Explore effective software development strategies in this conference talk from YOW! 2022. Learn about autonomous cross-functional teams, platform engineering, and the concept of a "paved road" for balancing team autonomy with organizational needs. Discover how to enable faster delivery of business value through loosely coupled architectures, empowered teams, and well-designed platforms. Gain insights on building and managing platforms that provide essential services while maintaining security, quality, and cost control. Understand the principles for creating effective paved roads, including building what people need, reducing adoption risks, minimizing wait times, and allowing for customization. Examine real-world examples from the Financial Times and learn how to handle challenges like the log4shell vulnerability. Acquire valuable knowledge on fostering innovation while maintaining necessary guardrails in modern software development environments.