Every company has one. The little internal tool that Jane built back in 2021, and then Jane left. Nobody understands it, nobody will touch it. There are two unwritten rules around it: don't change it, it's working. And if you break it, you bought it. That's dark-matter enterprise software.
For every app you can actually see, there are ten of these sitting in the shadows, frozen. Michael Booth thinks that just changed. He read my article on hyper-personal software and ran with it, writing about hyper-team software: small teams inside big companies finally building the tools that were never going to get built.
We cover where this works, where it quietly goes wrong, and the guardrails that keep it from turning into a mess. Let's get into it.
Episode sponsors
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Links from the show
Guest
Michael Booth: github.com
Talk Python AI Integrations: talkpython.fm/blog
From Hyper-Personal to Hyper-Team Software: Small Team-Built, AI-Assisted Tools Inside the Enterprise: www.databooth.com.au
What hyper-personal software looks like (MK's article): mkennedy.codes
Databooth Site: www.databooth.com.au
Wall Street just lost $285 billion because of 13 markdown files: martinalderson.com
SaaSpocalypse is real but everyone is panicking about the wrong thing: www.reddit.com
Warp Terminal: www.warp.dev
Watch this episode on YouTube: youtube.com
Episode #558 deep-dive: talkpython.fm/558
Episode transcripts: talkpython.fm
Theme Song: Developer Rap
🥁 Served in a Flask 🎸: talkpython.fm/flasksong
---== Don't be a stranger ==---
YouTube: youtube.com/@talkpython
Bluesky: @talkpython.fm
Mastodon: @talkpython@fosstodon.org
X.com: @talkpython
Michael on Bluesky: @mkennedy.codes
Michael on Mastodon: @mkennedy@fosstodon.org
Michael on X.com: @mkennedy
Hosts & Guests
Information
- Show
- FrequencyUpdated Weekly
- PublishedAugust 10, 2026 at 1:21 PM UTC
- Length1h 2m
- Episode558
- RatingClean
