For engineering firms
AI coding agents made writing code cheap. But you need to avoid the slop. With my guidance, your team can build their own professional-grade tools worth stamping their name on.
The story
Twenty-five years · what changed
I've been building custom software for over twenty-five years, mostly web applications for small and mid-sized businesses. Until now, one thing stayed true: custom software was expensive, because custom software meant paying developers to write code.
That has changed. Coding agents now do most of the writing. The barrier to creating software is disappearing. The part of the job that didn't get cheaper is the part that always mattered most: knowing what problem to actually solve.
Your engineers know their domain better than anyone. Now they can build the tools that scale their productivity.
There's a lot of AI hype. Having used coding agents myself, the shift is real. With the right guidance, your team can build their own applications. That's where I come in.
Guidance
01
There are many choices to make when architecting software. AI often doesn't have enough context to make the right choices and will pick inconsistently. I start you off with a solid foundation and clear guidelines that allow AI to help you build quality applications.
02
Your team needs to be confident in the output of your tools. AI can write a lot of code, very fast. But how do you know it works correctly? Automated testing and validation are two areas that require clear patterns and structure to get right. Both are part of the foundation I setup.
03
The tools your team builds handle client data, sensitive calculations, and information that needs to stay inside the firm. AI tends to leave security for later. Authentication and role-based access need to be built in from the start. I bring both into the foundation.
How I work
Experienced guide
Each engagement starts with a clear scope based on your team's needs and current capabilities. We start with a solid foundation, then build it out with AI agents. Your engineers get a working tool up and running quickly, and the confidence to keep going on their own.
When the engagement ends, you own the tool, the code, and the skill to keep building. No vendor lock-in. No black box.
The industry
What I like
Engineers think like builders. The way of thinking that makes someone a good engineer also makes them good at building software.
The work matters. Engineering firms work in the physical world: energy, buildings, infrastructure. As more and more things go digital, the physical work still needs better tools.
I've worked with engineering firms before and enjoyed it. The teams were practical and got stuff done.
Your firm
A good fit if
Probably not the right fit if
About
Independent Advisory
I've been building custom web applications for small and mid-sized businesses for over twenty-five years. I worked for a small agency focused on the non-profit space until around 2015, when I started working as an independent developer. Many of the applications I built were data-heavy and meant to help the business scale its offerings.
I now bring that experience to engineering firms. The gap between "an engineer who knows the domain" and "an engineer who can build software" is smaller than ever. I help bridge that final gap by working alongside your engineers as they build.
Engagements
Each engagement is scoped and priced clearly upfront.
One week
Get your team going with a solid foundation: the structure, patterns, and workflow they'll use to build with AI. The week ends with your team set up to keep going on their own.
Multi-week
Build an internal tool together with one to three of your engineers. They learn how to build with AI by building, on a tool the firm actually needs, and finish with both a working tool and the capability to keep going.
Ongoing
Senior advisor for the calls your team would rather not make alone: the architecture for a new tool, a second look at what the AI is suggesting, a review of the plan before they build. Usually follows a build engagement.