Specimen · most sighted in the bestiary

The Zombie Pilot

The proof of concept that never dies and never ships

It shambles from steering committee to steering committee, still wearing the lanyard from its launch party and groaning for one more sprint. Nobody remembers who raised it, and nobody has the heart, or the budget authority, to put it down.

Symptoms

• Many proofs of concept, nothing in production
• Demos that impress, then stall
• No deployment path, monitoring or run owner
• Security and integration blockers found late
• New pilots start before old ones finish

Overheard in the corridor

• “It worked brilliantly in the demo.”
• “We're still waiting for security sign-off.”
• “Who's going to run this once the data scientists move on?”
• “Let's do one more pilot first.”