Field notes.
Real opinions about what AI is getting right and wrong for operators in 2026, written by us, in our own voice, not a content calendar. Plus the occasional teardown of something Izzy built and what it taught us.
Articles

Your Prompts Are Broken: A CTO’s Guide to Production Prompt Engineering
Stop treating prompts like conversation. Learn the 5 engineering techniques to fix prompt drift, cut LLM costs, and secure AI agents against indirect injection.

The Architecture of Autonomy: Why Human-in-the-Loop Is Permanent Infrastructure
HITL isn't temporary it's essential for Level 3 Autonomy. Learn architectural patterns like Interruption Gateways and Risk-Tiered Routing to secure Agentic AI.

Prompt Engineering as Code: Why "Magic Strings" Kill AI Reliability
Move beyond vibe checks. Implement Prompt Engineering as Code (PEaC) to prevent regressions, control costs, and ensure compliance with the EU AI Act.

Top Problems With "Vibes-Based" Prompt Engineering & How to Fix Them
Is your AI strategy stuck in Prompt Dependency Hell? Discover the top 4 risks of vibes-based prompt engineering, from cost spikes to bugs, and how to switch to a reliable code-first approach.

Why Hardcoding Prompts in Git is a €10M Technical Debt Trap
Hardcoding prompts in Git hides LLM costs and creates compliance risks. Discover why this technical debt kills velocity and how to decouple prompts now.

7 EU AI Act Traps That Survive the 2027 Delay
The EU AI Act's high-risk deadline just moved to December 2027. Fines still run up to €15M or 3% of turnover under Article 99, internal workflows included.

5 Critical LLM Prompt Management Mistakes EU Teams Make (2026 Guide)
Learn how EU AI teams avoid version control chaos, compliance gaps, and cost overruns. Includes Python code examples, EU AI Act checklists (Articles 11 & 12), and testing frameworks.

How Much Does LLM Observability & EU AI Act Compliance Really Cost?
How much does EU AI Act compliance cost? We compare build vs. buy, hidden fees, and show the ROI of an LLM observability platform to avoid €35M fines.
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