AI for builders
Thoughts on vibe coding, agentic development, and using AI to create real leverage instead of fake speed.
Enterprise lessons. AI experiments. Real-world building.
Michael Simmons
AI, software, and practical growth for builders and business owners.
I've spent more than 25 years in tech, mostly in the messy places where tools, systems, and people collide. These days I'm especially interested in agentic development, vibe coding, practical AI, and the slower work of finishing things that actually matter.
IBM consultant
AI builder
Dad of 7
Still shipping
Around here
This is my idea lab: notes, experiments, and things I'm trying to finish.
Field notes from the work
What enterprise consulting, developer productivity, DevOps, and side projects teach when you stop pretending the edges are clean.
Practical growth
Finishing more things, building in public honestly, and finding better systems for work, family, and the next chapter.
Projects
Some builds are public. Some stay internal.
Personal systems
5 Bullet Method
A weekly accountability experiment I can talk about publicly because the value is in using it, not protecting the idea.
Study tool
Exegesis Study Codex
A deployed study tool in my world. I have not written much about it yet, but it is fair game when the right post comes along.
Game experiment
Lemonade Stand
A small game experiment built with Codex as a way to learn what agentic development looks like outside the usual app stack.
Writing themes
What shows up here
Agentic workflows
- How AI changes software work in practice
- What actually helps teams move faster
- Where the hype breaks down
Builder field notes
- Enterprise lessons that still matter outside enterprise
- Developer productivity and practical systems
- Shipping side projects with less theater
Life behind the work
- Failure, restarting, and trying to finish more
- Parenting, duty, faith, and real-life pressure
- Technology that helps ordinary people
A short personal note
My life has not been a straight-line success story. I've failed often, restarted often, and kept building anyway. That probably shapes my thinking more than any title does.