Most software engineers are using AI as a faster search box.
That is useful, but it is not the real opportunity.
The bigger opportunity is using AI as a workflow layer: a way to connect your tools, your context, your standards, your repetitive tasks, and your decision-making process into systems that actually help you work better.
That is why I’m building Alfred at Work.
What is Alfred at Work?
Alfred at Work is a bilingual newsletter where I’ll document my experiments building AI-powered workflows, automation systems, and digital leverage for software engineers.
I’ll write about:
AI workers
Developer workflows
Automation
MCPs
Agents
Frontend engineering
Developer experience
Productivity systems
Personal brand
Income experiments
The focus will not be hype.
The focus will be practical systems.
Why this matters
As software engineers, we already have leverage.
We know how to build tools.
We understand systems.
We can automate repetitive work.
We can turn ideas into products.
But most of us still use AI in a very shallow way:
“Explain this code.”
“Write this function.”
“Fix this bug.”
“Summarize this document.”
Those are useful tasks, but they are isolated.
I’m more interested in a different question:
What happens when AI becomes part of your actual workflow?
Not just a prompt.
Not just a chat.
Not just a coding assistant.
A repeatable system.
The problem I want to explore
A lot of engineering work is not only coding.
It is context gathering.
It is reading tickets.
It is writing specs.
It is reviewing code.
It is testing changes.
It is documenting decisions.
It is preparing handoffs.
It is checking edge cases.
It is remembering standards.
It is connecting tools.
That is where AI can become more valuable.
Not by replacing the engineer, but by helping the engineer operate with better systems.
What I’ll be building in public
I’ll use this newsletter to document experiments like:
Turning repeated engineering tasks into AI workflows.
Creating prompts that behave more like operating procedures.
Building MCPs to connect AI tools with real work context.
Designing agents that can help with specific software tasks.
Using AI to improve testing, documentation, and developer experience.
Exploring how technical skills can become income assets through products, templates, consulting, and mentoring.
Some experiments will work.
Some will fail.
The point is to document both.
Who this is for
This newsletter is for software engineers, freelancers, builders, and tech professionals who want to use AI in a more serious way.
Especially if you are interested in:
Better engineering workflows.
Practical automation.
Building personal leverage.
Using AI without falling into hype.
Turning technical knowledge into assets.
Exploring second income opportunities as a tech professional.
The principle behind Alfred
The idea behind Alfred is simple:
You should be able to trust a system with part of your work, go grab a coffee, and come back to useful progress.
Not magic.
Not full autonomy.
Not “replace the engineer.”
Useful progress.
That is the bar.
What to expect
Every week, I’ll share one practical idea, workflow, experiment, or lesson.
The format will usually be:
The problem.
The workflow or experiment.
What worked.
What failed.
How you can apply it.
Some issues will be more technical.
Some will be about business and income.
Some will be about building Alfred itself.
But the core theme will stay the same:
Using AI, automation, and engineering systems to build leverage.
Final thought
AI is not just a tool for generating code.
For software engineers, it can become a layer for designing better ways of working.
That is what I want to explore with Alfred at Work.
If that sounds useful, subscribe and follow along.