Quantifying platform engineering impact at Wise | PlatformCon 2023

Quantifying the impact of platform engineering is essential for applying a product mindset, prioritizing initiatives, and justifying investments. At Wise, platform teams align their work with the company mission using four North Star KPIs: productivity, stability, efficiency, and risk. By translating these metrics into monetary values, teams can speak the business language, calculate ROI, and make objective decisions about resource allocation. For instance, productivity gains are calculated by the value of developer hours freed for roadmap acceleration, while stability improvements are quantified by reducing incident-related financial losses. Similarly, efficiency initiatives balance cost savings against potential risks, and risk management is assessed by comparing the financial impact of threats before and after mitigation. This framework transforms technical platform work into measurable business outcomes, enabling more strategic and transparent decision-making across the organization.