Become more valuable, not less, as AI accelerates.
I build with AI, test what's real, kill what isn't, and share the whole lot in public. Open code, real numbers, the failures before the wins.
Who this is for
For anyone embracing AI to build a better life and stay relevant as the world changes. That's the builder or founder trying to make sense of it without drowning in hype, the career professional wondering what survives, the late starter, and the solo operator who's never written code.
I'm not an AI guru selling a course of recycled ideas, and I'm not a consultant who's never shipped anything. I'm the man in the water: building things with these tools, finding out what actually holds up, and telling you the truth about it before you spend your own time finding out.
There's a quieter thread here too. As AI gets better at thinking for you, the skill that matters most is thinking for yourself: keeping your own judgement instead of handing it over. I'm working that out in public alongside everything else.
I build to learn, not to sell.
Every product is a test of what's real at the frontier. I run the test in the open, give the code away, and write up what worked, what didn't, and why. When something stops earning its place, I kill it in public and tell you what it cost me.
The value was never the software. It's the judgement and the trust, and those only compound if I show my working.
Why it matters
Hundreds of millions of people now get their understanding of the world from a handful of similarly-trained AI models. The answers come back confident, reasonable, and identical for everyone. When the machine hands the whole crowd the same play, the play stops paying.
So the scarce thing, the only defensible thing, is the ability to keep your own mind: real judgement, grounded in real depth, from someone actually doing the work. That's what I'm building here. Not another feed of AI takes. A field report you can verify.
Why you might believe me
- ▹4 published books, including the best-selling book on business continuity in the world for its first few years
- ▹20 products built with AI, across search, trading, monitoring, and estate tooling
- ▹38 years in technology, including complex systems in global banking
- ▹Creator of Efformism, and innovations on The Headless Way
- ▹Code open for anyone to inspect; products killed in public when they don't work
The field report
What's working, what isn't, and what it cost me. Open numbers, written as I go.
AI project failure rates: four questions that tell you whether the number means anything
I classified nineteen of the most-cited AI failure statistics. Seven of them measure nothing that has happened. Here are the four questions that separate the two.
Reviewing AI output isn't enough: one word in my prompt made the guardrail disappear
I asked for a teacher and got a lecture. The output looked like the destination. The road it took was invisible, and the road was the whole problem.
On camera
The same builds, shown rather than written up. Watch what actually happened.
The products
Built with AI, open to inspect, and killed in public when they stop earning their place.
Executor File
Everything your executor will need, in one encrypted file.
Everything your executor will need, in one encrypted file. A self-hosted register of accounts, assets and liabilities, with no credentials stored and no service to die.
AI Search Arena
AI Search Arena evaluates GEO/AEO tools against 50+ standardized metrics across dimensions like AI visibility, content optimization, and technical implementation.
AI Search Arena evaluates GEO/AEO tools against 50+ standardized metrics across dimensions like AI visibility, content optimization, and technical implementation. Every score is derived from 6 independent AI model evaluations with median-based synthesis to eliminate bias. Full methodology published, SHA-256 audit packages, and vendor review windows ensure transparency. Market segment filters let users find the best tools for their specific use case: from enterprise SEO to SMB marketing.
Aisearchmastery.com
Learn how to optimize your content for AI-powered search engines.
Learn how to optimize your content for AI-powered search engines. Courses, guides, and templates for content creators and marketers.
The deal
If I recommend it, I'm using it.
If it failed, you'll hear about the failure before the win.
My code is open for you to check.
Every product I kill gets a public post-mortem.
That's the whole deal. No funnel, no secret sauce, no "DM me to scale."
Questions people actually ask
- Do you build all of this yourself?
- Yes: me plus AI. Most of the code is written with Anthropic's Claude and reviewed, tested and shipped by me. That working method is the subject of the site, not a secret behind it.
- Is the code really open?
- The product code is public on GitHub under TheWayWithin, open for anyone to inspect. When a product stops earning its place I kill it in public and write the post-mortem.
- What do subscribers actually get?
- A weekly digest of the field reports: what I built, what worked, what failed and what it cost. Double opt-in, no spam, unsubscribe any time.
- Are you selling a course or consulting?
- No. There is no funnel here; the writing is free and the products stand on their own. If that ever changes, it will say so in plain sight.
I'm in the water, riding this wave in real time, in code and in writing.
If you'd rather learn from someone actually doing the work than someone selling theory from the beach, stay a while. I'll tell you what's working before you waste the time finding out yourself.
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I build with AI in the open and write up what held and what didn't. Real numbers, the failures before the wins.