Design Your First MCP Server: Connect Claude to Any System

Claude is powerful — but only when it can see your data. Pre-built connectors cover the usual suspects: Google, HubSpot, Slack. The systems that make your business unique? Those stay invisible. Every question Claude answers without that context is a question answered with half the picture.

MCP servers change that. They give Claude structured read (and write) access to your internal systems — your platform, your database, your proprietary tools. Connect everything, and Claude stops being a clever chatbot and starts being a team member with full context across your entire operation.

In this session, we open up the Kowalah platform MCP server — the one we use every day to run our business — and walk through exactly how it works. No code. No jargon. Just a clear look at the architecture, the decisions we made, and what it looks like when Claude pulls live data from a custom system in real time.

What you will learn:

• What an MCP server actually is and how it fits into the Claude ecosystem
• The difference between pre-built connectors and custom MCP servers — and when you need both
• How to decide what data to expose, whether to allow write access, and how to handle authentication
• What a working MCP server looks like in production, demonstrated live
• Exactly where to go next — documentation, Claude's built-in MCP Builder skill, or a conversation with our team

Who should attend:

Technical leaders — CTOs, Heads of IT, Engineering Managers — who want to understand what MCP servers are and how to brief their team to build one. You do not need to write code in this session. You need to leave knowing what is possible and what decisions to make.

What you will leave with:

• A clear mental model of MCP server architecture you can explain to your team
• A framework for deciding which systems to connect and how
• Knowledge of the resources available to start building: Anthropic's documentation, Claude's MCP Builder skill, and Kowalah's support
• Confidence to kick off your first MCP server project