RailsConf 2018: Scaling the Software Artisan by Coraline Ada Ehmke In the late 1700s the discovery of the principle of interchangeable parts shifted the demand for the expertise of artisans from production to design and invention. This shift transformed Western civilization and opened the way for the industrial revolution. We face a similar opportunity now as one generation of software developers reaches its professional peak and a new wave of developers enter the field. This talk will trace the historical evolution of the artisan and explore how understanding this history can help us to maximize and multiply the impact of senior software developers.