Sometimes I side quest
This certification started as a side quest, but like many side quests it revealed part of the main storyline.
Lately I’ve been building more software again. Agentic development is a little addictive. When you’ve spent a career building and integrating enterprise systems for organizations of every size, you develop a deep appreciation for the complexity of modern software platforms. Because of that, the idea that you can now “vibe code” a CRM over a weekend is strangely exciting.
The possibility changes the mental model.
Instead of conforming your business processes to a SaaS platform, paying for features you don’t need, and inheriting the technical debt of a mature product, you can imagine building something purpose-built. The traditional build versus buy debate, months of agile sprints, multi-year implementations, and endless configuration suddenly start to feel a little dated.
So I decided to test the idea.
My original thought was to try building a small CRM over a weekend. Before starting from scratch, I searched around to see who else was exploring the same idea and discovered an interesting open-source project aiming at the same target: an AI agent first CRM built on OpenClaw.
Instead of reinventing the wheel, I contributed.
My pull request added webhook support, which provides the foundation for many of the integrations and automation features that still need to be built out. The project itself is promising and the work was fun, but the real value was the shift in thinking that came with it.
The idea that organizations could build custom software faster, smaller, and cheaper than licensing a SaaS product represents a meaningful shift. Large enterprises may not move quickly because organizational inertia is real, but even the possibility changes the conversation. As a recent Wall Street Journal article pointed out (Meet the Companies Vibe Coding their own CRM), it may at least shift the negotiating leverage with SaaS vendors.
For small and mid-sized companies, however, the implications could be much bigger.
But even if software creation becomes dramatically easier, the need for thoughtful integration does not go away. If anything, it becomes more important. Systems still need to talk to each other. Data still needs to move reliably across platforms. Organizations still need well designed interfaces and contracts to keep everything working together.
Which brings me back to the side quest.
I am happy to share that I recently earned my MuleSoft certification. In a world where building software is becoming easier than ever, understanding how to connect systems responsibly and reliably may be more valuable than ever.
Thank you to RBR Technologies for their continued support.