Explore all emails from Future-Proof Your Career with AI

34 emails

View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/why-your-firm-is-struggling-with Hey friends — This week’s round-up is being sent to you automatically. As you’re reading this, I’m on day three of a 7-day silent meditation retreat. I’m probably getting twitchy from the inability to interact with my agents! If you’re new here, every Sunday I curate the best articles, podcasts and videos on AI (so that you don’t have to). I also teach smart (non-technical) professionals how to Master Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/05005361-db9d-4b46-9302-5fbdab87a0e5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and Claude Cowork. [ https://substack.com/redirect/db599300-c86d-45a8-9151-57b6374ec9a9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Why firms struggle with AI adoption Implementing AI inside organizations is HARD. Processes, data, training, and org design are all very real obstacles. This section on context curation is very representative of what we see at LaTour: Data and knowledge. Your institutional IP is buried in decks and memos nobody can find, and an agent can't reach what a human can't find. Make someone senior responsible for corpus curation, think through the anonymization workflow before you buy tools, and treat it like a P&L line rather than an IT ticket (RIP). → Read the tweet [ https://substack.com/redirect/8f23fa7f-6eec-47d7-8b6d-f86a6255c3ba?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] What to Expect When You’re Deploying AI in the Enterprise A few more lessons on enterprise adoption: “Data ready” is a myth Timelines are too optimistic The org chart is the real challenge A flywheel does actually exist → Read the tweet [ https://substack.com/redirect/2ddfeca3-9f38-4013-afc8-b4b3e44de34c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Box’s CEO on Enterprise Adoption Aaron Levie discusses token budgeting, “headless” SaaS and why he’s not worried about mass unemployment. → Listen to the podcast [ https://substack.com/redirect/e9e2e1fe-8903-4db5-a791-061236aa5e2e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] This week’s model and product updates Open AI Chat GPT releases Image 2.0 [ https://substack.com/redirect/6241842e-83d9-4dda-bb91-394eefee0a9b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — The model is precise with text and can do detailed mock-ups. Very positive initial reaction, knocks Nano Banana off the throne (for now). ChatGPT integrates into Google Sheets [ https://substack.com/redirect/1c6c45b9-a3f4-4baa-8d26-ba7b60d2c242?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Ask questions and update formulas from within the app. Anthropic Live artifacts in Claude [ https://substack.com/redirect/a16bcd68-4ff9-4811-8d53-80fd3ffa0365?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Connect these dashboards to a spreadsheet and they update automatically. Skip all permissions in Cowork [ https://substack.com/redirect/472fea4e-3c89-471b-9fb4-9140c20594d6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A nice quality of life improvement (but be careful with these types of settings). Download our free guide to Claude Cowork The Best of the Rest I tried the new ChatGPT “Super App” [ https://substack.com/redirect/1141ba8d-fa71-491b-bf98-704a58bc5982?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Codex’s ability to take control of your computer is impressive. State of the Claw with Peter Steinberger [ https://substack.com/redirect/b079b2bd-41a8-43e6-a526-319b81d0b4bd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Listen to the Q&A at minute 19 on what the next chapter looks like. Jensen Huang on Dwarkesh’s podcast [ https://substack.com/redirect/8194a27a-3df3-4721-8bc0-f0e9a2a8596f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — TPU competition, why we should sell chips to China, & Nvidia’s supply chain moat Claude Cowork for Non-engineers [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwGQ9CrqVdA&t=1s Best ] — A deep dive on how to structure your projects and context inside Cowork. Why Cowork won’t look like Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/bbfd600a-297b-415e-9bbd-b9f0f87bd4dd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — It’s hard for non-engineers to work across fragmented tools and data sources. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.WZvRxXrJx0ek1IphzMZX_1yNZArlQI57zu5Ofif_Yw4?
View Email

Why your firm is struggling with AI adoption

khemaridh@substack.com4/26/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/i-tried-openais-new-super-app Claude’s been on a tear recently. They pioneered coding agents, [ https://substack.com/redirect/ac4e4e08-eaba-4eca-9d60-dffaacbdb195?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] the MCP protocol, [ https://substack.com/redirect/d47ac56e-b781-45c7-a3ac-65e4fd077910?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] skills [ https://substack.com/redirect/9e448b02-9ed5-47e7-91d7-d1e2d20eb08b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and most recently Claude Cowork. [ https://substack.com/redirect/195820d6-c741-49e3-84cd-a507ce8d6122?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] All while OpenAI stood on the sidelines, without any meaningful launches. But like a race featuring George Russell and Kimi Antonelli — any lead feels ephemeral. A few months ago, Sam Altman declared that OpenAI was going to build a “super app.” An app that combines coding, document creation, web access and image generation: And this week, we got a first taste of the super app. Stop drowning in the noise — Claude Cowork helps you focus on what really matters Imagine sitting down Monday morning and your meetings are already prepped, your inbox is triaged, and last week’s notes are organized — all before you opened your laptop. That’s Claude Cowork running on a schedule you set once. This self-paced course teaches you to build that system. Finish it in a weekend. What is Codex? Codex is OpenAI’s version of Claude Code. It’s a tool that was originally built for software engineers, but over time has been attracting more and more non-coders. Here are a few traits that make Codex so powerful. It can: Run multi-step workflows Interact with your file system Connect to your favorite tools (Gmail, Slack, Microsoft 365) Write code to solve “intermediate” problems When you open Codex you get access to a few different panes: Plugins (which includes Connectors [ https://substack.com/redirect/901882e4-fd8a-440a-8e9b-d0cef433f17b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and Skills [ https://substack.com/redirect/9e448b02-9ed5-47e7-91d7-d1e2d20eb08b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) Automations (aka Scheduled Tasks [ https://substack.com/redirect/4c0c3cc2-0efa-43da-92c4-d9660abc2793?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) Projects [ https://substack.com/redirect/07d7dcad-c79e-4934-9b0c-a8139f01e75c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] A chat window In Codex’s latest release, one new feature really stood out: Codex can now operate your computer alongside you, work with more of the tools and apps you use everyday, generate images, remember your preferences, learn from previous actions, and take on ongoing and repeatable work. This feature is called Computer Use. Codex can take control of your computer This feature combines two existing Claude features: computer use [ https://substack.com/redirect/1e503b72-6cc4-4e5e-bbec-b992c2647002?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and the Chrome browser extension. [ https://substack.com/redirect/c919ea28-d52a-4e4a-b8d7-58c22ab36022?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] As the name implies, the tool takes control of your actual computer. It can open apps, view websites and cross paywalls. It’s VERY powerful, so please make sure you understand the security implications of granting this much access. I put Computer Use to work with a few prompts: Example 1: Classifying my iMessages I send a lot of text messages with friends (and clients) who have different levels of AI expertise and experience. I wanted to classify them by skill level based on the links that I sent them. Here’s the prompt: Go through my iMessages from the last six months. I send a lot of texts about AI, specifically links to podcasts, blog posts, tweets, and YouTube videos. I'm trying to get a sense of who I send the most iMessages to and their level of expertise when it comes to AI (beginner or advanced). You can infer whether it's beginner or advanced based on the preview of the link shared. You don't have to go in and read through each one First, it seamlessly connected to my iMessages. The result was solid. It definitely missed a lot of interactions, but it was directionally correct. Example 2: Reconnecting with contacts Next, I wanted to see the people I hadn’t reached out to in a while — to see if there were some connections that could be reinitiated. who do I regularly text, but have i not texted in the past 2 months (look up 2-4 months) This query is pretty formulaic, so there were a few Type 1 Errors but it was very helpful: Example 3: Doing work on a website As you know, I’m a HUGE fan of the Claude Chrome extension. I use it every day (for both ad hoc and scheduled tasks) particularly on sites that I access often (but that don’t have APIs). I currently run 3 websites (Khehy.com, latourai.com and coworkinsider.com) and hadn’t checked the Google Analytics in a long time. So here’s the prompt I used: Go thru my google analytics khemaridh.hy@gmail.com (loggied into safari). Create a traffic and pages report for last month for 3 sites: latourai coworkinsider khehy.com You may know that accessing Google Analytics is just a royal PITA. So the results were awesome. Simple and clean. Closing Thoughts Codex’s Computer Use feature is very good. It’s fast, accurate and the web browsing is significantly faster than in Claude. The open question is how well it integrates with the tools and apps you use every day. Needless to say, the race between Anthropic and OpenAI is alive and kicking! Download our free guide to Claude Cowork Unsubscribe https://substack.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.jFiB7teWUcr9pGEN10G02LFHoO_F7UZ4gIurmQ1y9vc?
View Email

