I am genuinely trying to figure out how other product folks handle this. You run feedback through an AI. You get a summary. Sure. But what are you still doing before that result drives a real product decision? We never know if we are missing some obvious step in our own daily workflow.
Have you currently started a business that you are running? What kind of service or product do you offer?
Hoping someone can look at my AI/tech stack and tell me what I’m missing because I have a feeling I’m simultaneously paying for too much AND missing something quite fundamental 😂
Context: I run a growing fashion/e-commerce brand, but I’m also building other things on the side around content, UGC, memberships/digital products etc. I have ADHD, approximately 700 ideas a day, and I LOVE voice notes/talking things out rather than sitting down meticulously updating project management software.
Current situation:
ChatGPT — basically my second brain. I use it for pretty much everything in the business now: strategy, Shopify, customer service, emails, product development, analysing performance, launches, content, ads, operations, automations, spreadsheets, ideas etc.
Claude — used to be my main AI. I moved predominantly to ChatGPT because I felt like Claude was starting to overcomplicate everything and sometimes just wasn’t getting what I actually wanted. BUT I still can’t quite let it go 😂 There are things that frustrate me with ChatGPT too, so I’m currently still using/paying for both.
Instinct — loving this at the minute.
Hey Pocket — mainly for chucking ideas somewhere before my brain moves onto something else.
WhatsApp — use it loads with my team and I naturally work really well through messages/voice notes.
Shopify — ecommerce.
Klaviyo — email/SMS/flows. I also have an actual human working on this because I’m not convinced I want AI doing absolutely everything here.
ManyChat — DMs, waitlists, automations etc.
Canva — constantly.
Higgsfield — AI creative/video.
Freelance video editor — still paying someone to edit content. I keep seeing what AI can apparently do with video now, but I haven’t managed to get to the point where I think I could actually replace her with it.
Then all the usual ecommerce bits for reviews, returns, shipping, payments etc.
BUT I actually think my biggest problem is the backend of all this.
I’ve tried building things outside ChatGPT in Visual Studio. I’ve tried building agents. I’ve made different projects/chats/workflows and tried connecting everything together.
And eventually it all just gets really, really messy.
I’m constantly scrolling through chats thinking where did we build that? Which chat was that in? Did I actually implement that? Where’s the latest version? 😂
ChatGPT knows an insane amount about my business now, which is brilliant, but I’m also increasingly aware that scrolling through ChatGPT chats probably shouldn’t be the operating system for my entire company.
I think this is actually my knowledge gap. I know enough AI to build loads of stuff, but I don’t really know how to prop up the backend properly so everything has somewhere permanent to live.
Do I need a database? Notion? Airtable? Some sort of proper knowledge base? Something else entirely?
In my head I want:
I voice note an idea → it gets captured → knows which part of the business it belongs to → stores it in the right place → turns it into tasks/content/a project if needed → delegates things → and actually reminds/resurfaces it later.
Instead what currently happens is:
I have an idea → talk to ChatGPT about it for 45 minutes → build half of something → have another idea → disappear down that rabbit hole → three weeks later vaguely remember the first thing exists → search 97 chats trying to find it 😂
So I don’t really want another list of 20 shiny AI tools to subscribe to. I’m trying to work out:
What would you keep? What am I paying for twice? What could I consolidate? What would you absolutely keep a human doing? And most importantly, what would you use as the actual backend/source of truth for all of this?
Would particularly love to hear from people who are actually running their businesses this way day-to-day. What have you built that genuinely works rather than theoretically could work?
And if there’s one thing in my setup that makes you think “how are you not using X for that?!”, please tell me 😂
TL;DR: That US agency leader refused the bear joke — everyone else is still trying to outrun you.
I remember back in my days seconded to Abu Dhabi to build the prestigious AED 1Bil. 5-block Condominium Rihan Heights Project in 2008 ~ 2011.
My technical department head split the design/technical coordination work among the 3 of us. I took the structural bit, and my 2 colleagues took on the Architectural and Façade portion, respectively. The work was difficult, but ultimately satisfying after completion.
After I came back to Malaysia circa 2012, the company immediately enrolled me into mastering Building Information Modelling (BIM). It was to construct the virtual model of the building – to coordinate and encompassing all building details – Structural, Architectural, Façade and M&E – all into one well-tuned-out model, before construction starts.
The thesis was simple: if we can iron out all the discrepancies between different trades in the model – we called it clash-detection and resolution – we can save up time (lots of time) from dealing with it during construction.
And time equals money.
The intension of the company was very obvious to me. I was to master it to eventually take over the role of 3 persons into one “superman” coordinating everything.
My then CEO used to throw around the phrase – “Economics of Scale”. If we can use one guy to do 3 jobs, why do we need 3 guys?
Finding ways to reduce cost, was how we win tender and secure jobs – and therefore remain competitive in the market.
All these AI layoffs are just of the same consideration in a different skin.
Full critic and feasibility study in the comments.