In software development, technical debt can manifest in various forms such as outdated code, lack of documentation, inefficient algorithms, or poorly designed architectures. It is often measured in terms of how much future effort is needed to fix issues created by earlier decisions. Like financial debt, technical debt can incur 'interest' as the cost of maintaining and working with problematic code increases over time. If not addressed, technical debt can lead to increased maintenance costs, reduced productivity, and a slower pace of innovation as developers spend more time managing existing systems rather than building new features.