Design begins with intentional model selection. You'll master the enterprise model palette, learning to choose between reasoning and utility models, large and small architectures, and specialized adapters. We cover the global landscape including DeepSeek, Qwen, and Ernie, focusing on fit-for-purpose selection, not hype.

Then you'll architect cognitive roles (Planner, Executor, Critic, Validator) with enforceable schema contracts using Pydantic/JSONSchema. Learn to isolate risk through role boundaries, define measurable confidence thresholds, and design resilient model meshes that prevent cascading failures in production environments.