Hello Reader,

How's 2026 started for you so far?

Over the past year, I’ve seen a lot of people fall into the vibe-coding trap.

I get it.

You skip the fundamentals and jump straight into building things with AI.

The problem is, AI tools generate 80% of a project really fast. It feels amazing.

But then something breaks. Progress slows. You hit a wall.

And that last 20% turns out to require way more understanding than you expected.

You end up with impressive-looking code you can't fully explain, can't debug, and can't extend. You lose control.

That’s why we’re now seeing things like “Vibe Coding Cleanup Services” popping up 😅.

To be fair, for some people, that first 80% is enough, especially for a quick proof of concept.

But if your goal is to build real skills, or advance your tech career, this isn’t a sustainable long-term strategy.

The real winners, in my humble opinion, are the ones who use AI to accelerate their thinking, not replace it.

They know the fundamentals.

They stay in control.

They can explain every decision.

They’re accountable for what they build.

That’s what makes you valuable to any business - whether you work in data analysis, data science, or software engineering.

One recent study found that AI could fully automate only about 2.5% of real-world jobs. That's shockingly unimpressive!

So when it comes to real enterprise work, AI’s impact is probably still far more limited than the hype suggests.

This year, one of my goals is to create more end-to-end project tutorials. Just personal projects that I find interesting and useful.

I want to get back to the basics, and teach you how to use analytics techniques and AI to understand data, automate workflows, and do other cool stuff like financial analysis to augment decisions.

I also want to collaborate more, and share book reviews of things I find thought-provoking.

By the way, if you want to learn the basics of using AI and building with AI, I've created these roadmaps for you:

• ​Non-technical​
• ​Technical​

If you want a comprehensive course from Python fundamentals to building AI applications, check out my Python for AI Projects course. It’s packed with everything you need to build solid fundamentals and transform your skills in 2026.

You'll get a $50 discount until 31 January using coupon code NEWYEAR26 at checkout.

​Learn more about the Python for AI Projects course.​

Here's to your 2026 being absolutely amazing – whatever that means for you!

Just hit 'reply' and tell me what you're trying to achieve in 2026! 👇

Catch you soon!

Thu

P.S. If you're a student, simply reply to this email with your student email, I'll share the code to get a standard student discount of 60% for the course.