I tried OpenAI's new "Super App"

khemaridh@substack.com4/23/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/claude-cowork-gets-some-competition Hey friends! So I actually don’t spend all my life chatting with AI and building agents. Here’s proof: I was out in Montana this week (on-site with a client) and this city boy caught his first fish… ever! And if you’re new here, every week I curate my favorite AI reads (so that you don’t have to). Let’s jump in. Codex comes for Cowork OpenAI’s Codex got a new update. It’s no longer just for coders, it can connect to your favorite apps, edit a presentation and access your computer. And unlike Claude, it’s all being packaged into a “super-app” — no switching tabs or apps. Just a unified interface. → Read the announcement [ https://substack.com/redirect/2d20a091-c2e2-418e-b57d-86eed84e8762?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Claude continues its launch streak Here’s everything Anthropic launched this week. Opus 4.7 [ https://substack.com/redirect/ece93e20-aa58-4f51-9e21-a27eee5f3941?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — The early reviews are mixed. Routines [ https://substack.com/redirect/f634f311-7ca2-4c6b-8e27-b886eb104458?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] for cloud-based recurring tasks — I hope to replace cron jobs on my local machine. Desktop app [ https://substack.com/redirect/74511864-ac4b-47ec-be2b-a67a2bead096?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] gets a refresh — I like it a lot and am now using Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/c8a7c448-6dd2-4bb7-9772-08f8cb693a29?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] in the app. Claude design [ https://substack.com/redirect/f30b83c6-a60c-46bf-a9d2-a0b19e76348e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] for slides, websites and prototypes — Figma and Adobe’s stock prices take a hit A new plug-in for Microsoft Word [ https://substack.com/redirect/f30b83c6-a60c-46bf-a9d2-a0b19e76348e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Rounds out the trifecta of PowerPoint and Excel. Build your AI Chief of Staff (with Claude Cowork and Code) The AI Accelerator is the most comprehensive program for knowledge workers who want to stop dabbling with AI and start building with it. You'll get three self-paced courses — Foundations of AI, Master Claude Cowork, and Master Claude Code — that take you from prompting fundamentals to building your own AI chief of staff and custom tools. Bi-monthly live coaching calls with Khe keep you unstuck, while a private community of operators, founders, and executives shows you what's actually working week to week. The state of AI Agents in the enterprise What are CIOs and leaders saying about AI innovation? It’s harder than it looks, change management is a real impediment, the tech is not easy and token budgeting is an issue. → Read the post [ https://substack.com/redirect/1aeb1ff3-e23c-4286-87ae-62f17c5359c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The New Software: CLI, Skills & Vertical Models It’s all about CLIs and Skills. 6 months ago, I would have had no idea what this even met but now I’m thinking about how I can make my IP more accessible to agents. Our tools will have to change drastically when the primary users are agents (and not humans). (Need to quickly learn these technical skills? Our Claude Code course [ https://substack.com/redirect/c8a7c448-6dd2-4bb7-9772-08f8cb693a29?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] can get you there in under a week.) → Read the post [ https://substack.com/redirect/f41bbe57-d69d-4817-adc1-0d80956bd840?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The Best of the Rest How to avoid “AI Slop” [ https://substack.com/redirect/ea0af65f-5815-496b-bcf7-8d37c616d3b9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The most important ideas in AI right now [ https://substack.com/redirect/598d4700-539e-4177-b28a-6f9e21629617?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Anthropic’s Felix Rieseberg: Claude Cowork, Mythos, and the SaaS Extinction [ https://substack.com/redirect/2ab24b4a-d13e-4494-9d66-d1925b14f877?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Ben Thompson from Stratechery on AI ads, the end of SaaS, and the future of media [ https://substack.com/redirect/49e5103f-f08e-4117-bfc8-47a4bc18927e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Download our free guide to Claude Cowork Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9raGVtYXJpZGguc3Vic3RhY2suY29tL2FjdGlvbi9kaXNhYmxlX2VtYWlsP3Rva2VuPWV5SjFjMlZ5WDJsa0lqbzBNekExTVRReE9UZ3NJbkJ2YzNSZmFXUWlPakU1TkRBMk56SXhPU3dpYVdGMElqb3hOemMyTmpBME1UUTFMQ0psZUhBaU9qRTRNRGd4TkRBeE5EVXNJbWx6Y3lJNkluQjFZaTB6TXpZek5USTJJaXdpYzNWaUlqb2laR2x6WVdKc1pWOWxiV0ZwYkNKOS55dk5lRldIS0dkSTNiSE5UcDFYNi1SQnBCUm5HYzZXLTJaWGtURFJIUU9VIiwicCI6MTk0MDY3MjE5LCJzIjozMzYzNTI2LCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MzA1MTQxOTgsImlhdCI6MTc3NjYwNDE0NSwiZXhwIjoyMDkyMTgwMTQ1LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.3l7_skKKnDuZoJbpBFv92G1sKZqtLBITanGYQXcro3k?
View Email

