AI in production5 min read
Putting an LLM in production without giving it autonomy
Where the confidence threshold goes, what human review has to catch, and which decisions a language model should never be allowed to own in production.
ReadInsights
Notes from building and modernizing production systems
What we have learned shipping custom software, migrating legacy systems, and putting AI to work where it earns its keep.
All articles
- Modernization5 min read
Strangler-fig modernization without freezing the business
How to replace a legacy system in slices while it keeps running, which slice to take first, and the three conditions that make the pattern fail in practice.
- Working together3 min read
What a two-week discovery has to deliver to be worth paying for
A discovery that produces a proposal is a sales process. Five artifacts that make it an engineering deliverable you own and can hand to any vendor.
- Modernization3 min read
Integrating a 20-year-old ERP without touching it
An anticorruption layer lets new systems talk to an untouchable ERP without inheriting its data model. What belongs in it, and how to keep it thin.
- Modernization4 min read
RPA or API integration: when screen automation becomes debt
Screen automation is fast to build and expensive to keep. A decision table for choosing between RPA and a real integration, and how to survive RPA.
- Working together3 min read
Build versus buy: when off-the-shelf ends up costing more
Off-the-shelf is cheaper until you count configuration, integration, and the processes you bend to fit it. A test for deciding which side a capability falls on.
- Working together4 min read
How to size the cost of custom software before you have a quote
A framework for estimating custom software cost from the factors that actually move it, so you can challenge a proposal instead of comparing headline totals.
- Data3 min read
ETL or ELT for a mid-sized team, and how to tell which you need
ELT is the default advice and it is not always right. Where each pattern belongs, what the warehouse bill hides, and the constraint that decides it for you.
- Working together4 min read
How to tell whether a software vendor can actually build it
Case studies and team bios do not distinguish vendors. Six questions that surface real engineering depth, and the answers that should end the conversation.
- Compliance3 min read
What a Business Associate Agreement actually obligates a vendor to do
A signed BAA is not a compliance certificate. What it commits your software vendor to, what it does not cover, and the questions to ask before signing one.
- Compliance3 min read
HIPAA technical safeguards, translated for engineering teams
The Security Rule technical safeguards written as engineering decisions: what each one requires, what satisfies it, and where teams usually fall short.
- Working together3 min read
Nearshore, offshore, or US: the cost beyond the hourly rate
Hourly rate is the smallest term in delivery cost. What time zone overlap, rework, and context loss actually cost, and when each model is the right choice.