The Universal Adapter

I am not a debater. When my son Luke needed help with his debate prep, I felt the familiar pang of parental inadequacy. I wanted to help, but I lacked the specific domain skills to coach him on cross-examinations or rebuttal strategies.

But I know process. And I know how to build.

The Axiom

You don’t need to be an expert in the content to be an expert in the container.

The Build

Instead of trying to fake debate knowledge, I leaned into my strengths. I built Cicero, the AI Debate Coach—a React and Supabase application designed to be a digital sparring partner.

I couldn’t teach him the nuance of a specific argument, but I could engineer a system that:

1. Simulates Opponents: Using AI (via Trigger.dev workflows) to generate counter-arguments based on specific motions.
2. Enforces Structure: Creating a “gym” where he could meticulously track flow and time his speeches.
3. Provides Feedback: Meaningful critiques on clarity and logic, not just “good job.”

The Insight

We often freeze when we can’t do the thing ourselves. We think support means doing it for them or knowing more than them.

That is false.

Building the infrastructure—the harness for the raw capability—is often more valuable. AI was the raw intelligence, Luke provided the drive, and I provided the architecture to connect the two.

Process is the universal adapter. It allowed me to be useful in a world I didn’t fully understand—a principle I explore deeply in Marketing Problems are Infrastructure Problems.