Claude Cowork gets some competition

khemaridh@substack.com4/19/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/what-milkshakes-can-teach-us-about I think about this comic strip all the time. Let’s be honest. Using AI to summarize and create emails is one of the most popular use cases for this powerful technology. And with the rise of Claude CoWork, [ https://substack.com/redirect/40f62545-7dac-41a6-8519-ce73e928b47b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] it’s become even easier to create elaborate presentations, briefing documents and LinkedIn posts. But when you zoom out and take stock of all these deliverables (not to mention token utilization [ https://open.substack.com/pub/khemaridh/p/ai-just-got-way-less-fun?r=bf55&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true ]), what is really happening? And are we actually moving the needle? Claude Cowork is the most powerful AI tool for knowledge work Imagine sitting down Monday morning and your meetings are already prepped, your inbox is triaged, and last week’s notes are organized — all before you opened your laptop. That’s Claude Cowork running on a schedule you set once. This self-paced course teaches you to build that system. Finish it in a weekend. The answer can be found in milkshakes I know this sounds silly, but bear with me. Here’s a 4 minute video [ https://substack.com/redirect/c5bdcb55-006a-406f-a3d4-32c723ef1fac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] from the late marketing professor Clayton Christensen called Understanding the Job: In this video, he tells the story about milkshake sales. The majority of the milkshakes were being purchased before 8am, which is very counter-intuitive for a product that is a “dessert.” So Christensen set out to answer the question: What job is a milkshake hired to do? There’s an old-school framework in marketing called Jobs to be Done [ https://substack.com/redirect/9170744d-1867-4d49-87b5-c2d5ff1523d3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] which states that consumers buy products to fulfill a certain job. So the “job” of Lululemon shorts is to help you get fit. And the “job” of a MacBook Pro is to help you generate income. So back to the milkshake. It turns out that the majority of milkshake buyers were morning commuters. They didn’t want something sweet after a Big Mac. Heck, they might not even have been trying to satisfy a sugar craving. Instead, they had “a long boring drive” and needed something to keep them occupied. They weren’t looking for an outright meal, but needed something to hold them over until a mid-morning breakfast. And here’s how a milkshake stacked up relative to the alternatives: Bananas were eaten too fast Donuts were too messy Bagels were hard to eat while driving Snickers bars felt too indulgent The reason this short video always blows my mind is that it shows that it’s not always clear why we do a certain activity. Which has a lot of implications in an AI world. It’s vibes all the way down I’ve worked with many companies filled with extremely hard-working professionals. They are talented and their organizations are highly profitable. But when you ask them to specify what their actual work consists of — they often find it hard to define. In Daniel Miessler’s post the most important ideas in AI right now [ https://substack.com/redirect/c5b608a9-b9c7-487b-aa8f-720022f0df3a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] he doesn’t hold back (emphasis mine): Most organizations run on vibes and spreadsheets. AI makes all of that visible. The actual work, the actual costs, the actual quality—all of it becomes measurable in ways that were never practical before. Miessler also argues that there’s an “articulation” gap between what experts know and what’s written down: Most expertise lives in people’s heads. Cliff, the 62-year-old who knows how everything works but never documented any of it. When Cliff retires, that knowledge dies with him. And in an ideal world, every leader would have a map of both the job to be done and how it gets executed (by both humans and agents). From vibes to jobs I challenge everyone to really think deeply about their “job” and what value they are ultimately delivering to their stakeholders — whether it’s their clients, shareholders or the public good. AI is already eliminating a massive amount of tedious work — the emails and PowerPoints are already writing themselves. I know that in my business, I’ve been able to create massive amounts of decks, newsletters and training materials. If my “job” is merely to help people learn AI then I am passing with flying colors. But that’s like saying a milkshake is dessert. Upon deeper reflection, I believe that my job is to help people achieve professional excellence. And AI is just a vehicle to help them with that job. Download our free guide to Claude Cowork Unsubscribe https://substack.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.zdDL_b8A1n7FTidgtq-cig1ootvRDTl_Srb6KeToKfw?
View Email

What milkshakes can teach us about AI

khemaridh@substack.com4/16/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/how-to-get-your-company-ai-pilled Good morning, friends. I hope you had a great week. I was on Spring Break (LAX→ LAS → NYC → MSO) so listened to a ton of pods, including a 4 hour podcast on the history of Formula 1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/da67dd7f-5760-4375-b585-11c3d0cb1f09?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]. If you’re new here, every week I curate the best reads/videos/pods on AI (so that you don’t have to). 1. How to get your company AI-pilled I’ve been following Ramp’s meteoric growth, incredible product and their commitment to being an AI-native company. Here’s a list of 8 ways to activate your company, a few that resonated with me: Treat AI proficiency as a learning curve, not a light switch Get people to the “Aha” moment as fast as possible Crowdsource what’s working. → Read the post [ https://substack.com/redirect/7dc475b1-6760-4cd4-bc64-7bf9e017a844?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] 2. Claude’s (long) list of updates for the week Once again, Claude has been on a feature tear. The new Mythos model is the first time I felt genuinely scared about what’s to come. The new model Mythos and its impact on cybersecurity [ https://substack.com/redirect/419f34f9-4784-4f80-945f-3fb252c8db37?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Claude Cowork leaves its “beta” mode [ https://substack.com/redirect/481872b5-0117-48c0-9c57-75d4818ad22f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Claude launches the Microsoft Word plug-in [ https://substack.com/redirect/70fdc807-437b-4e55-95ce-e722dcf31bae?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Manage Agents create a simplified ecosystem [ https://substack.com/redirect/f7a693ef-c339-4035-b257-8bbfb1b5981e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Automatic routing helps reduce the cost of Opus [ https://substack.com/redirect/3c9fc225-7baf-42ca-984b-cfc4f383be71?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Build your own AI Chief of Staff with Claude Cowork Imagine sitting down Monday morning and your meetings are already prepped, your inbox is triaged, and last week’s notes are organized — all before you opened your laptop. That’s Claude Cowork running on a schedule you set once. This self-paced course teaches you to build that system. Finish it in a weekend. 3. I stopped hitting Claude’s usage limits - 10 things I changed My clients are grappling with a new challenge: token spending. It turns out that when you pair a great model (Opus 4.6) with power users, the costs can rise exponentially. I still believe that in this phase it’s more prudent to overspend on the best models, but the go-go days of token subsidization are coming to an end. → Read the post [ https://substack.com/redirect/04e5c388-6e7f-49f6-928f-dc5f999e43fb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] 4. Goldman CIO Marco Argenti on the Warp-Speed Improvements in AI How is Goldman Sachs thinking about AI? A very detailed deep-dive on user adoption, AI capabilities, how employees need to evolve and if SaaS is truly dead. → Listen to the podcast [ https://substack.com/redirect/80855352-d575-4e5e-a5bf-d958ff7e3561?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The Best of the Rest AI just got way less fun [ https://substack.com/redirect/d2f74c2d-dd8d-498b-85ef-ea7862f1d1dc?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I’ve officially started to monitor my token expenditure. He Built An AI CEO To Run A $5bn Company [ https://substack.com/redirect/b7e2c708-efdf-404c-9fe1-c4c13dad09f7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Minute 58 covers how he runs a secure and personalized OpenClaw to run the business. How I built a chief of staff on OpenClaw that's better than any human I've hired [ https://substack.com/redirect/bc310a2a-7075-4548-8c59-0237bc0cf6c9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Unique approach to the self-improving knowledge problem. Building a WikiLLM for your knowledge base [ https://substack.com/redirect/ef4360bf-6748-4149-9239-8c5b6b291a75?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Andrej Karpathy on building a model agnostic personal Wiki for all of your knowledge, docs and context. What are Claude Cowork projects [ https://substack.com/redirect/8abb3e46-e0f9-43e5-bc3d-f6e878c47ec3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A solid demo on setting up projects and sub-projects to better manage context. Download our free guide to Claude Cowork Unsubscribe https://substack.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.gcWv8HTh1OcXcjGHNiYLS4r0vwaYZKi9h9WO9nhJOL8?
View Email

