We used to be a feature factory. Now, we’re bridge builders. Turns out, slowing down to speed up isn’t a paradox - it’s a strategy. Acting as a feature factory wont help in long term.. Debt is a shared responsibility across functions: engineers, PMs, and execs must speak the same language. Visibility kills complacency - track debt like revenue. Small, steady payments > crushing interest. Stop treating our codebase like a rental car. You wouldn’t ignore a crumbling foundation - why ignore tech debt?

It's crucial to balance business priorities with system health. This can be achieved by: Adhering to Quality Standards – Align technical debt with client guidelines and best practices to maintain compliance and proactively address risks. Right Prioritization – Technical debt must be given due weightage in planning, ensuring it doesn’t accumulate to a level that impacts scalability or performance. Stakeholder Awareness – Business teams should understand the need to resolve tech debt promptly, linking it to benefits like reduced downtime, efficiency, and cost savings. Maintaining a structured backlog motivates teams to address debt systematically and be more mindful while creating it.

“Left unchecked, technical debt will ensure that the only work that gets done is unplanned work!” ― Gene Kim Velocity and predictability are fundamental pillars of successful product planning. Integrating technical debt management into the strategy is essential for sustainable growth and long-term success. Simply put, allocating bandwidth to address technical debt should be a strategic priority—it’s that straightforward.

To get technical debt be discussed, it is important to talk about it in weekly stand-ups, addressing the shortcomings and the impact it can have on the product planning. It is not only restricted to weekly team meetings, but also cross functional team meetings, or during collaboration happening between different teams involved with the product. It is necessary to understand that technical debt must be addressed otherwise it’ll stop you from planning for the right future of the product.

To integrate technical debt into product planning: Regular Reviews – Consistently assess and prioritize technical debt in the product backlog. Cross-Functional Collaboration – Involve both engineering and business teams to understand its impact. Allocate Resources – Dedicate time and budget during sprint planning to tackle technical debt alongside new features.

Integrating technical debt into product planning requires more than just a process—it’s about shifting the team’s mindset. For me, it starts with reframing technical debt as a strategic investment rather than a burden. Instead of treating it as a nuisance that slows us down, I position it as essential groundwork that enables scalability, improves performance, and sets the foundation for long-term innovation. By tying technical debt directly to business outcomes—like reducing time-to-market, enhancing customer experience, or lowering maintenance costs—it transforms from an afterthought into a core part of the product vision.

🔹 Assess Impact: Evaluate each CRM update's effect on business operations and prioritize the most urgent changes. 🔹 Time-Block Updates: Allocate specific slots in your calendar for updates, ensuring they don't clash with peak operational hours. 🔹 Transparent Communication: Keep your team in the loop about upcoming changes and any potential disruptions. 🔹 Agile Prioritization: Leverage agile methods—like those used in my AIaaS projects at JAT LINK—to regularly re-assess and adjust priorities.

Prioritize technical debt in backlog, allocate sprint time, involve cross-functional teams, and conduct regular reviews for sustainable product growth.

To seamlessly integrate technical debt discussions into product planning, it’s important to make it a part of the overall strategy from the start. During planning, set aside time to address both the current and future technical challenges your team might face, including technical debt

Paying off technical debt should be a regular planned and understood process, it’s up to technical leaders to ensure the business leaders understand where the technical debt scale is at any given moment, technical debt is like any debt it could be a sensible mortgage offered at a reasonable interest rate or a loan shark loan doubling interest every day. Its important to plan paying off debt whenever you are managing a system