Practical knowledge.Real progress.A brighter you.
Real expertise. Real results.
AI
A 31-day playbookto ship useful AI
- 31 Pro Tips
- 31 Missions
- Expert Insights
- Final Test
Learn → Apply → Test → Improve
Real expertise. Real results.
Specify. Evaluate. Ship.A brighter you.
Most AI disappointment is a specification failure wearing a model’s face. This book trains the unglamorous skills: writing the job, collecting examples, scoring outputs, and refusing magic language.
31 Pro Tips
Actionable insights from top experts.31 Missions
Put knowledge into practice the same day.Expert Insights
Real experience. Real strategies. Real results.Final Test
Measure your progress and take it further.
Learn. Apply. Test. Improve.
“Treat models as junior colleagues: useful, fast, and in need of supervision.”— Rafael Ortega
Expert #31
Rafael Ortega
On models, evals and useful AI
Rafael Ortega
Write the job as a contract
Collect twenty ugly examples
Score before you tune
31 Experts : AI
31 days to specify, evaluate and ship useful AI
Expert #31 Rafael Ortega
Leave with a task contract, an eval set and a system you can defend.
$31
- paperback
- en / es
- 208
- August 2026
Why this book?
Most AI disappointment is a specification failure wearing a model’s face. This book trains the unglamorous skills: writing the job, collecting examples, scoring outputs, and refusing magic language.
What you’ll get
- 30 insights with exercises you can run on real work.
- Special Edition by Rafael Ortega, including The Top 10.
- A one-page eval sheet you can copy.
Rafael Ortega
Rafael Ortega
Artificial Intelligence
Rafael designs AI workflows for product teams that cannot afford theatre. He has shipped evaluation harnesses, retrieval systems and internal copilots for companies that needed the work to survive a Monday standup. 31 Experts selected him for a rare combination: technical literacy and contempt for magic language.
Rafael OrtegaThe 30 Insights
Write the job as a contract
Inputs, outputs, constraints, failures. If any is missing, you are prompting in the dark.
Collect twenty ugly examples
Demos use clean text. Production uses whatever people typed.
Score before you tune
A rubric turns arguments into measurements.
One variable at a time
If you change the model, the prompt and the data together, you learn nothing.
Name a human owner
Supervision is a role, not a vibe.
The Top 10
Inside this Special Edition, Expert #31 answers these ten questions. That interview is one of the most valuable parts of the book — so the answers stay in the book.
If you could give just one piece of advice to someone starting out in this discipline, what would it be?
What was the biggest challenge you faced in your career, and how did you overcome it?
What is the most important “Never do this…” rule in your discipline?
Who inspired or mentored you, and what did you learn from them?
What is the biggest discovery you wish you had known on day one?
What do outsiders consistently misunderstand about your discipline?
What decision looked small at the time but changed everything?
What skill outside your discipline has contributed most to your success?
What belief did you hold when you started that you no longer believe today?
When your career is remembered, what do you hope people say you stood for?
We show the questions so you know what you will find inside. We do not publish the answers here.
What readers will learn
- How to write a task a model can complete.
- How to evaluate without a research lab.
- When not to use a model at all.
Reviews
“We cancelled a chatbot and shipped a classifier. That was the win.”
“Clear on specification and evals. It refuses magic language, which is the point.”
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Task contracts and scoring sheets to accompany AI for Builders.
FAQ
- What is a Special Edition?
- A Standard Edition is 30 curated insights and can ship before Expert #31 is secured. A Special Edition adds About the Expert and The Top 10. The Expert’s Playbook is optional.
- How long does it take to read?
- The format is built for 31 days: one idea a day, with a task attached. You can also read it in a sitting.
- What formats are available?
- Paperback is the standard object. Ebook follows. Audiobook and signed copies appear when the edition supports them.
31 Experts : AI
Leave with a task contract, an eval set and a system you can defend.