Pencil portrait of Ali Kibao

Ali Kibao

Your AI is waiting to be asked. Give it a mission.

I've built software for businesses for 15 years. I was a gun for hire, and growing a team was never my strength. So I'm running an experiment: how far can AI tools push a business, starting with mine? I'm sharing all of it, including what flops.

Get the free mission skill Follow the experiment

Sound familiar?

  • "We've got one ChatGPT login and everyone's sharing it."
  • "Do I buy Claude or ChatGPT for everyone? How would I even know if they use it?"
  • "It's great for ideas, but it doesn't actually run anything."
  • "Every time, I have to explain my whole business again."

If any of these sound like your business, the free skill below is for you.

Give your AI a mission

"The value isn't the answers. It's knowing the right questions to ask."

This skill asks them. It's a set of instructions you paste into the AI you already use, ChatGPT or Claude. It starts from the problem you want AI to help with, works out what's really going on, the way I would, and pushes back where most people get stuck.

Most AI sits there until someone types a question, then gives the industry average. Give it a clear job and your business's own know-how, and it starts moving things forward. And if AI isn't the fix yet, it tells you that too.

What you walk away with

  • A brief for your AI, shaped to your problem: the rules and judgement calls only your business has, what it may do and what it never does.
  • A short page for you: what the session uncovered, the open questions, first actions with names and dates, and what to tackle next.

How it works

  1. Copy the skill and paste it into ChatGPT or Claude. A free account works.

  2. Answer its questions honestly. It asks about your business, not about AI. "I don't know" is a fine answer.

  3. Give the brief to your AI and let it get to work.

Free, no sign-up and nothing to install. It takes 20 to 40 minutes.

Get the mission skill See all skills

My journey

Fifteen years as a gun for hire, and what it led to.

A one-man agency

Social media first, then websites, then apps for whoever needed one. Sit with a business, find what's slowing it down, build the thing that fixes it.

Debt Review Centre

ClientFinanceSouth Africa

The CRM their sales and case teams work in every day, from first lead to court order, plus a WhatsApp assistant for clients.

Visit debtreviewcentre.co.za

Incarts

ClientRetail techUnited States

Links and QR codes that land shoppers with the product already in their cart at Walmart, Target, Instacart or Kroger.

Visit incarts.co

1stly

My ownAdvertising & AI

An AI growth agent that studies your Google Ads, Meta and Shopify data and proposes changes. Nothing goes live until a person approves it.

Visit 1stly.com

Michael James

ClientAuctionsSouth Africa

A rebuilt platform for an auction house founded in 1964: live bidding, an auction control room, a PayFast shop and listings sent straight to Property24.

Visit michaeljames.co.za

Esrapia

My ownAI visibility

Reads your website the way ChatGPT and Claude do, and tells you whether they would recommend you. The quick check is free.

Try esrapia.com

Comfix

ClientConstruction & engineeringSouth Africa

Stock, projects and team communication, and the whole company's email moved to Microsoft 365 in a single day.

Ijue Nchi Yako

My ownCivic techTanzania

A Swahili-first assistant that answers citizens' questions about their government, citing only what the government has published. Early, and slow on purpose.

The experiment

Building my own businesses with AI and writing up everything I learn. At my day job, I'm moving my team and organisation onto these tools, so I see what works for a whole team, not just for me.

Read the notes

Working with me

Now and then I take on hands-on work when it's a strong fit. It's premium, and I keep the list short. When I do, it goes like this.

  1. Listen

    Find what's actually stuck.

  2. Sketch

    On paper, before code.

  3. Build

    Including the boring parts.

  4. Stick around

    Launch is the middle, not the end.

Ask about hands-on work

Things I believe

  • Sounds good isn't the same as is good. I'd rather prove it.
  • AI should take the pressure off a business so it can hire people, not replace them.
  • Generic AI gives you the industry average. Your own know-how is what makes it useful.
  • Nothing touches your money without a person saying yes.
  • Most problems aren't AI problems. Some are spreadsheet problems. I'll tell you which.

Follow the experiment

What I try, what works and what flops, written up as I go. I'm not chasing followers. I'm looking for 1,000 true connections.

Read my thoughts

What's on your mind?

If I'm not the right person, I'll tell you who is.