Expert Profile
Paul Storer-Martin
Chief Technology Officer, Mallon Associates. Lead instructor on global engineering programmes for tier-one banks since 2002.
Paul Storer-Martin, CTO, Mallon Associates
Biography
Paul Storer-Martin is Mallon's Chief Technology Officer and has been part of the firm since 2002. He started as a technical trainer and progressed to global lead instructor on engineering programmes for tier-one banks, including the New York 2008 cohort that produced Alwyn Tan.
Paul's parallel role for the past seven years is CTO and co-founder of Semlr, a knowledge management platform. He writes and ships code daily, which is what he credits for staying current in the classroom: knowing that what he shares with students will make them better technologists, whatever their level.
Before Mallon, Paul worked through the 1990s in development roles spanning further-education funding, legal billing systems and SQL Server internals, and probation case management. He has been teaching engineers professionally since 1998.
Areas of expertise
- C++, Java, C#, and software architecture
- Engineering team capability and retention
- Practitioner-led training methodology
- AI in engineering workflows: verification, harness, deterministic controls
- Knowledge management at scale (via Semlr)
- Developer onboarding inside production-equivalent environments
Key viewpoints
On engineering judgement in the age of AI
The rise of AI-generated code raises the value of engineering judgement rather than lowering it. AI can produce plausible code at scale, but the engineer reviewing it remains the underwriter of every PR they approve. Training has to produce engineers who can verify what an AI output actually does before it ships, not engineers who just generate more of it.
On training durability
Programmes that train engineers in a single tool teach them to be replaceable. Programmes that train them in patterns and judgement teach them to be adaptable. The skills that last across stack changes are the ones that survive when the tooling underneath turns over, which it now does every few months rather than every few years.
On retention through ambition
Under-training graduates to retain them isn't risk mitigation. It's the most expensive saving a bank can make. Engineers stay where they are stretched and grow. The fear that well-trained engineers will leave for competitors misreads the maths: poorly-trained engineers stay, but they are less effective for years.
Featured insights
“Under-training to keep people is the most expensive saving you can make.”
“We are the underwriters of every PR we approve. That's a responsibility we cannot, and should not, offload to anyone or anything else.”
“Most buyers ask how we do things. The question I wish they'd ask is how long it'll take us to learn how they do things.”
“Engineers don't only need to learn what they need for their current job. Breadth deepens understanding.”
Related content
Off-duty: collects guitars and more eclectic instruments, including an Appalachian dulcimer and a theremin. Apparently the layering is an acquired taste.
Work with Paul and the Mallon team
Mallon's Practitioner-Led Programmes are designed and delivered by working engineers like Paul. If you'd like to talk to us about engineering training for your team, book a discovery call.
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