Move fast or build with quality?
This question haunts technology leaders in companies of all sizes, and even more so today, where AI products claim to do everything without code. As far as we know, Mark Zuckerberg, in the early days of Facebook, had a clear answer: “Move fast and break things,” and that philosophy allowed him to scale the social network faster than anyone else… until the bugs, unstable systems, and the costs of “breaking everything” began.
In 2014, Zuckerberg himself announced a new motto:
“Move fast with stable infrastructure.”
This strategic shift highlights a fundamental lesson: true agility is not just speed, but speed on a solid foundation.
Today, CTOs, CDOs, and data leaders face the same dilemma. So, we’re sharing what we’ve learned to keep in mind to address this issue optimally, as we at Tekne constantly see this trade-off in our clients’ requests. Here’s how:
Before running, learn to step firmly
The foundation of any smart technology strategy rests on a key distinction: when to use robust code and when to rely on low-code/no-code tools?
Here are some key facts:
🚧 Traditional code (high-code)
- Necessary if you have complex business logic
- If you handle large volumes of data or need ultra performance
- When you want to avoid lock-in and maintain technological independence
🚀 Low-code/no-code
- Ideal for MVPs, prototypes, internal automations
- Standard business flows or internal tools without much differentiation
- Rapid integrations between SaaS systems
📌 Bordr case: This startup built its product using Airtable + n8n + a lightweight frontend. No developers required. They validated their business in three months. Then they scaled only as much as necessary. A perfect example of agility with intelligence.
Technical debt: ignore it today, pay dearly for it tomorrow
Technical debt is like a credit card: you can use it to get ahead, but if you don’t pay it off, the interest will eat you up.
📊 Key tactics for tech leaders:
- Make debt visible and label it. Don’t make it invisible.
- Allocate a fixed amount of time per sprint for refactoring (20% is a good benchmark).
- Prioritize by value: Which debt is holding you back from launching faster or creating the most bugs?
- Opt for incremental refactoring. Avoid the “let’s rewrite everything” syndrome, Netscape-style.
💡 Netscape lost the browser war by letting its technical debt grow. The lesson is clear: debt can kill a company.
Automate with intelligence (and control)
Automation tools like n8n, Make, or Power Automate can speed up your organization by 10x… or become a ticking time bomb if you don’t manage them.
✅ Use them for:
- Automate repetitive internal processes
- Orchestrate APIs without writing everything from scratch
- Create hybrid flows with code only where needed
🔐 But don’t neglect:
- Security: credentials, roles, logs, separate environments
- Versioning and review of complex flows
- Clear governance to avoid “shadow IT”
📌 Many successful companies are creating “Automation Centers of Excellence.” Does your team have one?
True agility = fast processes + solid architecture
Agile ≠ chaos. Elite teams launch faster because they automate, test, and monitor everything.
- 🏗️ Microservices, SOLID, evolutionary architecture
- 🤖 CI/CD, automated testing, feature flags
- 🧠 DevOps culture: “you build it, you run it”
- 📈 Monitoring + resilience = confidence to deploy changes without fear
Zuckerberg said it best: “When you build something that you don’t have to fix ten times, you can move faster on what you’ve built.”
It’s not just technique, it’s leadership
A CTO or CDO today is also an internal evangelist.
- 🎯 Speak business language: ROI, time-to-market, operational savings
- 🔥 Show quick wins: “We automated this process and saved 60 hours per month”
- 📚 Educate the business on quality, and the technical team on impact
- 🎻 Align everyone with a vision: “We build to last, we deliver value every day”
Measure your ROI like a CFO
Everything can be measured. Even technical decisions.
- 💸 What do you save with low-code?
- 🕒 How much do you gain by going to market two months earlier?
- 🛠️ How much does a rewrite cost if you didn’t invest in quality?
- 🌐 What reputational risk are you avoiding?
🎯 Use hybrid TCO and ROI models to show the true value of each decision. And present it as a business. Because that’s what it is. The key here, as always, is to measure.
Speed + Strength = Competitive Advantage
If you’re a technology leader, you can’t afford to fall into the false dilemma of “speed or quality.” You need both. And you can have both.
The companies that dominate their industries today understood this: solid infrastructure doesn’t slow down speed. It enables it.
How are you managing this trade-off? How are you incorporating new AI tools?
At Tekne, we help technology leaders implement automation, AI, and scalable solutions with business impact. Feel free to send us a message.