Build with your brain on
Build with AI. Keep your brain on.
Be first to read Build with your brain on.
This book is still being written. Join the waitlist and I will email you when it ships.
About the book
This book is for people who want to build real software with AI without becoming dependent on code they cannot read, fix or trust.
It takes a reader from a vague idea to a real shipped web app, using AI as a tutor and partner while keeping judgment, safety and understanding in the human seat.
It is for beginners who want the door into software to open without losing the fundamentals, and for experienced builders who feel their edge getting soft around autocomplete.
What you get
- Tutor mode. How to make AI explain, coach, quiz and challenge you instead of simply handing over answers.
- Durable fundamentals. Programs, variables, decisions, loops, functions and data shapes explained without condescension.
- Reading AI code. How to inspect generated code line by line and decide whether it can be trusted.
- Debugging by reasoning. A practical loop for forming theories, testing them and finding the cause instead of flailing.
- Building end to end. A real web app built in small understood pieces, from idea to live page.
- Safety and ownership. Testing, hostile input, persistence and the habits that keep real users protected.
The brain-on loop
A practical way to use AI fully without handing it your judgment.
- 01Plan
- 02Ask
- 03Read
- 04Predict
- 05Test
- 06Own
Before and after
AI prompt
Before
Build me an app.
After
I am a beginner building a small task app in Python.
Help me plan the smallest useful version, ask clarifying questions first, and explain every new term.
Code ownership
Before
It works, so I copied it.
After
I can explain what each important piece does, what input would break it, and how I would test it.
What is inside
Why It Matters
AI and jobs, Judgment, Durable skills, Beginner fear
Foundations
Setup, Python basics, Programs, Data shapes, Reading code
Tutor Mode
Prompts, Explain back, Withholding answers, Reviewing output
Build One Real Thing
Planning, Project setup, Web app, Persistence, Shipping
Trust and Safety
Debugging, Testing, Unsafe input, Reasoning about failures
Keep Growing
Architecture, Scale, Operations, Avoiding dependence
Who this is for
This is for you ifYou are adding AI to a product and need boundaries for what the model may decide.
- Complete Beginner
- Founder With An Idea
- Career Changer
- Product Manager
- AI-Curious Engineer
- Experienced Builder Feeling Too Dependent
Not for
- Want a pure Python reference manual
- Need advanced production architecture only
- Want to ship code without understanding it
The library pathWhere this fits
- 01Get foundThe Silent Rejection
- 02Build the record and negotiateThe iOS Engineer playbook · Leverage
- 03InterviewThe iOS interview blueprint · The senior signal · Top 300 React Native interview questions · 500 Flutter interview questions · The senior SDET interview handbook
- 04Answer practice and live roundsThe 24-hour iOS interview answer book · The 24-hour Android interview answer book · Share your screen
- 05Architecture and qualitySwiftUI under load · Mobile System Design blueprint · Security is a feature · The second pass
- 06Staff systems and ownershipAltitude · Ticket taker, outcome owner
- 07Build with AIBuild with your brain on (coming soon)You are here
- 08LeadLeadership blueprint (coming soon)
- 09ArchitectArchitect blueprint (coming soon)
About the author
Mike Salari
Staff Mobile Engineer · Mobile Architect · Technical Author
I wrote this for the AI era because the most valuable builders will not be the ones who avoid AI or blindly trust it. They will be the ones who can build with it and still think clearly.
15 years building production mobile software, with experience across Apple, Adobe, Cisco, Mastercard and Visa. 500+ technical interviews from the hiring side.
Read the full storyBefore or after you buy
Not ready yet? Read the product boundaries article →
Use AI without going hollow.
Let the machine type fast. Keep the judgment, understanding and responsibility where they belong.
