The personal site of Sandeep Raju Prabhakar — AI engineer, writer, and photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area.https://sandeepraju.in/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/we-reward-rescue/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/we-reward-rescue/We tell ourselves we reward competence at work. We don't, we reward rescue. Why the disaster you quietly prevented goes unseen, and what might actually reward it.Sun, 28 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/knowledge-is-cheap-judgment-isnt/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/knowledge-is-cheap-judgment-isnt/AI is making knowledge cheap. The scarce thing now is judgment - and the only way anyone has ever built it is by doing the grunt work first.Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/reviewers-guide-to-effective-code-reviews/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/reviewers-guide-to-effective-code-reviews/After reviewing thousands of changes, I've watched reviews inspire people and crush them. A reviewer's playbook for giving feedback that makes teammates better, not bitter.Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/vibe-engineering/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/vibe-engineering/Four months of coding with AI taught me it only works when you treat it like real engineering. My evolving playbook for shipping quality with AI, not just speed.Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/vibe-coding/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/vibe-coding/I tried to 'vibe code' my wife's landing page with AI, expecting magic. What I got felt more like managing an enthusiastic but slightly clueless intern. A field report.Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/five-books-from-2024/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/five-books-from-2024/Over twenty books read in the in-between moments of a busy year. Five favorites from 2024 that inspired me, shifted my perspective, or quietly challenged how I think.Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/spaces-vs-tabs/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/spaces-vs-tabs/Why do engineers get so heated over something as trivial as spaces vs. tabs? A look at bikeshedding, and why those silly little arguments might actually be worth having.Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/pocket-wisdom/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/pocket-wisdom/A growing collection of short, mysterious phrases (aphorisms, proverbs, maxims) that I keep coming back to for clarity and perspective when life feels a little unclear.Thu, 01 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/the-art-of-code-reviews/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/the-art-of-code-reviews/Code reviews can feel like your middle-school science fair, praying nobody notices the volcano didn't erupt. How to make them smoother, kinder, and (dare I say) enjoyable.Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/writing/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/writing/My attempt to finally build a writing habit, and the three mental tricks I use to escape the 'cycle of doom': fear of judgment, the myth of perfection, and self-doubt.Sat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/third-place/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/third-place/Cafés are my favorite third place. Why I keep packing up my laptop to work among strangers, and what that hum gives me that the couch never could.Wed, 01 May 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/reading-code/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/reading-code/We're taught how to write code and almost never how to read it, yet most of the job is wading through code someone else already wrote. Why reading is the underrated skill.Mon, 15 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://sandeepraju.in/blog/five-books-from-2023/https://sandeepraju.in/blog/five-books-from-2023/The year I accidentally rediscovered reading, after trying (and failing) to become a book snob. Five books from 2023 that stuck with me, and how I got the habit back.Fri, 05 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT