I Need Coffee - Episode 216 - Weekly BC Review! (July 10, 2026)

1. AI Development Practices & Lessons

Development Process Improvements:
Uses PRD → Detailed Design Doc → Comprehensive Development Plan (52 pages in latest example).
Adds wireframe walkthroughs for early validation.
Implements review gates, proofs of concept, and phased execution.

Key insight: One-shotting complex apps with AI is risky. Needs heavy guidance, nurturing (especially with Opus), and context.
Experimenting with Fable for development.
Learned hard lesson on prompting: Giving AI only code leads to hallucinations and poor root cause analysis. Needs full context (docs, rules, history, sample data).

2. Berlin ERP Academy Progress

Full curriculum built: 10 phases, 22 documents, 441 pages.
Timeline: 18–20 months for complete beginners (zero ERP knowledge) to become BC consultants + manufacturing experts.
Includes training guides, quizzes, labs, gates (exams/practicums).
Team (Fatima, Ronald) loading into LMS; using Notebook LM heavily for infographics, slides, and study aids.
Daniela (new marketing associate) will also participate to gain BC knowledge.

3. New Side Project: AI-Powered Project Management

Goal: Systematize project management using AI agents (OpenClaw, Claude, etc.) integrated with Teams Planner via MCP.
Vision: Auto-generate tasks, risk assessments (ISO 31000 style), status reports, budget vs actual, blockers, etc.
Fed by requirements docs, estimates, timesheets.
Enthusiastic about the potential but notes tools are still janky/slow.
Enlisting Fatima to help build this framework.

4. Business Central Development & Version Issues

Multi-company demo tenant trick: Use evaluation company setup wizard in unlicensed demo environments to create multiple companies.
BC Version Circus (28.x):
Avoid developing on 28.1, 28.2, 28.3 — major issues (Application Test Library fails, symbol download problems, update date resets).
Stick to 28.0 for stability.

DevOps/GitHub pipeline struggles with complex dependency scaffolding.

5. Marketing & Daniela Update

Daniela started as Marketing Associate.
Learning fundamentals from scratch (value propositions, Business Central vs ISV differences).
Will participate in ERP Academy for domain knowledge.
Steve’s approach: Building marketing capability in-house with minimal budget instead of expensive agencies ($13k/quarter quotes).

6. Conference Updates

Partner Vibe 2.0 (September 2026, Provo, UT):
Steve speaking on two sessions: “Marketing Without a Marketing Team” and AI-assisted project delivery.
Blue Dragonfly sponsoring (cocktail/mocktail + gamer prize).

Summit NA – October 2026, Nashville.
Other mentions: Dynamics Con Regionals (Ghana July, Columbus August).

7. Team Excellence Updates

Joselyn: Heavy financials, config packages, data loads.
David: Complex contacts migration (GP → BC).
Ronald: Continia Document Capture expert; formal project plans; Academy curriculum support. Starting implementations soon (6–7 week timeline).
Franklin: Sales Price List PTE + assemblies/kits; bug diagnosis; AI-generated user guides.
Fatima: Academy LMS setup; planning El Salvador DUG meetup in August; project management initiative support.
Daniela: Marketing fundamentals training.

8. Other Notable Items

Customer thank-you for responsive support.
Azure Foundry: Not recommended for frontier model dev work (quota, access, and model limitations).
Windows hardening tool: “Harden System Security” by Violet Hansen (recommended, available in Microsoft Store).
New Bill.com integration user guide in progress.
Upcoming tasks: Vibe code new ERP Center of Excellence website, finalize proposal, enhance integrations.

9. Closing Thought

Artwork highlight: “Fly Quietly” by Masaki Sasamoto (2016).
Encouragement: Go build/vibe code something, but be aware of AI’s limitations and the need for strong processes.