Today was a massive win. I had my meeting with the Head of AI for our global group, and it went beyond anything I had imagined. The Pitch: 132 Orders and a "Broken" System I had the chance to present a real-world challenge: Manually processing 132 sales orders in April. The workflow is a nightmare: Open each order, find the amount, cross-check it with an Excel sheet, invoice it, and repeat. To make it worse, there is a known bug in our D365 environment where the amount column simply shows "0" in the grid, meaning I can’t just export a list. It requires manual clicks. In a busy finance department, this takes days because of constant interruptions. I presented my workflow and explained how this concept isn't just for one task—it’s a framework for almost every repetitive monthly task we have. I knew from my previous Rebill Project that if I can automate the "friction," I can win back my time. The Result: Skipping the Queue When I told the Head of AI that this could turn a 3-4 day job into about 1 hour, his eyes lit up. Even though Claude Code is still stuck in corporate governance (it's currently with our CEO to decide on a global rollout), he didn't want me to wait. He immediately assigned me a Microsoft Copilot Studio license. These are highly restricted—usually, there’s a long waiting list, and if you don't use it for 30 days, you lose it. He bypassed the entire queue to get me started right away. Moving the Needle with IT To get "Copilot Cowork" talking to D365, I had to submit a technical IT ticket to enable the Model Context Protocol (MCP). I made sure to CC both the Head of AI and my own manager. The Head of AI jumped straight into the ticket with this comment: "I talked to Allan today. He has an idea to speed up a process in finance and save days of work... The use of the MCP server for this would help him very much. Open for a call if needed or any other help for the team."

Everything is changing so fast. As a Millenial having lived through the introduction of PCs (loved my Apple LC II), dial-up internet, iPhones, now AI, can't believe how much has changed. Even AI, in december I remember people being skeptical of AI ads, then 4-5 months later it seems like if you don't do AI ads you're gonna be left behind. At the same time, while I love what I'm able to do with AI, worried about the environmental impacts and wonder if those will catch up to us before we figure things out. For my industry definitely seeing a need to upskill quickly to stay relevant, probably even by the end of the year. Wonder what others are thinking?

came back after a week offline and spent an hour just reading posts. people are shipping. full agent teams, named specialists, live clients. and i'm still on the foundation. but here's the honest version of what's actually happening. i build something. it works. then i look at it and realise it's not what i actually wanted. so i break it and start again. then halfway through the rebuild, a new idea comes in and now i don't know if i should finish what i started or pivot to the thing that's clearly better. i've rebuilt the same system three times in a month. and the worst part.. each version was better than the last. so was the rebuilding wrong? or is that just what building actually looks like before it locks in? genuinely asking because i can't tell if this is a me problem or if everyone here is quietly doing the same thing and just posting the final version.

🎟️ @Virgilio Robinson just won a free seat in The Lyceum. 🎟️ Pick your cohort, my guy. Technical, Business, or Creator. It's yours. Why @Virgilio Robinson won: Most entries built a calculator with Marcus's voice on top. Virgilio built a system. Check it out: https://areweok.netlify.app 🧠 Built around the person, not the spreadsheet. Most calculators ask for income and savings. Virgilio's intake starts with who relies on you, how decisions get made at home, and how the worry actually feels. That's the difference between a tool and a planner. 🎯 It actually solves Marcus's problem. A prospect fills it out before the call. They get a real read on where they stand. Marcus walks into the meeting already knowing the numbers AND the emotional context. Hour saved, conversation deeper. ✍️ The voice is Marcus. "Matthew, I can tell you're the kind of person who carries the weight of everyone else's financial security on your shoulders." That's not a calculator output. That's a planner who paid attention. 🎚️ The "what moves the needle" sliders. Three levers: save more, earn more, work longer. Live recalc against the target. This is exactly what Marcus asked for when he said "give them a path, not a verdict." 📅 It closes the loop. Email plus three preferred dates, sent straight to Marcus. The only entry that took the prospect all the way to a booked conversation. Real talk for everyone else. This was a tight one. There were several entries that could have won. The bar this week was higher than Week 1 and the work showed it. If you didn't win, that doesn't mean your entry was off. It means Virgilio went further. A lot of you built tools that nailed the voice. A lot of you built tools that nailed the math. Virgilio built one that did both AND thought about how Marcus actually runs his business. That's the lesson. The brief is never just the brief. The brief is a person trying to solve a real problem.

I'm curious what everyone here likes to do for fun (of course building stuff with Claude is fun too lol), and if you've applied any AI to your hobby. For me it's been super useful for DND planning and I find I get to stay in creative flow more. Curious what other people are doing