Blog

Notes from the workshop.

Long-form thinking on engineering, agentic systems, RAG, MVPs, and the practice of shipping software.

ai

AI in Fintech: Underwriting, Fraud, KYC — What's Actually Shipping in 2026

Fintech's AI moment is here. Where it's earning its keep and where it's still mostly demos.

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engineering

The Case for Boring Tech in 2026

Boring tech ships faster, hires easier, and breaks less. A 2026 case for not chasing the hype.

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llm

Claude vs GPT vs Gemini for Production: A 2026 Model Selection Guide

An honest production guide. What each frontier model is best at, where they fail, and how to pick without lock-in.

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engineering

System Design Without Overengineering: A First-Product Framework

A first-product system design framework that resists the urge to be 'enterprise-ready' before you have customers.

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ai

AI in Healthtech: Where It's Working, Where It Isn't (Regulatory Edition)

AI in healthtech isn't blocked by tech anymore — it's blocked by regulation, liability, and clinical workflow integration. A 2026 status report.

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ai

AI in Edtech: Personalized Learning vs the AI Tutor Hype

The 'AI tutor' marketing is loud. The real AI-in-edtech wins are quieter. Here's what's actually moving outcomes.

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founders

Hiring Engineers vs Hiring a Studio: A 2026 Cost-Benefit Framework

When does hiring win? When does a studio win? An honest framework that doesn't pretend the answer is always one or the other.

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agentic

Building AI Agents With Human-in-the-Loop Fallbacks

Pure-autonomy agents are mostly demos. The agents that ship in production know when to call a human.

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founders

The 'Almost-CTO' Trap: When Fractional Leadership Is Exactly Right (And When It Isn't)

Fractional CTOs are sold as a magic bullet for pre-CTO startups. Sometimes they are. Often they aren't. Here's how to tell.

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