The Decoder

Tech words, plain English

27 words so far. No jargon inside the definitions, and nothing made up: every one is written or approved by a person.

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This week's quiz · from Before you say yes: what your AI tools can read

Test yourself

1 Which of these is an example of agentic AI?
2 You just installed a ChatGPT add-on in Chrome. What is a smart first step?
3 If a scam filter is cloud-based, what happens to a text from an unknown number?

All words

Agentic AI
Software that takes actions for you, not just answers. Byte glossary
API
A doorway that lets two apps share info, so you stop copy-pasting. Byte glossary
Bootstrapping
Growing a business with your own money and sales instead of investors. Byte glossary
Brand infrastructure
The systems that make your style show up the same everywhere. Byte glossary
Browser extension
A small add-on you install in a web browser like Chrome that gives it extra abilities. Study guide · week of 2026-10-26
Cash-flow forecasting
Knowing in January whether you can make rent in March. Byte glossary
Churn
The share of customers who cancel or stop buying. Byte glossary
Cloud storage
Your files living on secure computers you can reach from anywhere. Byte glossary
Cloud-based
Done on a company's computers over the internet, so your information leaves your own phone or laptop to be handled there. Study guide · week of 2026-10-26
Conversion rate
Out of everyone who visits, the share who actually buy or sign up. Byte glossary
CRM
One place to keep track of every customer and every conversation. Byte glossary
Customer acquisition cost
What you spend to land one new customer. Byte glossary
Domain name
Your address on the internet, like yourshop.com. Byte glossary
EIN
Your business's tax ID number, like a Social Security number for your company. Byte glossary
Equity
A piece of ownership in a company. Byte glossary
Large language model
The engine behind chatbots: software trained on tons of text to predict a good answer. Byte glossary
Lifetime value
How much one customer is worth to you over the whole relationship. Byte glossary
LLC
A business setup that keeps your personal stuff separate from business debts. Byte glossary
Monthly recurring revenue
Money you can count on coming in every month from subscriptions. Byte glossary
No-code
Building apps and tools by clicking and dragging instead of writing code. Byte glossary
Operating agreement
The house rules for who owns and decides what in your business. Byte glossary
Pitch deck
A short slideshow that explains your business to investors or partners. Byte glossary
Prompt engineering
Writing clearer instructions so AI gives you better results. Byte glossary
Retrieval-augmented generation
AI that checks your own files before it answers you. Byte glossary
Search engine optimization
Getting found when someone searches for what you do. Byte glossary
Two-factor authentication
A second check, like a text code, so a stolen password isn't enough. Byte glossary
Vibe coding
Building software by describing what you want to an AI and steering what it makes. Byte glossary