Understand Generative AI Well Enough to Build With It

A free 246-page book that takes you from "what is an LLM, actually?" to calling AI APIs in your own projects. Written by a data engineer, not a hype merchant.

Most guides to generative AI are written for researchers or hype merchants. This one is written for practitioners — people who want to understand the technology well enough to build with it, and to build businesses on it.

I've spent 13 years building the data platforms modern AI runs on. This book is what I wish existed when I started.

What you'll learn

Understand the machinery — Language models, NLP, embeddings, and how modern AI systems actually work

Build your first project — Set up your environment, call real AI APIs securely, and ship a working generative AI application

Turn skills into income — Concrete monetization models, AI-enhanced services, and consulting, with real case studies

See what's real in 2026 — The revised edition covers what's changed since 2024 and where the field is heading

Hi, I'm Kasey.

I'm a data scientist and cloud engineer specializing in data engineering and machine learning. I hold AWS Solutions Architect Professional and Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional certifications, and I've spent 13 years architecting data platforms for enterprise and cloud environments — the kind of infrastructure that makes production AI possible.

I wrote this book because most generative AI content is either too shallow to be useful or too academic to be actionable. This is the middle ground: enough depth to build with, without the fluff.

13 Years

Technical Experience

246 Pages

Free Download

MS in Data Science & 7 Certs

Data & Cloud

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Inside the book

Everything you need to start building with generative AI

• A grounded introduction to LLMs, NLP, and how modern AI actually works
• Two hands-on projects you can build in an afternoon, including a working RAG system
• Real case studies of businesses that make money with AI in 2026
• Ethical and practical guidance on building AI applications responsibly

Plus, when you sign up, you'll get one useful email a week — practical AI and data engineering content, and the first chance to hear about Book 2.