How to get your company AI-pilled

khemaridh@substack.com4/12/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/ai-just-got-way-less-fun Folks, it’s been a great run. The YOLO era of AI was a beautiful one. We’ll wistfully remember the “all you can eat” period of Claude’s elegant and powerful model — Opus 4.6. A time when tokens were abundant and everything could be managed with a simple plan that cost $100 a month. Friends, I hate to say it, but it’s over. Kiss the “Uber Subsidy” goodbye The early days of Uber were also abundant (thanks to generous subsidies from VC firms). With one tap on your iPhone you could get from JFK to the East Village for under $30. What does that ride cost 10 years later? $140 dollars. Before your tip. As a publicly-traded company, Uber’s shareholders demand a certain level of return on investment and profitability. And that cost trickles down to the end user. OpenClaw gets de-clawed A similar story played out last week in AI. The (in)famous and hugely popular open source agent [ https://substack.com/redirect/2d7abdf7-7ba7-4da5-b111-be4b7607509e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] has been downloaded millions of times. Folks are building AI-powered chief of staffs [ https://substack.com/redirect/183321ea-220a-4cbc-a6c4-ae1a21d5084c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], zero-person companies [ https://substack.com/redirect/8ee5bcc0-aff8-47d0-8663-558f1e7a5181?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and running homeschools from their phones. [ https://substack.com/redirect/1310b4a5-43e7-474b-a892-623fdc8fc83e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] And these use cases were awesome. But this awesomeness hid a dirty little secret. These OpenClaws were being powered by the $100 (and $200) monthly Claude Max plans. These plans had very generous limits (which are subsidized by VCs) for powerful model Opus 4.6. And then Anthropic pulled the rug. [ https://substack.com/redirect/edcd4d43-bd02-41de-8234-25fe5fe33ea4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] As the company’s user base has surged (in part due to the enterprise adoption of Claude Cowork… see below), their systems became strained. And an easy way to free up compute was to stop extending the subsidy to the token-hungry lobsters. The result wasn’t pretty. Claude Cowork lets you build your own AI Chief of Staff Imagine sitting down Monday morning and your meetings are already prepped, your inbox is triaged, and last week’s notes are organized — all before you opened your laptop. That’s Claude Cowork running on a schedule you set once. This self-paced course teaches you to build that system. Finish it in a weekend. Your IT department would like to have a word with you Anthropic didn’t outright ban OpenClaw, it just said that you had to shift to paying for each query. In other words, the all you can eat buffet turned into an a la carte menu... at one of the world’s finest restaurants. You could use the magical Opus 4.6, but you had to pay. And as a result power users were running up bills of $50-100 PER DAY. It turns out your personal AI assistant is not as enticing when it costs you $3,000 a month. [ https://substack.com/redirect/27689ced-dd90-4429-9d7b-2206e55a2a8f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] A slower (but equally impactful) change is happening inside Corporate IT departments. The enterprise plans are also all pay-per-use and employers are establishing token budgets for their teams. It’s not really a huge deal. Yet. The only people really feeling the squeeze are the Power Users. And they likely are in the good graces of their employers who will top them off with more tokens. But it’s a big shift. And a reminder that not only are these tools not free - they’re actually quite expensive. Token Anxiety is a double-edged sword Pay-per-use puts AI users in a bind. Many of us are still in the experimentation phase of how to best use AI. Adding yet another decision layer (“Is this a good use of my budget?”) will stymie adoption and dampen creative use cases. Conversely, token cost optimization is going to be a required skill in the not-so-distant future. On a recent episode of the Odd Lots Podcast [ https://substack.com/redirect/2c8cc593-93c8-458a-8de0-6f986ca2ca6d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], Goldman Sachs’ Chief Information Officer Marco Argenti stated that: “I would rather uh have them on the side of usage and let me worry about optimization.” However, if the switch hasn’t flipped yet within your organization, it eventually will. This week’s issue of Confluence AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/5b7738c2-b7f4-46a5-a5f1-721373c39954?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] paints a picture of what’s to come: What before had been an expectation of nearly unlimited availability is increasingly being challenged as people bump into their subscription limits. That was one thing when the people burning through their usage limits was a team of developers somewhere in your IT department. It’s another when it’s 3,700 leaders using AI at scale wondering why they can’t get things done that they want to get done. And back to Goldman’s Argenti, ultimately the question isn’t about the absolute token cost. It’s about the cost relative to headcount: “And so, as long as your token cost per hour is less than your wage per hour, that is a kind of a positive ROI. So at that point it's fine." How should you treat tokens today? The answer depends on where you are in your AI Fluency journey (and our AI Accelerator can help with that [ https://substack.com/redirect/f8a0c364-88b6-4ec1-a378-aa67cfd7921f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]). If you’re a noob, you still need to challenge yourself to find the “frontier” for your role and use cases. And that will only happen when you use the more powerful models. But if you’re a long-time reader and power user? You need to start building your token optimization muscle. [ https://substack.com/redirect/60cc304c-6533-4983-9444-4458df0d0c47?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] In many ways, it’s akin to time management where you quickly learn that not all hours of the day are created equally. Here’s an early cheat sheet on becoming smarter with tokens: Make Sonnet 4.6 your daily driver Avoid long chats (and understand how an LLM actually processes [ https://substack.com/redirect/62d5ad68-a299-49b0-a388-cd31b4c3aace?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] each turn of a conversation) Manage your context using projects Use scripts (via Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/d752fc84-91ef-44f3-a9e7-4afb37b346a6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) to parse larger files with lots of images and extraneous information But if any of these steps make you scared to pull the trigger and experiment - maybe you should just consider spending more? I mean investing more. Download our free guide to Claude Cowork Unsubscribe https://substack.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.W0qFmC-mqe3mjP-hsYUtxQQnez6reM4Y7-gZylWyMNM?
View Email

AI just got way less fun

khemaridh@substack.com4/9/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/the-ultimate-ai-catch-up-guide Happy Easter everybody! If you’re new here, every week I curate the best stories on AI (so that you don’t have to). Let’s jump in! 1. The Ultimate AI Catch-Up Guide If you’re feeling behind, this is a fantastic primer covering model selection, context management and mitigating hallucinations. A succinct video to get any newbie over the hump. → Watch the video [ https://substack.com/redirect/8ff206f6-0afa-4fa3-9684-ba3248d85577?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The 5 things I wish someone told me before I opened Cowork for the first time 2. The IT department: Where AI goes to die Penn professor Ethan Mollick on what happens when AI innovation runs into risk mitigation. Instead, he advocates a 3-part model covering leaders, employees and the lab. → Read the article [ https://substack.com/redirect/063c288a-7aee-46d3-b671-6e72aec91521?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] 3. Why I may ‘hire’ AI instead of a graduate student A college professor notices that he’s hiring fewer graduate students. AI provides “instant execution” without the challenges of a human’s learning curves. But how does this impact the pipeline of future talent? → Read the article [ https://substack.com/redirect/989ed7db-0e66-4059-9627-aac0bbc095fb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The Best of the Rest Claude now multi-tasks with Excel and PowerPoint [ https://substack.com/redirect/774ecba8-85c1-4e19-894b-79e30d5ebaf5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Context is now shareable between both apps (but projects still can’t connect). How A.I. Helped One Man (and His Brother) Build a $1.8 Billion Company [ https://substack.com/redirect/3380ae48-e1a1-4181-bb1a-c14a637beecf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A catchy story (that’s really about affiliate marketing) but it paints an incomplete picture. [ https://substack.com/redirect/abc3d6e3-5f4d-42a0-8a62-d4b8549bc4f9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] AI Trends for 2026: Building ‘Change Fitness’ and Balancing Trade-Offs [ https://substack.com/redirect/0c9553ff-e552-4e31-9d5c-ca966f975a07?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — How can leaders manage change, preserve meaning and validate real use cases? Meet the Agents at USV: Arthur, Ellie, Sally, and Friends [ https://substack.com/redirect/57cbe9da-ebbf-4fdf-b5a1-204afea9e0f8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Four lessons from a VC firm on building their own agents. Download our free Guide to Claude Cowork [ https://substack.com/redirect/a83e32d5-1e52-4bb8-9cb6-433625aa8df5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I’m using Cowork all the time now, finally we have the ability to build agents (without coding). Unsubscribe https://substack.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.i3hC3SAzQNY1_9J78QJqSJo5E_GPoSUGyNLyOO0QQX4?
View Email

