CVE Automation Prioritized Over EUS Daily Numbers

January 6, 2026 at 8:49 PMstrategyhigh

Situation

Decision to push the EUS catch-up deadline to prioritize automating CVE work. Automation is a higher priority than hitting daily EUS numbers manually.

Reasoning

The daily EUS number is a lagging metric - hitting it manually does not solve the underlying problem. Automation is the strategic investment that compounds over time. Willing to miss short-term targets to build infrastructure for long-term velocity. This operationalizes the NARF accountability mandate - automation IS the solution people are being held accountable for delivering. Moved from persuasion mode to execution mode.

Additional Context

NARF automation stalled with only 10 packages shipped in 3 months. Hardware delays now resolved with Azure access. The decision to stop trying to convince the org and instead force action.

People Involved

Nathan Blackham, Brian Dawson, Max Spevack

Source

reflection

AI Confidence

88%

Related Context

🎥
Engineering Weekly Sync

fathom

Automating CVE work is a higher priority than the daily EUS number. The deadline will be pushed to accommodate this automation work.

🎥
People Chat with Nathan

fathom

Stop trying to convince the org to move faster and will instead force action.

Follow-up Todos

Suggest follow-up todo

MAX’s CVE remediation AI work

@Max, @Nathan

How is it being progressed/driven - goals, milestones, owners. FOR BOARD (Jan 21): Need clear answer to: What is left to get to a place where we have no human involvement in patching a CVE other than starting the process and approving the PR? Even if only for a very small set of CVEs, need a crisp message on where we are.

Why: Max's CVE automation tools are central to the mandate you issued. Understanding progress, goals, and milestones ensures the termination-level stakes you set are backed by clear expectations. Without visibility, you can't hold people accountable fairly.

Outcome

★★★☆☆(3/5)

Made it clear to the team that automation is their priority. Seeing some engineers focus on automation, but results are mixed - some engineers are moving on it, others are not.

Recorded on January 12, 2026

Decision ID: c2ddcf63-2249-4b6a-b21d-1b226c404958