I started with the fundamentals — storyboarding, scripting, building in early-era authoring tools. The gap between "what I want to build" and "what the tools allow" was the most interesting problem in the field, so I learned to close it.

That meant writing JavaScript inside Storyline. Then wiring courses to live APIs. Then building FFmpeg pipelines that reduced per-language video localisation from a full day's work to under 90 seconds across 8 languages.

Most L&D professionals start with content. I start with behaviour — what the learner needs to do differently, and what's currently stopping them. The technical work always follows from that question, never the other way around.

I use complex tech when it solves a real problem, and simple tech when that's what the problem needs. xAPI isn't impressive for its own sake — it's impressive when the data changes what you do next. I build once and document well enough that someone else can maintain it. And if something is being done manually and repeatedly, there's almost certainly a systems fix waiting to be written.