Paths · Field guide · 27 chapters

Becoming an AI Tech Lead.

The hard skills, soft skills, governance, and operating model for leading AI across teams. Read, apply, check yourself, and build visible progress.

The route4,660 XP

Five connected tracks—from shaping the role to building the operating system around it.

Your route

Five tracks. One connected practice.

27 chapters

Foundations & the role

What the job actually is — and how to shape it.

2 chapters

00
What an AI Tech Lead actually is
Four hats, one mandate, and why “cross” is the hard part.
00 · 8 min · 100 XP
01
Shaping the role itself
Do this first — a fuzzy new role with no charter is a trap.
01 · 8 min · 200 XP

Technical craft

The hands-on depth that earns your authority.

8 chapters

02
Prompt & context engineering
Treat the context window as an engineered input, not a wish.
02 · 13 min · 160 XP
03
RAG & knowledge systems
Most 'the AI is wrong' bugs are retrieval bugs.
03 · 14 min · 170 XP
04
Agents, tools & MCP
When to let the model act — and when not to.
04 · 13 min · 170 XP
05
Evaluation & eval-driven development
The keystone skill. Own this and you own quality.
05 · 15 min · 200 XP
06
AI system architecture
Compound AI systems are distributed systems.
06 · 14 min · 180 XP
07
LLMOps & production
Ship, watch, roll back — the AI gateway is your paved road.
07 · 13 min · 170 XP
08
AI security & red-teaming
Non-negotiable at an insurer. Guardrails first, evangelism second.
08 · 13 min · 180 XP
09
Cost, FinOps & model selection
“What does it cost and what's the ROI?” — have the answer ready.
09 · 11 min · 150 XP

Leadership & influence

Leading and scaling people you don't manage.

5 chapters

10
Soft skills — the real job
Influence, translation, evangelism with substance, coaching at scale.
10 · 12 min · 150 XP
11
Stakeholder & executive communication
Translate AI reality up, down and sideways.
11 · 10 min · 150 XP
12
Coaching, enablement & running a guild
Your success metric is other people's capability.
12 · 11 min · 160 XP
13
The operating model across teams & BUs
Hub-and-spoke: centralize standards, decentralize the building.
13 · 9 min · 150 XP
14
Hiring & growing AI capability
Build the bench, don't hoard the skill.
14 · 9 min · 140 XP

Strategy, governance & value

Choosing the right work and running it safely.

7 chapters

15
Finding high-value use cases
The hardest skill: deciding what to build at all.
15 · 11 min · 160 XP
16
Governance, risk & compliance
Your superpower at a regulated insurer (EU AI Act · DORA · GDPR).
16 · 14 min · 200 XP
17
Responsible AI: fairness & ethics
Especially load-bearing in insurance pricing & underwriting.
17 · 12 min · 170 XP
18
Measuring success
If you can't measure it, you can't lead it — or defend the role.
18 · 9 min · 150 XP
19
The phased plan (now → 12 months)
Listen → quick win → paved road → scale → strategic.
19 · 11 min · 200 XP
20
Failure modes to avoid
The traps that quietly sink AI leads.
20 · 8 min · 150 XP
21
Cadence & artifacts
The rhythm you run, and the portfolio of leverage you build.
21 · 9 min · 150 XP

Capstones & resources

Build the artifacts. Then keep learning.

5 chapters

22
Capstone: build an eval harness
Ship the keystone artifact — and your calling card.
22 · 20 min · 250 XP
23
Capstone: a governed RAG feature
Grounded, access-aware, cited — production-shaped.
23 · 22 min · 250 XP
24
Capstone: red-team & report
Break your own system, then standardize the fix.
24 · 18 min · 230 XP
25
Capstone: role charter & 90-day plan
Define the role before it defines you.
25 · 16 min · 220 XP
26
Learning resources
Depth over breadth — pair every concept with building something.
26 · 7 min · 100 XP

Becoming an AI Tech Lead.

Five tracks. One connected practice.

Foundations & the role

What an AI Tech Lead actually is

Shaping the role itself

Technical craft

Prompt & context engineering

RAG & knowledge systems

Agents, tools & MCP

Evaluation & eval-driven development

AI system architecture

LLMOps & production

AI security & red-teaming

Cost, FinOps & model selection

Leadership & influence

Soft skills — the real job

Stakeholder & executive communication

Coaching, enablement & running a guild

The operating model across teams & BUs

Hiring & growing AI capability

Strategy, governance & value

Finding high-value use cases

Governance, risk & compliance

Responsible AI: fairness & ethics

Measuring success

The phased plan (now → 12 months)

Failure modes to avoid

Cadence & artifacts

Capstones & resources

Capstone: build an eval harness

Capstone: a governed RAG feature

Capstone: red-team & report

Capstone: role charter & 90-day plan

Learning resources