The Ultimate AI Catch-Up Guide

khemaridh@substack.com4/5/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/claude-now-multi-tasks-with-excel Meet the new triple threat. First we had the dynamic duo of the Claude Excel Plug-in. [ https://substack.com/redirect/64c3fadd-b426-4e89-bc26-4d0ae85a4290?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Then Anthropic trained its sights on PowerPoint. [ https://substack.com/redirect/19434e69-bade-4d13-8103-c7236562f2a9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] But there was a problem. These sessions worked in isolation. So while you were hastily updating a chart in Excel — there was no way to take that same information and apply it to PowerPoint. There was no shared context [ https://substack.com/redirect/12118ce5-6df6-4585-8f77-2cfdd37df99f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — until recently. Now the triple threat is in full-effect and both Excel and PowerPoint can collaboratively work on a document at the same time. Introducing Shared Context for Excel and PowerPoint Anthropic is digging its heels deeper into the enterprise and recently announced two key enhancements: [ https://substack.com/redirect/4d478ac7-c3d1-4785-a087-6d879e750a3d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Both apps can access your skills [ https://substack.com/redirect/c3199a9a-4a02-4a24-850a-340b1c39e37f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The full context of your conversation across both apps The skills announcement is significant because your automated workflows can now work inside Excel and PowerPoint. So if you have style-guide or writing-voice skills, they can automatically be triggered into a new file. (Claude has also pre-populated a few skills like dcf-model and clean-data-xls into Excel.) But the ability to share context is even bigger. Download our FREE guide to Claude Cowork Claude Cowork is turning into a complete Operating System for knowledge work. It can triage your inbox automatically, enhance your biz dev activities and quickly analyze large data sets. You can build a chief of staff — without any technical expertise. Learn the fundamentals of Claude Cowork with our free PDF guide. Analyzing the filings of Pershing Square Holdings To put this to the test, I time traveled back to my role as a hedge fund allocator. In this seat, I was constantly analyzing and synthesizing large amounts of data on hedge funds. This included performance, attribution and exposures to various risks. I picked Pershing Square Holdings, not because I stan Bill Ackman but because since they are publicly traded all their investor communications [ https://substack.com/redirect/a8695789-58ab-42e1-aa8c-0388e7e47cd5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] are available online. I downloaded all the monthly performance reports and annual letters into a folder (using my favorite tool, the Claude Chrome browser extension [ https://substack.com/redirect/c442941f-29d5-4c97-b5f4-5efc90e64030?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]). I then opened up Excel and the Claude Plug-in and went to settings. Here, I verified that Let Claude work across files was selected. Now it was time for a prompt. The nature of the task didn’t lend itself to hardcore spreadsheet building but it did require some serious data parsing from a PDF. Extract the monthly returns from this hedge fund and compare against the S&P 500 There were 13 data points and each one needed to be grabbed from this one particular spot on the report. I spot checked the metrics to verify that they were accurate and here’s the spreadsheet it returned: Just to play with the edits, I asked it to add a new summary calculation: Can you add a Sharpe ratio to the summary statistics? No issues. Trying it out in PowerPoint Now that I had my data loaded into the context window it was time to pivot to PowerPoint. My goal was to have Claude create a breakdown of the firm’s performance. I need to create a new presentation on Pershing Square that covers performance, positioing, winners and losers. Make it 3 pages and use a combination fo graphs, bullets and diagrams. Use Khe's pptx style guide skill. Here were two of the slides: This was pretty seamless but admittedly the style still looks very AI Generated. This probably wouldn’t pass the bar for client-facing presentations but is more than sufficient for internal work. Testing the true integration between PowerPoint and Excel For my last experiment, I wanted to see if the two apps could share data with each other. Specifically, I wanted to take a chart from Excel and put it into PowerPoint. The prompt was very straightforward: insert the monthly performane table as a new slide from the excel document It was interesting to observe Claude’s ensuing behavior. First, it tried to make a request for the csv file: However, this request got hung up and so I had to bump it with a “You there?” prompt. It turns out it had gotten stuck (but found an alternate solution): A few minutes later, I had my performance slide: The final verdict It works. It’s clean and relatively fast. And in this simple example there weren’t any errors. The design of the slides (despite having a style guide) is a bit mid. It’s still a bit clunky to manage the files via the prompt — but I imagine that a good project [ https://substack.com/redirect/fb03ada2-7be6-4ca3-bf51-5e18ebd36d22?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] fixes this solution. Regardless, we’ve clearly left the paradigm of “chat” [ https://substack.com/redirect/222c0f99-2d16-4fa6-93b8-d9c6df1c4706?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and are all clearly living in an agentic world. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.hCT9SW3l56gJJCzsoCidW1_ZHU49Dbq0h5pK8l8C-DM?
View Email

