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 RAG System Is Silently Failing: Why Traditional Metrics Miss It
Is your RAG system returning "200 OK" but hallucinating? Learn why traditional metrics fail to catch silent degradation and how to monitor drift in production.
LLM Vendor Lock-in: Why Switching Costs 10x More Than You Think
Most teams underestimate LLM switching costs by 3x. The issue isn't the API, it's prompt lock-in. Learn how to build a multi-provider strategy that works.
Claude Code Agent Teams vs. Subagents: Is the 7x Token Cost Worth It?
Is Claude Code Agent Teams worth the 3-7x premium? We compare Agent Teams, subagents, OpenClaw, and LangGraph to help you balance AI velocity vs. budget.
Why Your US-Built AI Observability Tool Can't Answer EU Auditor Questions
Is your AI stack compliant with GDPR and the EU AI Act? Most US observability tools fail on data residency and deletion. Here are the 5 gaps you need to close.
Your AI Agent Can't Explain Itself: Why LLM Observability Fails EU AI Act Compliance
Most AI agents fail Article 12 audit requirements. Learn why standard observability isn't enough for EU compliance and how to build audit-ready traces for LangChain & CrewAI.
Do You Actually Need LLM Observability? An Honest Review (2026)
An honest, transparent review of LLM observability for 2026. We analyze the ROI, EU AI Act compliance risks, and tell you exactly when you don't need a tool like PromptMetrics.
LLM Hallucination Detection: 2026 Comparison of Accuracy, Latency, and Cost
Stop overpaying for LLM safety. Compare 5 hallucination detection strategies from HaluGate to SLM-as-Judge based on RAGTruth++ and vLLM benchmarks.
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.
Why Cost per Token is Ruining Your AI Budget
Discover why cheaper LLMs often increase your total AI bill. Learn how tracking Cost per Success uncovers hidden escalation costs and truly optimizes AI FinOps.
Field notes, in your inbox
One email per week. No content calendar — just what we’re building, what broke, and what we changed our minds about.
Operator Stack
The free community where we continue these conversations between posts.
Join free