MCP: AI's USB-C moment is here

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Your guide to making AI work for you.

Hey,

Andrew here from The Logical Box, where I break down AI so it’s easy to understand and even easier to use.

You will hear the letters MCP a lot this year. It stands for Model Context Protocol which is a new, open rulebook that lets any AI agent tap your data or apps through one shared plug. Think of it as USB-C for AI.

Below you will find a clear tour: what MCP is, why it matters to you, a real-world demo, and a 30-minute starter plan.

1. What MCP Is in Plain Words

MCP is an open standard built on JSON-RPC. Two parts make it work:

• MCP servers sit near your data - Google Drive, Slack, Postgres.
  

• MCP clients live inside AI apps - Claude Desktop, Copilot Studio, Perplexity.
  

When you grant access, the client discovers the servers, asks for what it needs, and gets back text or structured results the model can read right away. No custom connectors. 

2. A Quick Analogy

Remember the drawer full of phone chargers: mini-USB, micro-USB, Lightning? USB-C killed that mess.

MCP does the same for AI:

That shared plug slashes both friction and cost.

3. Why You Should Care

• Faster pilots. Teams spin up a proof of concept in a day, not a sprint.
  

• Lower spend. One standard means one set of skills and far fewer billable hours.
  

• Sharper answers. Models pull real context instead of guessing from scraps.
  

• Built-in consent. MCP forces a user prompt every time a new server comes online; no silent data grabs. 

4. Live Demo: Windows Goes MCP

Microsoft just baked MCP into Windows. In a live demo, Perplexity AI searched local files by plain English: “Find my 2024 invoices.”

Instead of you clicking folders, Perplexity asked the Windows file-system MCP server for the answer. Same code will work on OneDrive, Slack, or SQL once those servers are live. 

5. Three Wins for Your Business

Add up those moves and you trim hours, not minutes, every week.

6. Your 30-Minute Trial

7. Watch-Outs

• Scope access. Grant only the folders each agent needs.
  

• Sandbox first. Some servers are early community builds; test before prod.
  

• Review prompts. Even with consent guards, good prompt hygiene still matters.

8. Key Takeaways

1. MCP is the USB-C of AI. One plug, many tools.
   

2. Speed + context win. Less glue code, richer answers.
   

Start small today. One pain point, one server, one clear time save.

Ready to take the next step?

I work alongside businesses to develop AI skills and systems that stay with you. Rather than just building prompts, I help you become a confident AI user who can solve real problems and no more starting from zero each time.

If you are ready for some guidance to get you or your team truly comfortable with AI tools, reach out to Andrew on LinkedIn and let's talk about what is possible.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew Keener
Founder of Keen Alliance & Your Guide at The Logical Box