Claude now multi-tasks with Excel and PowerPoint

khemaridh@substack.com4/2/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/a-complete-list-of-claudes-new-features In AI land, they say that Anthropic is “cooking” with all its new upgrades. Is this pace of innovation what happens when AI starts its “recursive self-improvement loop?” To be fair, this growth has not come without some frustration over usage limits. [ https://substack.com/redirect/1f344bc7-498b-4eff-a8fd-a10eeb70fdd2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] (And if you're new here, every Sunday I curate the best AI articles so that you don't have to.) How To Use Claude's Massive New Upgrades It’s getting hard to keep up, here’s the full list: Remote Control — Control a local Claude Code session from your phone or any device Cowork Dispatch — A persistent conversation thread that orchestrates multiple Cowork and Claude Code sessions from your phone Claude Code Channels [ https://substack.com/redirect/56ce579b-4cbd-40e7-86bc-e62ba223eb34?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — An MCP server that pushes external events (Telegram, Discord, webhooks, CI failures) into a running Claude Code session Scheduled Tasks [ https://substack.com/redirect/1e0645f5-8bff-4bfd-9db9-7c2c2c1d7f32?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Recurring tasks in Cowork and Claude Code, including cloud-based scheduling that doesn’t require a local machine Computer Use — Claude can control your mouse, keyboard, and screen to operate any app directly Projects in Cowork [ https://substack.com/redirect/b196f221-a8fc-4494-b7dd-27f5e24d4c19?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A new way to manage contextfor Cowork 1 Million Token Context Window — Now available for Opus and Sonnet → Read the article [ https://substack.com/redirect/f58e57e0-e082-4e4f-a238-b44a01f38b71?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Stop prompting. Start building. Most professionals are still chatting with AI — asking questions, copying answers, starting from scratch every session. That's sooooooo 2025. Claude Code lets you build tools that keep working when you're not: meeting analyzers, prospect research pipelines, dashboards that surface what matters before you ask. Unfair Advantage teaches you how in 7 days — no coding required, just the reps that separate builders from prompters. $249, lifetime access, 14-day money-back guarantee. A Primer on Using Agent Skills While I’ve been growing my library of personal skills, [ https://substack.com/redirect/f142d241-0367-4e6c-aa96-c5b31257eca6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] it’s still a hard new “primitive” to grasp. This tutorial focuses on non-technical skills at minute 10. I particularly enjoyed the “table of contents” metaphor, listing “gotchas” and differentiating between “capabilities uplift” and “encoded preferences. → Watch the video [ https://substack.com/redirect/43a4c3c2-82ca-4647-891f-cfc6e0e81fc8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Ken Griffin on AI’s impact on investing A fun interview with the founder of Citadel on entrepreneurship, moats and AI. While Griffin sees AI as a productivity enhancement tool, he doesn’t think it changes the investment process since LLMs inherently struggle to predict how the future will unfold. → Watch the video [ https://substack.com/redirect/c6d94b16-cfb3-495c-964e-c3a12b42d9a5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Best of the Rest How to use Cowork’s new “projects” feature [ https://substack.com/redirect/b196f221-a8fc-4494-b7dd-27f5e24d4c19?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — It’s now much easier to manage your context inside of Cowork. When Using AI Leads to "Brain Fry" (HBR) [ https://substack.com/redirect/e2962d9c-3bad-4f8c-91c4-475b1ccc6410?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I’ve experienced the mental fog and fatigue from always responding to agents. Anthropic’s Felix Rieseberg on AI Coworkers, Local-First Agents, and the Future of Knowledge Work [ https://substack.com/redirect/91f64198-bc7a-4c65-bf0d-115c7f3d4a9c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A (semi) technical explanation on how Cowork was built. Jensen Huang: NVIDIA & the AI Revolution (Lex Fridman) [ https://substack.com/redirect/e3a825d8-8b55-4bfe-96b6-9080b23ac213?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Somewhat technical but covers OpenClaw, energy use and scaling the world’s most valuable company. The Rise of China’s Hottest New Commodity: AI Tokens (FT) [ https://substack.com/redirect/0be254a1-5946-46d0-a9e2-9af4eac20c2a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — What happens when AI loses its token subsidy? Will Chinese models fill the gap? Andrej Karpathy on Code Agents, AutoResearch, and the Loopy Era of AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/c6865384-a578-49b2-8e3c-2c281e37b2bb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Karpathy’s “auto-research” project opens up a completely new way of business experimentation. I improved 15 LLMs at coding in one afternoon. Only the harness changed [ https://substack.com/redirect/b076f659-db82-40a0-b8ef-6de1d79d63c1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — We’ve moved from context engineering to harness engineering. Stop prompting. Start building. Most professionals are still chatting with AI — asking questions, copying answers, starting from scratch every session. That’s sooooooo 2025. Claude Code lets you build tools that keep working when you’re not: meeting analyzers, prospect research pipelines, dashboards that surface what matters before you ask. Unfair Advantage teaches you how in 7 days — no coding required, just the reps that separate builders from prompters. $249, lifetime access, 14-day money-back guarantee. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.W4MCmXi-LIIirkCqnaGd_1bLWT78ludtW-y51vc0Wl8?
View Email

A complete list of Claude's new features

khemaridh@substack.com3/29/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/claude-cowork-how-to-use-the-new 2025 was all about prompts. [ https://substack.com/redirect/699e12a4-89fb-4f67-a2a1-b6344d654e78?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] This year is all about context. [ https://substack.com/redirect/3a19b746-2202-451d-a82c-7e99e884d148?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Yes, the models are getting way more powerful at long-running tasks. But more importantly, they now can process much more context. Cowork just added a feature to make it much easier to manage all of this additional context. An introduction to Cowork Projects Throughout 2025, I was on the record saying that Claude Projects outperformed ChatGPT’s version. It seemed like the former used a more intelligent RAG approach to understanding and synthesizing your data. Then Claude Cowork came along [ https://substack.com/redirect/c515e146-4ebc-42d8-9510-95978b9d9252?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and let users run sessions from their local machines. This immediately fixed the “last mile” problem — but created a new one. How was context managed when it sat on countless files and folders? This past week, the Cowork team delivered a solution. Hit your goals faster using Claude Code (like Meek Mill) Meek Mill discovered Claude Code and he’s been automating like crazy. While he received a helping hand from some “tech youngbull,” he still had some questions. (He also probably struggled with the IDE, Terminal, Skills and API endpoints.) Nonetheless, he found use cases across his family office and business processes. Claude Code users (like Meek) are watching their skills go “parabolic.” It lets you build tools that keep working when you’re not: meeting analyzers, prospect research pipelines, dashboards that surface what matters before you ask. No coding required — just the reps that separate builders from prompters. Creating your first project From Claude’s official feature announcement: [ https://substack.com/redirect/c786dd11-48bf-4d54-b132-93f39cd8eb59?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Projects keep your tasks and context in one place, focused on one area of work. Files and instructions stay on your computer. To get started, click on the new Projects tab in the sidebar. You’ll be presented with 3 options: If you’ve spent a long time curating a project in Claude “chat,” you can easily import it into your new Cowork project. Additionally, you can bring multiple projects into your new project. Alternatively, you can Start a project from Scratch. You’ll have the option to give it: Create Custom Instructions Add files and folders as your context Specify where your outputs should be saved This is an important distinction — the folder that holds your context can be different from the folder where your outputs are saved. This will be very impactful for teams looking to share common folders for context (but creating files in a different location). Here you can see how the project pulls in my master context files. (Cowork also creates background memory, [ https://substack.com/redirect/05f2ac0d-95d8-4b25-873e-3d79f0a8e905?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] periodically refreshing the context from chats and files when it sees fit.) I ran a lazy prompt to see if it was sourcing its context from the appropriate place. Create a powerpoint presentation of the current curriculum. Add visuals when necessary. Use the style guide Here’s the PowerPoint result. Next up, I wanted to create a landing page for my upcoming course on Claude Cowork. (It’s going to be dope.) Create a sales page for a course called Unfair Advantage using Claude Cowork. The materials will be similar to the way I teach Claude Cowork during training sessions. Use this outline below. In the right panel, you could see Cowork’s plan and which files it was choosing to pull into context. There was another context panel at the bottom right, but I couldn’t figure out what exactly it did. Final thoughts on Cowork Projects If I’m honest, these behave exactly how I would expect them to behave: You can create custom instructions You can easily add and remove context There’s a natural home for scheduled tasks [ https://substack.com/redirect/6888b12f-5afe-4519-bce4-16918d7c1446?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] As for future improvements — I hope all the folder selection options get consolidated and that you can easily see when you’re running into your context limits. And finally, I’d want to better understand how data from external connectors works with this context. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.x_XOG2e2q4y10iLubiOhF9zExwX2Ru_2AN6BXaEDg8M?
View Email

