Why I Build With AI

I'm not a software developer. I'm an IT director who spent 25 years making sure enterprise systems don't fall over. So why am I building a health-tech platform with AI tools?

Because the gap between "knowing what to build" and "being able to build it" just got a lot smaller.

For decades I've sat in rooms with developers, translating business requirements into technical specifications. I understood architecture, data flow, compliance requirements, integration patterns — everything except actually writing the code. That last mile was always someone else's job.

AI changed that equation. Not by making me a developer — I'm still not one — but by giving me a co-pilot that can turn my architectural thinking into working code. I know what a well-structured API looks like. I know why you separate concerns. I know what happens when you skip input validation in a healthcare context. Now I can express that knowledge directly in code, with AI handling the syntax while I handle the substance.

This is what I'm documenting in these Field Notes. Not tutorials. Not thought leadership. Just honest notes from someone who knows enterprise IT deeply and is learning to build with new tools.

The mistakes are real. The insights are hard-won. And if you're a non-traditional builder doing something similar, maybe they'll save you some time.