The thing with actual debt is that you have to pay it back, because you agreed to do that in a formal way. That's not the case with technical debt. No one says

The thing with actual debt is that you have to pay it back, because you agreed to do that in a formal way. That's not the case with technical debt. No one says you have to pay it back. That's why I think the metaphor falls flat when you use it with business stakeholders.