Woof! Woof!
About, the humans (and the dog)

Made by two nerds and a dog.

An analyst, an architect, and a very good boy.

TL;DR

The short version, in seven lines.

The long version · Part 1 of 5

We are, clinically, extremely online nerds.

Colin is an IBM data engineer. I'm CEO of Behind The Scenes Studio. Together, we spend our dates talking about frameworks, data visualizations, data mapping, and organizational design. For fun. On purpose.

At my bachelorette, the theme was "M&A between Colin and Aycee Enterprises." When Colin was planning to propose, he genuinely considered building a dashboard of our relationship activities and a heatmap of everywhere we'd traveled together.

Frameworks
Data viz
Figma
Vibe coding
Hackathons
Travel
Good food
Smile

Meet the three of us.

Colin · IBM data engineer · The patient one

The Analyst.

If a dashboard could feel love, it would feel the way Colin feels.

Colin turns questions into queries for a living. At home, he does the same thing, except the questions are "should we move to Spain?" and the queries involve spreadsheets with tabs labeled cost of living, visa pathways, and dog import regulations.

Once, for date night, he mapped the efficiency of our weekly grocery runs. He wasn't joking. I wasn't mad. We saved three trips a week.

Technical specifications
Primary language:
SQL, and whatever the dog is asking for
Favorite tool:
A well-formatted CSV
Superpower:
Can listen to a feelings-rant and reply with a decision matrix
Kryptonite:
Excel files with merged cells
Aycee · BTS Studio CEO · The instigator

The Architect.

Draws the blueprint. Starts the build before the permits are in.

I run Behind The Scenes Studio and, apparently, also this publication. I am the person most likely to say "what if" at 11pm and have a half-built Figma file by sunrise.

I believe dreams are just specs waiting for a timeline. Bots of Today started as one of those specs. You're reading the build.

Technical specifications
Primary language:
Strategy decks, in English and Tagalog
Favorite tool:
A blank Figma frame at 11pm
Superpower:
Reverse-engineering dreams into 90-day roadmaps
Kryptonite:
Also Excel with merged cells, honestly
Smile · Sheepadoodle · Chief morale officer

The Good Boy.

Doesn't understand data. Still the most important member of the team.

Smile is a sheepadoodle. He came out of the puppy crate smiling and has not stopped since. When Colin or I stare too long at a screen, Smile arrives with a stuffed duck and a look that says "respectfully, it's time to stop."

Every module in this publication has been reviewed by Smile. His feedback is consistent: good work, time for a walk.

Technical specifications
Primary language:
Tail wag, with occasional woof
Favorite tool:
The stuffed duck
Superpower:
Forcing context switches at medically appropriate intervals
Kryptonite:
The vacuum cleaner
Part 2 · How we got here

Teaching is our love language. This publication is just the newest one.

Before Bots of Today was a thing, there were the living-room sessions. A few friends, some beer, a whiteboard, and a topic somebody wanted to learn: how to read a P&L, how to set up a simple pipeline, how to write prompts that don't drift.

The beer
Because good ideas need lubrication.
The code
Colin drives. Aycee whiteboards.
The dog
Asleep. Supervising in spirit.

People don't want another 12-week course. They want the specific thing, the right size, with someone who's already shipped it sitting next to them.

That's what Bots of Today is. A publication for the Tuesday-morning version of you, who wants to build the thing, not attend a program about the thing.

Every module is us recreating that living-room session, at scale, for you. Colin brings the data-engineer rigor. I bring the architect's framing. Smile brings the reminder that no module is worth skipping a walk for.

Part 3 · Our stance on AI

So many people ask where we stand on AI. Here's the answer, in three lines.

We don't write thinkpieces about AI. We don't debate whether it's ethical on a podcast. The stance is the publication. Every module shows what we believe by what we build.

One
You learn AI by building with it, not by reading about it.
Every module in this catalog ships a working artifact. Not a quiz. Not a certificate. A thing that runs when you close the browser. That's the stance. If you finish a module and haven't built something, the module failed.
Two
You learn by doing. You gain expertise by teaching.
The fastest way to know something cold is to build it. The fastest way to know it deeply is to teach it. This publication is us doing both at once, and we hope you'll do the same: finish a module, then teach one friend what you learned. That's the loop.
Three
AI is here to stay. You might as well be friends with it.
The fear response is real. So is the hype response. We don't live in either. We live in the middle, where AI is a tool that keeps getting more capable, and the only responsible thing to do is learn it well enough to use it with judgment. Panic is a bad strategy. So is pretending it's going away.
Teach by building. Build by teaching. Make peace with the tools. That's the whole philosophy.
Part 4 · What we're building toward

Three dreams on the roadmap.

Bots of Today is not the long-term plan. It's one of the funding instruments for the long-term plan.

  1. Three homes, three countries.
    Spain, the Philippines, and the US. Close to both families, both cultures, both climates.
  2. An orphanage for 300 children.
    The dream that outranks every other dream. Housing, schooling, stability, dignity, for 300 kids. This is what we're actually here for.
  3. A life that keeps teaching.
    Publications like this one. Hackathons with friends. Sessions with anyone who pulls up a chair. That part isn't a goal, it's just who we are.

Every subscription to Bots of Today is a small vote toward that roadmap. Thank you for reading this far.

Part 5 · In real life

The humans behind the bots.

Photo of Colin, Aycee, and Smile coming soon.

Thanks for reading

Made by two people who love each other, and a dog who loves both of them.

If that's the kind of energy you want on your bookshelf, you're in the right place.

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