At DRAMS Software, architecture plays a critical role in ensuring that distilleries and spirit producers can manage complex, long-term inventory with confidence.
We spoke with William Sellick, our Principal Architect, about his background, the challenges of designing systems for the maturing spirits industry, and how emerging technologies like AI may shape the future of the sector.
Can you tell us about your background, and how your experience has shaped the way you think about architecture and technology when developing software for the mature spirit industry
I graduated from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and have been working in technology ever since. Initially starting in the oil & gas industry learning about how high volumes of data are collected and analysed giving me an insight to how well-designed systems can give real value to customers. From there, I worked in the construction industry designing and building cutting edge visualisation software used by architects. The focus was always on creating a solid foundation with the right components and this role allowed me to refine those skills. I continued my career in a software development company designing and creating solutions for local businesses where the focus was producing the right solution for customer’s problem. Listening to customers and suggesting solutions allowed me to refine my requirement gathering skills and apply these to the design of new systems. Joining DRAMS Software has allowed me to continue my journey,not only in understanding the maturing spirits industry but in designing and building stable and extendable software.
What excites you most about stepping into the Principal Architect role at DRAMS? Are there particular challenges, opportunities, or areas of impact that you’re especially looking forward to shaping in the months ahead?
I have worked in a few different roles in DRAMS Software but I think the ability to exercise my technical skills in the Principal Architect role excites me the most. Moving into this role represents both a continuation of my technical journey and an opportunity to shape the next phase of how DRAMS Software delivers value to our customers. What energises me most is the chance to influence the architectural direction of products that have a real impact on the industry, ensuring they’re modern, scalable and able to meet the evolving needs of our clients. There’s a huge opportunity to improve consistency, uplift engineering practices and streamline how we make architectural decisions. Alongside that, I’m eager to help create a culture where teams feel empowered, supported and able to experiment safely.
Over the coming months, I see myself focusing on building a clearer architectural vision, identifying the areas that will unlock the most value and ensuring we have the right foundations to innovate with confidence.
What does the Principal Architect role involve at DRAMS, and how does it differ from your previous responsibilities? What are the key outcomes you’re accountable for?
The Principal Architect role at DRAMS is centred on providing clear technical direction, strengthening architectural foundations, and ensuring our engineering efforts are aligned with long-term product and business goals. Unlike my previous responsibilities, this role gives me a broader remit to shape how our systems evolve, how teams collaborate, and how we modernise the platform strategically rather than tactically. It’s a shift from primarily solving immediate problems to guiding the overall technical landscape and making sure we’re investing in the right areas.
The key outcomes I’m responsible for include a more consistent architecture, improved engineering practices, greater technical alignment between teams, and a clear, shared vision for how DRAMS technology should evolve. It’s a role that blends strategy, mentorship, and practical problem solving.
How is AI already being used in modern software development today, and how does that influence how we design and build systems at DRAMS?
AI is already transforming modern software development in significant ways, from accelerating routine engineering tasks to enhancing product quality through smarter automation. Today, developers increasingly rely on AI-assisted coding tools that help with everything from generating boilerplate code to identifying bugs earlier and improving test coverage. Beyond code, AI also supports better decision-making by analysing logs, detecting anomalies, and offering insights that help teams operate more efficiently. These capabilities free software developers to focus on higher value, more creative problem solving.
For DRAMS, this shift influences not only how we build systems but how we think about the overall architecture. As AI becomes more deeply embedded in development workflows, we need platforms that are flexible, scalable, and able to integrate machine driven insights seamlessly. That means designing systems with clearer boundaries, better observability, and stronger data foundations so we can adopt AI responsibly and effectively. I believe AI pushes us toward a more modern, resilient engineering culture and by embracing it in the places that add real value, we can deliver solutions faster and unlock new opportunities for innovation across the DRAMS platform. I think this is an exciting direction for the company and we’re only at the beginning of what’s possible.
