Starting My AI Journey

I’ve had some time recently to re-tool and refocus, which led me down an AI journey that ultimately resulted in building a showcase web application called Tee It Up Chicago. Tee It Up Chicago is a golf course catalog and utility platform for golfers in the Chicago area, featuring course information, scorecards, handicap tracking, and other tools designed for local players. I am working on adding round and match scoring and other features to make outings and tournaments easier to score and track.

The best way I can describe the experience working with agentic AI agents is this: it feels like having the smartest kid from my computer science class sitting next to me, helping me build software. This “AI teammate” never gets tired, never complains when I ask a basic question, and can jump in and write code when I need it to. The more I’ve worked with these AI coding tools, the more I’ve learned how to collaborate with them effectively — and the faster I’ve been able to build web applications.

I have learned a lot and I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface. More importantly, it has increased my confidence in my ability to deliver meaningful value using AI-assisted development.

As part of this journey, I’ve added a new section to the Agilish blog called AI Showcase. The goal of AI Showcase is to catalog systems, tools, and applications that have been built with the help of AI. Tee It Up Chicago is in the AI Showcase and we will be adding more examples over time.

Check it out: Agilish AI Spotlight

I want to give a shout-out to Jim and Tim who run the Napervile AI Enthusiasts group. They have inspired many of us on our AI journey. If you live in the Chicago area or western suburbs, you should check them out.