A practical guide to working with AI at 8th Light — as a tool in your development workflow, and as a component in the software you build.
This is a living document, which means it grows and changes as the field does and as 8th Lighters contribute their experience. If something is outdated or missing, open a PR.
If you have 15 minutes: Read the Glossary. The terminology gets used throughout the guide.
If you have an hour: Work through The Landscape. You'll come away with a mental model of how all the pieces fit together and a concrete first action.
If you're ready to go deeper: Pick a path.
- Path A — AI-Assisted Development: For using AI as a coding partner in your day-to-day work.
- Path B — Building AI Applications: For building AI into the products and systems you deliver.
Throughout the guide, Level up sections point to advanced topics.
Claude is our primary tool. It's what most people at 8th Light use daily, and this is a Claude-first resource. But it isn't Claude-only — other tools, frameworks, and even open source models show up where they're relevant.
Every client is different. How AI shows up on a client engagement depends on their maturity, their risk tolerance, and what problem they're actually trying to solve. What's here are foundations that travel, not a playbook that assumes the same context every time.
Things will change. A tool we recommend today might look different in six months. A concept that feels cutting-edge now might be table stakes by next year. The goal is to give you enough grounding that you can keep up when things shift.
- #ai-explorers on Slack — the main channel for questions, discoveries, and discussion
- Vibe-to-Value: AI in the Open — biweekly AI meeting, open to everyone, hosted by Travis Frisinger (Head of Agentic AI). Check the 8th Light Global Events calendar for the next one.
- AI at 8th Light — the Slack Canvas with tools, access info, courses, and who to talk to about specific topics
Something missing or out of date? See Contributing.