Scenario: You have a Q3 roadmap that requires building a new GenAI feature. You have a team of 10 engineers. You estimate the work will take 3 months. You assign the team.
Result: The project is late.
Because you planned based on headcount (“we have 10 people”), not capability (“do we have the skills?”).
If your team of 10 is composed of 8 frontend specialists and 2 junior backend engineers, and your GenAI project requires Python and vector database expertise, your effective capacity is near zero.
You cannot solve a skill gap problem with more bodies.
Engineering capacity is finite and specific. It is not a generic resource you can pour into any bucket.
Junior engineers are net-negative capacity on complex architectural tasks because they require more supervision than the work they produce.
Senior engineers have high capacity, but it is often locked up in meetings and code reviews.
Before you commit to a roadmap date, you need to audit your skill inventory.
Most organizations do this using spreadsheets or surveys like “Who here knows Rust?” This data is outdated the moment it is typed.
You need a live, automated skill matrix.
NotchUp scans your repositories to understand exactly who knows what, based on real code commits, not job titles.
It allows you to map your roadmap requirements against your actual inventory.
Without this data, your roadmap is just a wish list.
Align your roadmap with reality. Audit your skill capability with NotchUp
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