Mahmudur R Manna
Founder, Decision-Driven Software Engineering (DDSE) | Engineering Director | Author, Enterprise AI: Strategic Blueprint for Purple People
Manna, is a Bangladeshi engineer, author, and entrepreneur with over two decades of global experience designing and building data platforms, cloud-native and distributed systems, big-data analytics, and SaaS solutions. In recent years, he has focused on creating AI-driven products and enterprise AI systems. As the founder of Decision-Driven Software Engineering (DDSE) Foundation, Manna promotes decision-centric, human-AI collaboration in software delivery. He is the author of Enterprise AI: Strategic Blueprint for Purple People and an active open-source contributor through the DDSE Foundation and other projects on GitHub. His thought leadership extends to Medium, where he publishes articles on AI strategy, engineering methodologies, and organizational design, alongside research exploring the future of AI-assisted software development. Manna’s work blends deep hands-on engineering expertise with the ability to turn complex technical challenges into scalable, human-aligned solutions.
Books
ESG Data Explained: A Comprehensive Guide to Metrics, Calculation, and Reporting (Oct 2023) – An exhaustive guide illuminating the intricate landscape of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data. It breaks down ESG data categories and pillars (Environmental, Social, Governance), clarifying metrics and reporting methods(Independently published, full-text available on ResearchGate.)
Enterprise AI: Strategic Blueprint for Purple People (May 29, 2024) – A strategic roadmap for implementing AI at scale in large organizations. Focuses on aligning AI investments across autonomous units in governments and enterprises, using frameworks to manage diverse initiatives. (Independently published, ISBN 9798326928146)
ELIAS: The Quest for Meaning (Aug 31, 2024) – A novel exploring toxic workplace behaviors and deeper philosophical questions of ambition and fulfillment. Follows a postgraduate student researching toxic organizational behavior who seeks guidance from a philosopher character, Elias, blending psychology and philosophy (Independently published, ISBN 9798337917702)
There Are Seasons of the Mind (Feb 1, 2025) – A short Kindle e-book (~43 pages) reflecting on the cyclical “seasons” of human thoughts and emotions. (Self-published Kindle Edition)(Explores personal development themes, source: Amazon listing)
Research Papers and Preprints
Decision-Driven Software Engineering (DDSE) for AI-Assisted Development – A New SDLC Paradigm (Jul 2025) – Introduces DDSE, a software development life-cycle focused on capturing and managing key technical decisions in the era of AI-assisted coding. Addresses how implicit or ad-hoc decisions lead to architectural drift, and proposes a formal decision-centric process to align distributed teams and AI tools (Preprint, solo author)
A Dynamic Neuro-Symbolic Approach to Bridging Conceptual Knowledge Gaps Using GPT-Guided Incremental Learning (Mar 2025) – Proposes a hybrid AI approach that combines neural networks with symbolic learning to incrementally teach AI concepts it doesn’t understand. Uses GPT to guide the learning of new concepts, aiming to close knowledge gaps that pure neural models struggle with. (Preprint, solo author)
Thinking GPT – Inspired by Descartes Discourse on the Method (Oct 2024) – Analyzes limitations of large language models (GPTs) in reasoning and comprehension through a Cartesian lens. Proposes enhancements to imbue GPT-based AI with more structured reasoning and ethical consideration, akin to Descartes’ methodological doubt (Preprint, solo author)
Integrating Machine Learning into Established Application Architectures: Bridging the Gap Between AI and Software Engineering (June 2024) – Examines how machine learning models can be integrated as intrinsic components of existing software systems. Challenges the notion that ML requires completely new “agentic” architectures, arguing instead for seamless incorporation into traditional application stacks (Preprint, solo author).
Reimagining Value: Harnessing the Attention Economy for a Transparent and Engaged Society (Aug 2024) – Proposes new models of government communication leveraging real-time interaction. Discusses moving beyond formal press releases toward an “attention economy” approach to engage citizens and ensure transparency in governance (Preprint, solo author)
Generation Z and Single Neck to Choke Philosophy: How Top-Down Dynamics Foster a Culture of Finger-Pointing (Aug 2024) – Explores how “single neck to choke” leadership (pinpointing one accountable individual) in organizations can create a blame culture. Uses Gen Z’s perspective on meaningful work to discuss why top-down accountability can undermine a healthy culture. (Preprint, solo author)
PEPPA Framework: Integrating Physics, Philosophy, and Psychology for Enhanced Human Resolve (Sep 2024) – Introduces the “PEPPA” framework – Peace as Purpose, Emotional Intelligence, Proactivity, Patience, Acceptance – to strengthen personal resilience. Integrates concepts from physics, philosophy, and psychology into five stages to improve individual resolve and decision-making. (Preprint, solo author)
The Productivity Paradox: GenAI, Gen Z, and the Future Decision Makers (Sep 2024) – Investigates the intersection of Generative AI and Generation Z in the workplace. Highlights a paradox: AI promises high productivity, yet Gen Z craves purpose and meaning. Discusses how over-reliance on AI productivity tools might clash with Gen Z’s values (Preprint, solo author)
Open-Source Contributions (Repositories)
Cockpit - A Java-based PWA and microservice development platform (GitHub) – Frontend components are built with a “back-to-browser” approach and backend uses Netty and Jersey. Aims to simplify building modular web services and applications
Multi Micro Frontends and Backends(GitHub) - There are total 5 sessions to build a Cloud Agnostic Microservice Ecosystem with Spring boot, Zuul2, Consul, Traefik, Keycloak, Kafka, Angular, Prometheus, Grafana which will work in single node mode, docker swarm mode and in kubernetes of any provider.
