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If You Can’t Wait 5 Years: Start Experimenting with AI for Robotics Today
In my last post, I discussed why the ChatGPT moment for robotics is likely still 5 years away. But if you can’t wait that long, this post has practical advice on how to start experimenting today. Be warned: the ecosystem is fragmented, the learning curve is steep, and (AI + hardware) == quirky. If you thought LLMs […]
SEP Appoints Jason LaJeunesse as Director of Data
Westfield, IN — SEP is pleased to announce the creation of a new leadership role, Director of Data, and the appointment of Jason LaJeunesse to the position. This role was created to support client needs as organizations modernize their data platforms, prepare for AI adoption, and build durable, long-term data foundations. “Data has gone from a step […]
Inside SEP’s ESOP: What Actually Changes When Employees Become Owners
Most people do not think much about company ownership until they start one themselves. You show up, do good work, collect a paycheck, and maybe get a 401(k) match if you are lucky. Ownership? That is for founders and executives. But what if it weren’t? In 2010, SEP’s founders made a decision that fundamentally changed […]
Robot Foundation Models Are Not What I Was Expecting (I’m 5 Years Too Early)
When Physical Intelligence announced the π0 foundation model, I thought a ChatGPT moment in robotics was near. Here was a model that could control different kinds of robots to perform a variety of dexterous tasks. It could fold clothes, make coffee, assemble cardboard boxes, and more. I thought we’d get another post like swyx’s signaling robotics as an emerging capability of the […]
AI at the Table
I sit at a really weird saddle point currently. Professionally, I’m obliged to engage with generative AI technologies. I’m an AI technologist. I’ve been doing this for nearly twenty years at this point, and over ten past the doctorate. I can’t just ignore a new technology because I personally find it ethically dubious. Conversely, I’m […]
Planning-First AI Methodology: The Foundation of Successful AI Collaboration
Why starting with understanding, not code, is the key to unlocking AI’s full potential in software development Picture this: You’re 7 hours into your work day, you’re on your third cup of coffee, and the AI just generated 200 lines of code that compile perfectly… and do absolutely nothing you wanted. Sound familiar? If you’ve […]
So Long, “beforeEach”? New Testing Pattern in JavaScript
Tests in TypeScript or JavaScript often run setup code inside hooks like “beforeEach”: Developers must take care to get the setup correct, especially in large or nested test suites. Some test runners now provide fixtures-per-test. We can re-write our test suite as the following: This test setup addresses our original pain points, and adds a […]
The AI Coding Revolution: Why Your Development Team Needs to Invest Now or Risk Being Left Behind
A developer’s perspective on mastering AI coding tools for competitive advantage The software development landscape has undergone more transformation in the past year than in the previous decade combined. As AI coding tools evolve from novelty to necessity, development teams face a critical decision: invest heavily in learning these tools now, or watch competitors pull […]
From PDF Chaos to AI-Powered Organization: An Engineer’s Journey into Document Processing
How I built an intelligent document processing system using OCR (Optical Character Recognition), local LLMs, and Python – leveraging my code generation AI experience The Problem: Drowning in a Digital Morass Like many people, I had accumulated a large collection of PDF documents over the years—medical records, invoices, receipts, tax documents, insurance papers—they were scattered […]
Crispus Attucks Grad Named 2025 SEP Foundation Maker Scholar
The SEP Foundation Maker Scholarship selects IU Indianapolis-bound computer science student as the 2025 recipient Westfield, Indiana – The SEP Foundation is excited to announce the 2025 recipient of the SEP Foundation Maker Scholarship: Mutombo M., a recent graduate of Crispus Attucks High School. Mutombo will begin his freshman year this fall at IU Indianapolis, […]
Generality in Generative AI is an Illusion
Large language models are often described as general-purpose problem solvers. That’s fair; given a prompt, they can write SQL queries, summarize academic papers, troubleshoot YAML files, produce a mediocre chili recipe, and draft HR emails, all in the same breath. That breadth of capability is a big driver of the current enthusiasm. Here’s the thing […]
Celebrating Our 2025 SEP Interns
This summer, SEP welcomed another incredible group of interns who jumped into real-world projects, asked great questions, and left their mark on our teams. From software engineering to AI-focused problem solving, each intern brought curiosity, fresh perspective, and a genuine excitement for learning. We asked a few of them to share what surprised them about […]
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Every industry has its jargon and ours is no different! If you’re new to our world, or just want to see if we mean the same thing, check out our glossary. No big deal if you don’t speak the lingo—we’ll meet you where you’re at. But one thing’s for sure, we can’t make something awesome together if we’re talking past each other.
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Different problems call for different tools. We’re not tied to one way of building, which gives us flexibility in how we tackle the work. That range shows up in a tech stack that supports many paths forward.
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Our FAQ answers common questions, so there are fewer surprises.
We don’t hide behind jargon.
Words matter when teams are working together. This glossary explains common software terms, so nothing gets lost in translation.