Beyond the Notebook

Maciej Kępa

Data & AI Engineer / Architect

I write about production-grade AI, MLOps, data platforms, cloud-native ML systems and the engineering reality behind modern AI.

Current focus

Production over demos

Notes on reproducible ML, data platforms, observability and delivery systems that teams can actually operate.

Writing focus
Data, AI, ML
Bias
Production-first
Delivery style
Field notes
Featured writing

Long-form notes for engineers who have to ship

Architecture essays, delivery guides and operational lessons from the part of AI work that starts after the first promising notebook.

article May 26, 2026 · 9 min read

Why MLOps is mostly an Engineering problem

If you ask whether MLOps is mostly software engineering, the practical answer is broader: delivery, data reliability, architecture and operational ownership usually matter more than the model code itself.

mlopssoftware-engineeringproduction-mlarchitecture
article May 20, 2026 · 7 min read

What MLOps actually is and why teams keep misdefining it

A practical definition of MLOps and a clearer view of where it starts, what it covers and why teams keep reducing it to tooling or deployment.

mlopsproduction-mlsoftware-engineeringarchitecture
Speaking

Selected sessions and conference appearances

A curated slice of the talks that best represent my profile: production AI, MLOps, observability and architecture across modern data platforms.

About me

Architecture, delivery and AI systems that have to hold up in production

Data Architect focused on Azure-native AI/ML platforms, MLOps foundations, delivery pipelines and the engineering systems that survive beyond the proof of concept.

Azure and Databricks architectures built for production pressure.

Delivery pipelines, observability and ML systems that have to stay operable.

A writing angle focused on the engineering layer after the notebook.