When & how to automate documentation

In this episode of Everything Outside Code, host William Imoh sits down with Gareth Brinn, Documentation Manager at Gravity, to explore the future of technical documentation in the age of AI. They dive deep into viewing docs as essential product infrastructure, finding the right balance between automation and human judgment, and keeping up with lightning-fast engineering cycles. What you'll learn in this episode: AI as Optimization: Why AI should optimize—not replace—technical writers. Where to Start Automating: Automating high-friction, repetitive tasks like release notes and draft docs straight from code changes. Single Source of Truth: Why fixing underlying organizational workflows and establishing designated sources of truth must happen before introducing AI tools. Cost-Smart Tech Stacks: Using a mix of low-code tools (N8N), LLMs (Claude), docs-as-code (GitHub), and simple Python/Playwright scripts to save money on API tokens. The Evolving Technical Writer: How technical writers can transition into content strategists, product managers for docs, and defenders of the "contextual layer".