the line vs above the line
8:38 – Technology manifesto and cultural change
10:25 – Learning from world-class infrastructure engineers
13:53 – Wardley Mapping and spotting key enablers
16:08 – CDK, BDD, and shifting left
18:20 – Security, threat modelling, and shifting responsibilities
19:58 – Product thinking and “next best action”
21:31 – Working with auditors and external stakeholders
22:18 – Upskilling, conferences, and internal evangelism
24:08 – Business impact and scaling during COVID
25:39 – Change management: it takes a village
26:45 – External evangelism and organisational support
27:22 – Next episode teaser: Problem Prevention Culture

📚 Resources & Links

🌐 The Serverless Edge https://theserverlessedge.com
– Thought leadership on modern cloud

🎧 Podcast on Spotify

🎥 More episodes on YouTube

📖 The Value Flywheel Effect – by David Anderson, Mark McCann & Michael O’Reilly https://thevalueflywheeleffect.com

Serverless Craic from The Serverless Edge
Check out our book The Value Flywheel Effect
Follow us on X @ServerlessEdge
Follow us on LinkedIn
Subscribe on YouTube