Where do you see spirit producers benefiting most from AI — for example in warehouse operations, inventory accuracy, or modelling long-term production and maturation scenarios?
I think AI has enormous potential to enhance the way spirit producers operate, particularly in areas where small decisions compound over years and where data volumes are too large or complex for manual analysis. Inventory accuracy is a prime example of this. Many producers manage vast, aging inventories where understanding true availability, losses, and future readiness is critical. AI can detect anomalies in stock movements, highlight potential inaccuracies, and improve forecasting by analysing historical patterns alongside live data. This builds on the rich inventory and cost tracking foundations already available in DRAMS and helps producers make more confident decisions about allocations, blends, and long-term planning.
Warehouse operations are another area of significant opportunity. AI can help predict cask level behaviour based on warehouse conditions, optimise where stock should be stored, and model the impact of different environmental factors on maturation over time. These insights allow producers to use warehouse space more effectively, reduce unnecessary movements, and improve consistency in spirit quality. Thes are all areas where DRAMS already captures detailed operational data and where AI can build upon.
I believe AI’s greatest value lies in giving producers more clarity in a domain where time, variability, and uncertainty are constant factors. Whether it’s improving operational efficiency today or helping shape decades long strategy, AI combined with DRAMS has the potential to complement the complex craft of spirit making with smarter decisions.
Do you see the spirits industry as an early adopter or a laggard when it comes to AI and advanced analytics? Are there any examples or patterns that stand out to you?
The spirits industry tends to be a measured adopter rather than either a clear early adopter or a laggard. Many producers operate with long-established craft traditions, complex regulatory obligations and decades long production cycles. This naturally makes organisations thoughtful and cautious when adopting new technologies and aligns closely with broader enterprise AI trends where companies remain in experimentation or early adoption phases rather than at full scale.
What stands out in the spirits sector is that adoption accelerates fastest where data availability and operational pressure intersect. Areas like long-term planning, recipe modelling, and inventory optimisation already involve significant analytical effort. Workflows like this create natural starting points for AI-driven augmentation because the value proposition is immediately clear: fewer manual investigations, better scenario modelling, and more confident decision-making. Similarly, producers investing in modern warehouse operations or global expansion tend to adopt AI earlier because the scale and complexity of their operations demand smarter tools to maintain consistency, quality, and efficiency.
In my view, the industry’s adoption pattern is pragmatic: spirits producers won’t embrace AI simply because it’s fashionable but they increasingly see it as essential where it meaningfully improves operational insight or reduces long-term risk. In my experience once it is proven in these priority areas, adoption typically expands steadily balancing tradition with innovation.
Looking ahead three to five years, how do you see AI augmenting DRAMS’ solutions, and what changes do you expect to see across the industry as a result?
One of DRAMS’ strength is the quality and quantity of data collected and maintained in the system. Looking three to five years ahead, I can see this data being a key building block for AI to help reshape how producers plan, operate, and optimise their businesses. Whether this is predictive suggestions in the operations completed in DRAMS or the automation of tasks I can see it having a massive positive impact for customers. I can imagine DRAMS evolving into a platform supported by AI agents that automate complex, multistep operational tasks. This could range from supporting warehousing decisions, assisting with auto-blending, or guiding directed putaway but essentially acting as an embedded coworkers that understands DRAMS data and could perform routine reasoning tasks on behalf of users.
At an industry level, I can see these advancements contributing to a broader shift towards better data driven guidance. I believe producers will increasingly expect software to surface insights automatically, highlight risks earlier, and help guide long range strategy. As more producers adopt AI-enabled tools, I would expect to see greater transparency across the supply chain, improved alignment between production and commercial teams, and a growing appetite for predictive and optimisation capabilities.
I believe DRAMS’ evolution will be defined by intelligent assistance baked directly into its core workflow. This will help producers make faster, more confident decisions while navigating the increasing complexity of global spirit production. I don’t think AI will ever replace the craft or the expertise that defines the industry, but instead enhance it to amplify the value of both the data producers collect and the talent they rely on.