Claude Cowork: How to use the new Projects feature

khemaridh@substack.com3/26/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/claude-is-coming-for-your-messaging Hey friends, Anthropic was on fire this week — I can barely keep up with the releases. The two I’m most excited about: Accessing Claude Code through Telegram Projects for Claude Cowork BTW — if you're new here, every Sunday I curate the best AI articles so that you don't have to. An OpenClaw for the rest of us Imagine simply sending voice notes from iMessage and having it save your HSA receipts, scan Facebook Marketplace for a used Snoo and proactively parsing key tasks from your kids' school emails. And it can all be built without any programming, just using your own words. → Read the tweet [ https://substack.com/redirect/52d9bd9a-29cb-4198-bffa-064c7d114e28?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] How Anthropic actually uses Skills Skills continue to add leverage to your workflows by creating consistency and repeatability. But I find them hard to visualize and even harder to build. While aimed at coders, this explainer from Tariq on the Claude Code team covers supporting files, skill categories and even creating a "gotchas.md" - lessons learned from hundreds of skills in active use at Anthropic. → Read the tweet [ https://substack.com/redirect/0c263ae1-6508-4882-8c8c-dc6de6b94464?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Make your AI skills go parabolic Here’s the thing about Skills - they compound. You build one that handles your meeting notes. Then one for your CRM. Then one for your newsletter. Pretty soon you have an entire system working in the background, built from nothing but text files and clear thinking. Unfair Advantage teaches you how to go from zero to building these systems in 7 days. No coding required — just the reps that separate builders from prompters. Agents Over Bubbles If you think compute demand is high now, just imagine what it looks like when everyone is running Cowork jobs using the Opus 4.6 model. Also, I loved Thompson’s take on agency: “the people who need AI the least, are using it the most.” → Read the article [ https://substack.com/redirect/34d949f0-639c-4f8b-b3cf-391ab09d7f04?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Best of the Rest The Complete Guide to Claude Skills [ https://substack.com/redirect/aa4bcfdc-9d2f-4d11-8b61-e05976f59971?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] - Skills are a powerful source of leverage (packed into a text file). When Your Life’s Work Becomes Free and Abundant [ https://substack.com/redirect/43db3da6-b3ab-476b-8190-60d9471f239e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] - If you’re scared AI will do your job, read this. The 100x Super IC [ https://substack.com/redirect/88a8b883-d6e3-4ce6-822c-a8134d062603?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] - There's a new kind of worker. Not a coder, but a conductor - one person, one workstation, directing an entire ensemble of agents. Lobster Boil [ https://substack.com/redirect/60a86138-e9ea-4b66-bc66-026071dc5eaa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] - The OpenClaw movement has proved to be more than a flash in the pan. Why? Because it shows how AI can solve your everyday problems (and it’s open source). OpenAI Cuts Back on Side Projects (WSJ) [ https://substack.com/redirect/54bb33dd-7c64-4a80-b21d-af7d874be680?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] - Sam Altman's side quest era may be over. OpenAI is refocusing on its core chat product after spreading thin across robotics, social media, and *checks notes* adult content. Your OpenClaw Keeps Forgetting Everything. Here's How to Fix It. [ https://substack.com/redirect/68634a49-c21b-4738-9238-8aba4ffcd9ac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] - LLMs are stateless. They naturally forget every new conversation. OpenClaw’s architecture is trying to fix that In other news I got to meet my Twitter friend Brett Caughran [ https://substack.com/redirect/158aeb39-7e6a-416b-9087-4a561daffa26?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] in LA. He’s on the bleeding edge of financial analysis and AI. Definitely give him a follow! Unsubscribe https://substack.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.EBEehxRIlvWfkxM8_-4E36p4dViIec-NNkpKDKeZDqo?
View Email

