learnaiwithrafa
Original AI guides · in plain language

Learn AI without the hype, with rafa

Short, original guides for developers and engineering managers — using AI to do better work and build an international career. Written from real experience, never republished from anyone else.

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For devs & EMs

Written for people who ship and lead — practical AI you can put to work in your editor, your team, and your workflow this week.

International careers

Built from a London-to-São-Paulo path. How to use AI to close the gap between what you've done and how a hiring manager abroad reads it.

Original, no hype

Every guide is original work in plain language, with cited sources — never republished, never padded, never selling you a course.

Latest guides

Fresh, original walkthroughs — newest first.

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Multi-ToolCareer3 min read

AI Certifications a Hiring Manager Actually Reads

As an EM who screens resumes, most AI certificates tell me nothing. A few tell me something useful. Here is the honest difference, and how to make any course actually count.

3 sources
Multi-ToolEntrepreneurs2 min read

The Lean AI Stack for a Solo Founder

You don't need fifteen AI subscriptions to run a one-person business. You need a small stack that covers the jobs you'd otherwise hire for. Here is the four-role setup I'd actually start with.

2 sources
CanvaCreative2 min read

Canva's AI: Design Work When You're Not a Designer

You will never out-design a designer with Canva's AI, and you don't need to. For the everyday graphics a dev or founder actually has to ship, here is how to get to "good enough" fast — and where to stop.

2 sources
Multi-ToolPrompts3 min read

Context Engineering: The Skill That Outgrew Prompting

Clever prompts were the 2024 skill. The 2026 skill is managing what the model can see — its instructions, tools, history, and data — as a finite budget. Here is the shift, in plain terms.

2 sources
Multi-ToolSideHustles3 min read

The Honest AI Side Hustle for Engineers

Most "AI side hustle" advice is selling you a course, not a business. The real opportunity for an engineer is narrower and more boring than the hype — and it actually works. Here it is.

2 sources
ChatGPTWorkflows2 min read

ChatGPT Projects: A Workspace That Keeps Your Context

Most people run their whole life through one endless ChatGPT thread. Projects fix that by giving each piece of work its own files, its own rules, and its own memory. Here is how I use them.

1 source

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