Guided learning path
AI Systems Foundations
Understand the components of an AI application and the boundaries between models, retrieval, tools, and production services.
Who this path is for
Software engineers moving from individual model calls to complete AI applications.
What you will learn
Explain the request lifecycle; distinguish model, retrieval, and tool responsibilities; identify where validation, state, and evaluation belong.
Prerequisites
Comfort reading application code and basic HTTP APIs. No model-training experience is required.
Difficulty and workload
Introductory. Start with one reading session, then trace the components of an application you know. Running the optional browser experiment takes additional setup.
Suggested reading sequence
- The State of Agentic AI in 2026
- A Production AI System Is More Than a Model Call
- Build a Fully Offline RAG App in Your Browser
This reading sequence uses existing articles. New guided lessons will appear in the published-lessons list below. Return to all learning paths to explore a related subject.
Curriculum
Published lessons
- No lessons have been published in this path yet.