I use local AI agents to build enterprise-grade software, not fancy demos. After testing all major models that can run on affordable local hardware, I am convinced that the Qwen3-Coder-Next is the best option. It might not be the “most fancy” model, it might not design “most outstanding” websites, but (typically) it does deliver enterprise-grade outcomes. Yes, I am aware Qwen3-Coder-Next is not as good as II from OpenAI or Anthropic.

I interviewed Hans Stam about practical lessons from building hardware in China versus Europe and why “hardware is hard” but becomes manageable when you understand the process. Hans explains how Chinese factory ecosystems move from prototype to mass production. The conversation covers pitfalls in Europe’s decision-by-committee culture, critical-path project planning, choosing certification partners, selecting Chinese factories, CapEx vs. OpEx trade-offs, component shortages, and many other topics. 👉 Let me know if those topics are relevant to your business.

Intro Vanilla coding agents are optimized for shipping web apps fast, and they are great at building SaaS products. But if you’re connecting sensors, managing edge deployments, or orchestrating hardware fleets, the default agents get completely lost. Connected infrastructure has constraints that generic AI has never encountered during training. Missing training data Hardware-specific protocols MQTT, Modbus, BACnet, LoRaWAN, Zigbee — these aren’t in the training data at scale. An agent that’s great at React components will hallucinate when building solutions using those technologies.

Every day we read about mass layoffs by huge companies. But on the flip side, how do you hire a good technical engineer in the age of AI? I was involved in candidates’ interviews while working at AWS. I helped numerous founders to screen and hire candidates for different technical and management roles. Later on, I worked with those new hires and saw firsthand if those people were a good fit for roles, for teams, for tasks we had envisioned with the founders when we prepared for the hiring process.

I have been experimenting with various AI agentic workflows over the past months, testing different architectural patterns and seeing where they deliver real value. Suddenly, I realized this technology is a perfect fit for IoT workloads that use MQTT (the primary protocol for managing devices). I have worked with MQTT for years, but I had not connected it to AI agents until recently. MQTT’s pub/sub architecture creates something unique: a continuous data stream that agents can subscribe to without impacting the environment.

The overall solution design is a challenging topic in the world of Small and Medium Businesses. I prefer working with those companies as they are very agile (in the day-to-day reality, not only on the powerpoint deck). On the same token, that agility makes it nearly impossible to properly design a solution (when we are halfway through the design/implementation process, the business conditions change, the owner adjusts, and I have to introduce small/medium/major updates).