From Cursor to Claude Code & OpenCode: How I Unlocked Next-Level Development Speed
My experience switching from Cursor to Claude Code Max and OpenCode, and how it transformed my development workflow while building an AI Agent Platform.
Full-Stack AI Engineer building AI Agents & MCP Servers
I'm Matthew Groff, Principal AI Engineer and AI Capability Lead at Umbrage, part of Bain & Company. Based in Orlando, FL, I ship AI agents and MCP servers that automate business operations with AI-enabled workflows. I turn AI concepts into measurable outcomes, cutting processes from months to minutes. I recently published my first eBook “Build Your First MCP Server” and share insights on AI engineering and web technologies through this development blog.
Office Hours: I hold monthly sessions to help teams tackle AI engineering challenges. Book a 30-minute session to discuss your AI Product, MCP Servers, Web Dev, Systematically improving your app with Evals, or whatever strikes your fancy. These times are odd because it's weekends and before and after my day job.
Professional Disclaimer: All content and opinions expressed here are my personal work and views. They are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or representative of Umbrage or Bain & Company. Groff Dev LLC is a separate legal entity that operates independently from my employment obligations.
Building Around “Nano-Banana”: Real-World Engineering with Gemini 2.5 Flash Image Preview
Everything that broke (and how I fixed it) while wiring Google’s image model into a full-stack agent platform: streaming, message conversion, file handling, and shipping images without melting your browser.
The 12-Factor Agent: Best Practices for Building Reliable LLM Applications
Dex from HumanLayer outlines 12 essential principles for building reliable AI agents. These best practices resonated deeply with my own agent development experience.
Pydantic AI + Vercel AI SDK: My Favorite Tech Stack for Building AI Agents
How and why I combine Pydantic AI with Vercel AI SDK to build AI agents. Learn to connect Python Pydantic AI backends to TypeScript frontends with streaming, tool calling, and MCP servers. Example GitHub repo included.
Independent AI Consulting
- Company
- NextRep (Outbound Sales AI Startup)
- Role
- AI Engineering Consulting
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Professional Experience
- Company
- Umbrage (Acquired by Bain & Company)
- Role
- Principal AI Engineer | AI Capability Lead
- Date
- Company
- Intrepid (Acquired by Accenture)
- Role
- Senior Digital Business Integration Analyst
- Date
- Company
- Batakang
- Role
- Android Developer / Owner
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