FDE Project Files · YakData
Starting August 19, follow one real production AI system from business decision through requirements, architecture, build, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, handoff, and improvement.
Project File 001 follows 77 Rules, a live self-serve dashboard-review product used here as the production case. The system combines multimodal AI, explicit rules, deterministic scoring, evidence-backed findings, and user verification or rejection of findings.
Episode 1 publishes Wednesday, August 19, 2026. The full seven-part series will total approximately 5.5 to 6.5 hours when complete.
For technical leaders who need to judge the whole system, experienced builders who want to own more of it, and organizations with a live production problem.
Who this is for
See the same production case from the perspective of leading the work, building across the system, or solving a live production problem.
Engineering managers · technical PMs · data/AI leaders · architects
“How do I know whether the team is making the right production decisions?”
CTO · CIO/CDO · VP Engineering/AI/Data · operating executives
“Can this problem become a production system our team can run and own?”
Senior/staff engineers · AI/ML engineers · data engineers · solutions architects
“How do I move from my part of the system to the production result?”
Not beginner coding instruction. The series assumes working technical experience and focuses on production judgment.
01 · How the work moves
Production AI starts with a decision that matters and ends when the system can be tested, run, recovered, and owned.
02 · Project File 001
77 Rules keeps the series attached to one real system: the decisions, architecture, model boundaries, failures, controls, and handoff stay visible. The case page separates what the live product proves from later client adoption and extension.
What the case exposes
A persuasive dashboard may not contain enough evidence to prove the claim. The system sometimes has to ask for context or say “insufficient evidence.”
Public product example: the same Marketing Channel Dashboard looked strong on design while integrity exposed missing comparative context, an unclear time range, and inconsistent monetary units.
A note from Stephen
I’m Stephen McDaniel. I’ve spent most of my career in the awkward space between a business problem and the system that eventually has to work. FDE Project Files is where I take that work apart in public: the architecture, decisions, tests, revisions, and tradeoffs that usually disappear from a polished demo.
Sometimes the right answer is more AI. Sometimes it is a rule, a better workflow, a simpler system, or not building the thing at all. I’ll show you the evidence and tell you what I think.
Stephen McDaniel · Founder, YakData
03 · The 7-episode journey
Each episode opens on a real artifact, shows the decision at stake and what can go wrong, and closes with the next build, test, release, or handoff decision.
Define the decision, owner, scope, definition of done, and build-or-stop choice.
Proof: decision map + scope/acceptancePreview Episode 1 →Turn expertise into rules, evidence, context, workflow states, errors, and testable contracts.
Proof: rule/evidence schemaPreview Episode 2 →Design the architecture, frontend/backend contracts, constraints, observability, and overlapping work.
Proof: role/dependency graphPreview Episode 3 →Move one representative case through every critical layer before broadening the backlog.
Proof: vertical-slice architecturePreview Episode 4 →Benchmark the real task, test critical misses and false alarms, and verify human control.
Proof: benchmark + failure matrixPreview Episode 5 →Harden validation, retries, versions, regression, telemetry, deployment, and recovery.
Proof: production-readiness checklistPreview Episode 6 →Package the runbook, test evidence, recovery knowledge, extensions, metrics, and next decision.
Proof: ownership/handoff packagePreview Episode 7 →04 · Project Files
Start with the free map and Starter Pack. The $99 Field Library packages the complete 77 Rules case and four specialist working packs. The files are complete; sales are not open yet.
The end-to-end production path with role overlap, release checks, and handoff points.
View Production MapExpanded 14-step production workflow, role matrix, definition-of-done structure, and production checklists.
Get the free Starter PackComplete Project File 001 plus Architecture, Vertical Slice, Evaluation + Failure Testing, and Production Readiness + Handoff packs.
Notify me when the Field Library opens →Use the public series and files at your own pace. When a production decision would benefit from structured outside review, bring one sanitized artifact and one focused question.
05 · Why YakData
FDE Project Files comes from systems I have built through YakData. The detailed proof page shows the work, the numbers, and the boundaries around the claims.
For teams building this now
If your team is trying to turn an AI experiment into something people can rely on and own, YakData handles the definition, build, evaluation, deployment, and handoff.
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