A few weeks ago I wrote about how some of the AI lessons I picked up at Rhodium would take up what I described as my “work free time.” Well, after procrastinating around setting things up, I finally entered the world of vibe coding this week. We’ve already built a few agents that we use for internal admin purposes, so I set out on a more ambitious project to build our first client-facing tool. It’s a brave new world when people like me now have access to tools that make me into a software developer.

In the space of about two and a half hours, with a kickstart boost from the leader of an AI community of which I’m a member, I had AI create a python script (complete with a desktop icon) to address a set of two discreet tasks that are part of our larger workflow of reviewing documents redlined by opposing counsel. The goal is to speed up an existing process. I’m not crazy enough to attempt to code myself out of a job. In that short amount of time, I created a beta version and produced a few outputs to facilitate internal discussions. This is still early days, but I may even show the output to a few clients who are attracted to the idea in the coming weeks to elicit feedback if people are open to the idea. There are going to be several opportunities coming up. As for development costs, they’re a rounding error even without me trying to be cost efficient.

Is the tool ready for primetime? No. Will it ever be a solution that could be offered as a standalone product? Probably not. Will I continue to iterate on it to make it functional for its narrow purpose? Absolutely. If I can save us 15-20 minutes each time we do something when we do that thing ~50 times a year then it’s worth spending a few hours to make that tool. And if I’m successful with this one, then I won’t stop at one.

If people want to tell me about some things they’ve automated with AI, I’m open to inspiration. It doesn’t even have to be something you vibe coded. Heck, it doesn’t even need to be work related. I know one guy who set up automations such that a text message to his wife gets drafted every morning when he leaves his house and all he has to do is approve and send it.