Functional Interfaces and Builder Patterns for Immutability (GitHub) – Utilities for creating immutable objects in Java using functional interfaces and the Builder pattern. (Published alongside an article on immutability, it provides a framework to ensure object state cannot be changed once created.)
Nvidia_Nemo_FastPitch_TTS_Example (GitHub) – An example project demonstrating how to build a high-quality text-to-speech system locally using Nvidia’s NeMo FastPitch toolkit (This repository accompanies a blog guide for creating a personal audiobook solution with AI TTS.)
Agnostic ML Pipelines for Multi-Cloud: Apache Flink with Apache Beam on Minikube with MinIO (GitHub) – A set of pipeline tools for agnostic (cloud-agnostic) machine learning workflows (Enables deploying ML pipelines on multiple cloud platforms interchangeably. Developed as part of exploring multi-cloud MLOps strategies.)
Articles and Essays
Enterprise AI Strategy
Generative vs Predictive AI — “Generative AI Debt: In the Genesis Trust Is Missing” (31 May 2025) — Why trust and governance matter more than fancy models.
AI Automation Playbook (29 Jan 2025) — Chain-of-Responsibility pattern for enterprise-scale AI automation.
Decision Profiling & Benchmarking to Hypothesis Testing (24 Jan 2025) — Framework for spotting high-impact AI bets.
What the Industry Is Missing: Decision Domain Management (15 Jan 2025) — Argues SOP-to-strategy gaps stall AI value.
AI Agents vs AI Models (10 Jan 2025) — Blueprint for combining workflow automation with predictive intelligence.
Why Hugging Face & Kaggle Win — And What You’re Missing (23 Dec 2024) — Community-driven open tooling beats siloed R-&-D.
Is SaaS Really Dead or Just Evolving? (26 Dec 2024) — AI agents, middleware and the next SaaS wave.
How to Become an AI Leader for an Enterprise (22 Jun 2024) — Practical roadmap for CTO-level AI strategy.
Basic AI Engineering Management
“AI Agents” Is Just Marketing (16 Jan 2025) — Reframes agents as event-driven architecture.
From Observer Pattern to Agentic Architecture (23 Oct 2024) — Shows any seasoned dev can build agents without ML PhDs.
EDA in Python — Feature Engineering (19 Dec 2024)
EDA in Python — Multiple-Variable Analysis (10 Dec 2024)
Estimating Effort for AI Model Development (3 Dec 2024)
EDA in Python — Understanding Data (5 Dec 2024)
Is There a Methodology for AI Model Development? (1 Dec 2024)
Security
Crafting a Language of Failure: The Art of Error Codes (30 Dec 2024) — Treats error codes as a security-critical contract.
Public Governance
The Power of Documentation Against Tyranny (1 Aug 2024)
Outdated & Disconnected Government: Generation Zoomers (11 Aug 2024)
Philosophy
Pawns of a Machiavellian Leader (31 Jul 2024)
The Effects of Excessive Praise & Shame (7 Aug 2024)
PEPPA Framework: Enhancing Human Resolve (26 Sep 2024)
The Compulsion to Solve — Gift or Curse? (27 Sep 2024)
Flow Is the Only Constant (4 Nov 2024)
A Discourse of Roots & Ideals (11 Nov 2024)
Engineering Management
Misinterpretations of Agile (18 Oct 2024) — Declares iteration the real north-star, not rituals.
Dates Are Calculations, Not Commitments (4 Mar 2024)
Software Architecture
Scopes: The Art of Web Application Design (29 Nov 2024)
Leadership
Agreeing to Disagree — Long-Term Accountability (20 Oct 2024)
Unlocking Leadership Wisdom: Why Smart Executives Fail (20 Sep 2024)
Single Neck to Choke: Blame-Game Culture (8 Aug 2024)
Care — A Rare Quality & Secret to Growth (26 Apr 2024)
4 Pillars of the Art of Delegation (22 Apr 2024)
Agnostic MLOps
Integrating Apache Beam SDK Harness as Sidecars (12 Jan 2025)
AI Ethics
The Missing Piece in AI Ethics: Understanding “Need” (26 Nov 2024)
Mastering Cloud-Agnostic Multi-Cloud Platforms
(Nine-part series, Sep – Nov 2024)
Starting Small, Thinking Big (11 Sep 2024)
Real-World Platforms & Architectural Challenges (11 Sep 2024)
The Agnostic Philosophy of Engineering (11 Sep 2024)
Agnostic Approach for DevOps & Micro-Frontends (11 Sep 2024)
Master Data & Accrual Accounting (15 Sep 2024)
Unified Design for B2C & B2B (17 Sep 2024)
Enhancing Partner Integration (18 Sep 2024)
Subscription Models & Monetization (23 Sep 2024)
Security Architecture: Cloud Security Basics (20 Nov 2024)
Interviews, Talks, and Media Coverage
BBC News Feature (BBC বাংলা) – Mahmudur R Manna’s insights on cloud adoption in workplaces were featured by BBC News Bangla
Sources: The information above is compiled from Manna’s official author pages, profiles, and publication outlets, including his Amazon author listing, ResearchGate profile, Medium blog, LinkedIn/GitHub contributions, ORCID, and a journalist portfolio on MuckRack All links and references are provided inline.
