I Need Coffee - Episode 211 - Weekly BC Review! (May 22, 2026)

1. Recent Conferences
- Attended Dynamics Con in Las Vegas at the Fontainebleau Hotel.
  - Flew in same morning, presented a session immediately after landing.
  - Accidentally booked/upgraded to the Emerald Suite ($550+/night) — luxurious but noisy (party pool + bright LED signs).
  - Hosted the "Doug" (El Salvador) meetup table.
  - Assisted at the GP + BC superhero station with John Krauss.
  - Noted heavy use of AI-generated slides (recognizable colored box layouts).

2. AI Usage in Client Proposals
- Used Claude to create:
  - 21-page combined Functional + Product Requirements Document (FRD/PRD) with traceability, field mappings, scope, etc.
  - 15-page Statement of Work (SOW) including warranty and hypercare.
- Key Lesson: Comprehensive AI-generated docs are high quality but overwhelming. Clients often don't read long documents.
  - Solution: Provide a 2-page executive summary first.
  - Outcome: Customer declined the $12k project (4 custom file integrations for GP → BC migration) citing complexity/volume; may try configuration packages instead.

3. Tech & Development Updates
- Andre Karpathy joined Anthropic (positive for the company).
- Uncle Bob Martin (Robert C. Martin) encourages applying formal software engineering principles to "vibe coding" / agentic AI development.
- Built a functional control add-in prototype (expandable/collapsible tree view for sales lines) using guidance from Sasha Herman.
- VS Code now supports Mermaid diagram rendering in Markdown preview.
- Experimenting with Obsidian Canvas vs. Mermaid diagrams for simple workflow visuals.

4. Support & Operational Challenges
- Customer environment issue: Approval workflows show documents pending but tiles/counter is zero (unable to reproduce in sandbox).
- Major fire drill: Third-party consultant's Entra app registration secrets expired (max 2 years). Poor documentation led to panic emails.
  - Emphasized need for proper secret management and documentation.

5. Cybersecurity Session & Insights
- Co-presented with Alexis Shabau (cybersecurity student) at Dynamics Con on SMB cybersecurity (limited budget/staff).
- Recommendations from audience:
  - Huntress (includes SIEM capabilities).
  - ThreatLocker for endpoint detection/response.
- Mariplex (SOC service) impressed with post-login risk analysis using Entra P1 logs.

Government Fail Highlight:
- CISA (Cybersecurity agency) contractor leaked highly privileged AWS GovCloud credentials on a public GitHub repo.
- Agency has a $3 billion budget and prior controversies (e.g., disinformation efforts).

6. Current Technical Project
- Reverse-engineering a 1,258-line SQL stored procedure (essentially a full application) for migration to Business Central.
- Challenges with AI analysis (Claude produced 13-page summary that still requires heavy verification).
- Considering AL implementation over Power BI due to complexity/maintainability.

7. Team & Company Updates (El Salvador Center of Excellence)
- Joselyn: Studying for MB-800 exam; working on Data Exchange Framework (EFT integration).
- David: Studying MB-800; working on reports and Data Exchange.
- Ronald: Continia Document Capture expert; multiple implementations queued.
- Franklin: Application support + internal Partner Dashboard (bulk upgrade deferral tool).
- Fatima: Organized Doug Meetup; studying PMP; learning page scripting; managing partner dashboard.
- New professional in-house photo studio for headshots.

8. Upcoming Events
- Dynamics Minds — May 25–27, 2026 (Slovenia).
- Partner Vibe 2.0 — September 21–23, 2026 (Provo, Utah). Call for submissions closed; focus on partner challenges (not product-specific).
- Regional Dynamics user groups (Toronto, Ghana, Columbus).

9. Fun / Misc
- Starship Flight Test (IFT-12) expected soon — new launch stand, flame diverter, etc.
- Tip: To politely exit unwanted conversations, say “I work with business accounting software.”