Ben Monk, Software Developer and AI Engineer https://benmonk.dev/ I build software, and I build the artificial intelligence features that run inside it. en What an AI engineer actually does https://benmonk.dev/blog/what-an-ai-engineer-actually-does/ https://benmonk.dev/blog/what-an-ai-engineer-actually-does/ The job is less about models than people expect, and far more about the system around them. Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT Why AI features fail in production https://benmonk.dev/blog/why-ai-features-fail-in-production/ https://benmonk.dev/blog/why-ai-features-fail-in-production/ Most of them do not break for AI reasons. They break for ordinary software reasons nobody was watching for. Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Retrieval augmented generation, explained without the diagram https://benmonk.dev/blog/retrieval-augmented-generation-explained/ https://benmonk.dev/blog/retrieval-augmented-generation-explained/ What it is, why it is usually the right first answer, and where it quietly falls apart. Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT How to evaluate model output without guessing https://benmonk.dev/blog/how-to-evaluate-llm-output/ https://benmonk.dev/blog/how-to-evaluate-llm-output/ You cannot assert equality on a model's answer. Here is what to measure instead. Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Prompting, fine tuning or retrieval: picking the cheap one first https://benmonk.dev/blog/prompting-fine-tuning-or-retrieval/ https://benmonk.dev/blog/prompting-fine-tuning-or-retrieval/ Three ways to make a model do what you need, and most teams climb the ladder in the wrong order. Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Building agents that stay in their lane https://benmonk.dev/blog/building-agents-that-stay-in-their-lane/ https://benmonk.dev/blog/building-agents-that-stay-in-their-lane/ Loops, drift and unbounded cost. Every agent failure mode is a design decision, not a model limitation. Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT The real cost of a long context window https://benmonk.dev/blog/the-real-cost-of-context-windows/ https://benmonk.dev/blog/the-real-cost-of-context-windows/ Big windows made it easy to stop thinking about what goes in the prompt. That has a price. Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT The software habits that survive AI https://benmonk.dev/blog/software-habits-that-survive-ai/ https://benmonk.dev/blog/software-habits-that-survive-ai/ Assisted coding changed how fast code appears. It did not change what keeps a system alive. Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT