acknowledgments

First and foremost, to my wife, Yurina, and my children, Raon and Lael—thank you. Completing this manuscript required countless evenings and weekends that should have belonged to you. Your patience, understanding, and unwavering love made this book possible.

I extend my sincere thanks to the team at Manning Publications. Andy Waldron provided thoughtful leadership throughout the process. Ian Hough believed in this project from the very beginning. My editor, Katie Sposato, offered sharp insight and steady guidance that significantly strengthened the manuscript. I am also grateful to Aira Ducic, Christina Rudloff, and Azra Dedic for their essential support during production. Special thanks to my technical editor, Laurens Meulman, whose careful review sharpened the technical content. Laurens is a director of AI Product Management at BNY Mellon, where he spearheads Applied AI initiatives across the enterprise. Thanks also to production editor Kathy Rossland, copyeditor Julie McNamee, Aleksandar Dragosavljevic, and the rest of the team for expertly guiding this book to publication.