These are the operating principles we believe underpin a high-performing software engineering organization. A shared definition of what great looks like that helps us aim higher, stay aligned, and drive real impact through technical excellence at Emma. Each principle has a set of associated practices that describe its implementation. Those practices are maintained and evolved by our community of Staff+ Software Engineers.

We engineer with people in mind.

Great software is a team effort. At Emma, engineers work in cross-functional teams, equipped with the necessary context and resources, because what you build matters, and how you build it together matters just as much.

We ship with purpose and for impact.

We care about the problems we solve, not just the code we write. We strive to understand our users and our impact, so we can challenge assumptions and spend our time on what actually moves the business forward. We take ownership from idea to outcome.

We choose progress over perfection.

Iteration is how we get better. We measure the impact of what we build, treat mistakes as learning opportunities, and make pragmatic trade-offs that balance quality with momentum.

We build excellence in.

We create reusable, opinionated foundations that make the right path the easy one- secure, compliant, and cost-efficient by default - so engineers can move fast with confidence. Everything as code, stellar documentation, and developer-centric platforms are built into how we scale.

We release small, we release often.

We act with urgency and embrace small, frequent, well-tested deployments that reduce risk and accelerate feedback. We ship thin vertical slices of functionality, validate them in production, and refine based on what we learn.



We build it, we own it.

At Emma, engineers design, maintain, observe, and support the software and data they create. Ownership extends across the entire tech stack, and we support each other in making it successful. True autonomy, mastery, and purpose come from being accountable end-to-end.

We treat data and interfaces as first-class citizens.

Data models and UIs are defined early and built with intention. Clear, stable interfaces reduce complexity, align teams, accelerate delivery, and shorten the path to value. Getting these right from the start is what lets us move faster later.

Engineering Principles

By: Carl-Johan Backman & Flavio Deroo