The Most Dangerous Debt in Fast-Moving Systems Isn’t Technical

In fast-moving systems, the most dangerous debt isn’t technical, it’s interpretation debt. While technical debt slows execution, interpretation debt misroutes it, causing systems to fail silently by executing outdated assumptions. Unlike mechanical failures, these systems appear to work perfectly, with increasing velocity and output, but lose coherence and meaning. Interpretation debt accumulates when systems outpace shared understanding, mental models lag and decisions persist beyond their relevance. It’s a routing problem, not a throughput problem, and AI exacerbates it by accelerating the wrong direction. To mitigate this, builders must treat interpretation as critical infrastructure, regularly review assumptions, design self-explanatory systems, and prioritize meaning over speed. The real risk isn’t how fast a system moves, but how long it can sustain direction without questioning its own beliefs.