Claude is coming for your messaging apps

khemaridh@substack.com3/22/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/the-complete-guide-to-claude-skills Skills. That’s what it takes to survive in this new AI-first world. But we’re not talking about skills like critical thinking, negotiation and public speaking. (Although those are still critical.) We’re talking about a good old fashioned text file. Yup, a series of SKILL.md files is what separates AI power users from the normies. And they are extremely easy to create. What is an Agent Skill? A skill is a series of instructions that codify a workflow for an LLM. According to Anthropic’s official documentation: [ https://substack.com/redirect/1388da2f-9e78-4ad9-ac4b-8125fe748d45?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] A skill is a set of instructions - packaged as a simple folder - that teaches Claude how to handle specific tasks or workflows. Skills are one of the most powerful ways to customize Claude for your specific needs. Instead of re-explaining your preferences, processes, and domain expertise. Skills can be used to automate a series of tasks including: conducting research with consistent methodology creating documents that follow your team’s style guide running the same analysis over different source material triggering multi-step workflows To put this in more concrete terms, you could create a skill to: review an NDA using your firm’s specific criteria write a standardized memo from a series of due diligence documents create a slide deck using your firm’s branding collect market research from a specific list of resources But like I said, at the end of the day, a skill is just a text file. Here’s an example of a skill that helps Claude make great Excel spreadsheets. (Funny enough, it’s made by Anthropic — so if you’ve had Claude Cowork create an Excel spreadsheet, you’ve already used it). Here’s how the skill defines the formatting: Now this probably looks daunting, but rest assured — you don’t have to type any of this out. There’s an easy shortcut we can all use. Build AI agents that run (while you are sleeping) Everyone’s building AI automations using skills. But they still need humans to move them along. Claude Code lets non-technical professionals build automations that actually understand context. These aren’t just fancy prompts—they’re robust tools that run on a schedule, without you ever having to touch them. You can create smart morning briefings that flag deals that moved overnight. Or weekly digests summarizing every vendor email you haven’t responded to. You can even design competitor alerts that watch public filings and ping you the moment a competitor makes a move. Unfair Advantage teaches you how to build them in a weekend. $249, lifetime access, zero coding required. Meet the “skill-creator” skill Super meta, right? Yes — remember how you can have AI interview you for better prompts [ https://substack.com/redirect/c5cb6e21-645e-40f1-9fa2-55e54c3fb36b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]? The same applies to skills. Claude can take your brain dump (usually done via WisprFlow [ https://substack.com/redirect/3d95ea09-275c-4ed0-b1b8-82a36d598e22?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) and magically turn it into a reusable skill. First, you’ll need to activate skill-creator by visiting the Customize section in the left toolbar: Then you’ll want to ensure that under “examples” the skill-creator skill is activated (i.e. in black versus grey). Next you’ll want to go back to the chat window to kickstart the process. Today we’ll create a skill to analyze the transcript from a Zoom call. Here’s the prompt to use: use the skill creator skill to help me come up with a skill to analyze, synthesize, and summarize transcripts The transcripts will be from prospecting calls for business development use cases. In these calls, I want you to extract a few key sections. First, you'll pull out the action items from the call and only do the ones that are assigned to me, the host. Next, you'll create a two-sentence summary so that someone who wasn't in the meeting but follows these relationships could quickly understand the gist of the call. Then you'll draft an email that acknowledges receipt of the action items, incorporates any next steps, and then has a casual sign-off. You'll try to incorporate 1-2 bits of the call in quotation marks using the prospect's exact languages and you'll share that you empathize with a few of their pain points or objections. Finally, you'll push the two-sentence summary along with the name of the prospect and their firm (if available) to the Slack channel #biz-dev. The key language is to include “use the skill creator skill” which will make sure that the Anthropic skill gets triggered. You’ll also want to make sure that Claude confirms that it used the skill by looking at its “thinking audit trail.” When I ran this, Claude asked me 3 follow-up questions to dial-in the skill: It then automatically ran the skill on one of my transcripts and asked for my feedback. Here, it’s very important that you iterate back and forth with Claude to nail all the nuances and edge cases of the skills. Once you mark the skill complete, the actual SKILL.md file will appear in the right sidebar. I encourage you to read its contents (particularly to understand what’s happening under the hood). The last step is to activate it. First, take note of the skill name (#2) and then hit Copy to your Skills library (#1). Using your new skill Now you’re ready to use your new skill. Ours was called bd-call-processor. I can attach a transcript and prompt: run the bd call processor skill on this attached transcript. Once again, you want to look for that key step in Claude’s audit trail that it actually found the skill. This is a very important step because without this acknowledgement you’re just running a standard LLM prompt. The skill then will proceed to run, ultimately ending with the notification into Slack. Now you’re probably asking yourself two questions: Question 1: Isn’t this just a reusable prompt? That’s a fair mental model, but here’s where it falls short. A detailed prompt is a good one-off instruction. (And yes, if you’ve written a good one, I used to encourage you to save them for reusability.) A skill is more a reusable system that can also be bundled with specific examples and supporting scripts (which will cover in a latter post). And as a bonus, they are shareable with your colleagues. Question 2: Isn’t this a glorified project? Also a great question, but a bit off the mark. Projects aggregate a series of relevant files (i.e. context). The skill is the workflow that can tap into that context. Let’s take a specific example. Say you’re an investor with projects tied to specific investments. So you have a project for: NVIDIA fundamentals TSMC fundamentals Each project has financials, management presentations and expert calls. Now you have a skill called quarterly-memo-writeup, that you run each quarter. This skill sits on top of your projects. The project provides the context and the skill provides the instructions. Why skills are so powerful The release of skills has played a role in the SaaS-pocalypse and the recent market sell-off. [ https://substack.com/redirect/a1491179-547f-4575-b9fb-d78680546391?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] When Anthropic released its legal skill, shares of RELX Plc and Wolters Kluwer NV both fell more than 10% on fears that it could consume large swaths of the legal market (both LegalTech and actual lawyers). Now you know — that this skill was just a really dialed-in markdown file (that was presumably written by a bunch of ex-lawyers). Skills also have some really unique attributes: 1. Skills are composable You can combine skills inside the same prompt: Retrieve my recent sales calls and run them through the proposal generator skill and use my writing style skill. 2. Skills are portable Since they are just markdown files you can move them to different LLMs and save them to a centralized repository (like GitHub). 3. Skills are becoming a standard across LLMs Anthropic pioneered the skills format (like it did with MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/eb7cc905-bd59-4971-8132-96e33874aaf0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) and other labs quietly began adapting them. [ https://substack.com/redirect/44820d9e-0745-4f45-965c-2ffa1cb2b380?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] My friend Jake Handy wrote a great piece on the broader skills ecosystem. [ https://substack.com/redirect/7c472d68-ba37-4fd0-80f3-7ac2abc0a9c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] 4. There are public repositories of skills As a result, you can now go download skills from a variety of different sites, including: Skills.sh [ https://substack.com/redirect/a340856e-5bec-45a0-bdd9-2999dceaeffe?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Anthropic’s GitHub Repository [ https://substack.com/redirect/b01e34e1-da1f-4d8b-a541-f8b6322214e6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] ClawHub [ https://substack.com/redirect/4bc5278d-1d9e-46d5-971b-86a6018d6654?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] (for OpenClaw) I’ve spent a bunch of time browsing these repositories just to get ideas on the types of skills folks are creating and how they are being structured. 5. Skills are efficient Without getting too technical, skills use a technique called progressive disclosure. When an LLM loads a skill, it doesn’t load the entire markdown file (nor the attached examples). Instead, it “takes a peek” to see if the skill can be helpful with the given task. If it can’t, it moves on. But if it can, it loads more of the skill into memory. This makes skills very token-efficient — which bodes well for agents. 6. Skills work well with your team Skills embed best practices into every interaction making them an extremely consistent tool. Furthermore, they’re likely to be created by your team’s most proficient AI user — which provides immediate leverage to the rest of your less savvy AI colleagues. It’s your turn to build a skill It’s real easy. Think of a repeatable workflow. (If you’re at a loss for ideas, do a customized summarization skill.) Load up the skill-creator skill. Start your brain dump Save the skill Then kiss that workflow goodbye for the rest of your life! Build AI agents that run (while you are sleeping) Everyone’s building AI automations using skills. But they still need humans to move them along. Claude Code lets non-technical professionals build automations that actually understand context. These aren’t just fancy prompts—they’re robust tools that run on a schedule, without you ever having to touch them. You can create smart morning briefings that flag deals that moved overnight. Or weekly digests summarizing every vendor email you haven’t responded to. You can even design competitor alerts that watch public filings and ping you the moment a competitor makes a move. Unfair Advantage teaches you how to build them in a weekend. $249, lifetime access, zero coding required. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.R15OQQfqhd_FvZx8BgASCGdQcnAlyuoNTqv_s9mcXAc?
View Email

The Complete Guide to Claude Skills

khemaridh@substack.com3/19/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-the-ai-chief-of-staff Friends, hope your weekends are off to a great start. The Santa Ana winds are creating summer conditions in March (and some great waves). This tweet went viral and I found it very relatable. I’ve actually had the strong urge to read longer and “harder” books as an offset to the non-stop context switching. (Currently, reading The Power Broker.) In my “learning bucket” I’m rebuilding OpenClaw from scratch in Claude Code (to understand how the agent works). Now let’s jump into the round-up. (And if you’re new here, every Sunday I curate the best AI articles so that you don’t have to.) My Chief of Staff, Claude Code You don’t need OpenClaw running on a new Mac Mini to create an AI Chief of Staff. Nor do you need to know any programming. This solo consultant built automations, morning briefs and time blocking with the $100 Claude Max plan in 36 hours. → Read the tweet [ https://substack.com/redirect/bf244152-cc8e-486f-bcb2-d3b462ad3169?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Build Your Own Chief of Staff (No Coding Required) Jim (from above) didn’t set out to build a chief of staff — he set out to solve one problem and handed it off to Claude Code. That’s the magic of Claude Code. One day you’re analyzing a transcript, the next you’ve got six agents running in parallel — drafting emails, updating client files, scheduling meetings, and running research while you focus on the work that actually matters. Our course Unfair Advantage teaches non-technical professionals how to build exactly this kind of system, from zero. No coding required — just clear thinking and 10 hours of your time. Claude Cowork changes everything Claude Cowork is incredible. It can work for long stretches of time, automate your team’s workflows and create PowerPoints and Excel documents. But it involves reconfiguring how we’re used to working with AI. Chat is less of a thing, context gets more scattered and connectors can bring in even more. → Watch the video (on X) [ https://substack.com/redirect/7084a236-35f0-4745-94fb-39ed12e4562f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] AI Was Supposed to Free My Time. It Consumed It. I’ve been using AI for 5+ hours a day, running multiple agents across multiple business lines. And my brain is FRIED. Despite this technology creating tons of leverage, shouldn’t I be less tired? This article lays out task expansion, context switching and the “always on” nature of chat. (Oh, and to be blunt, I enjoy using these tools to make more money!) → Read the article [ https://substack.com/redirect/35f38673-5157-4d74-bcdd-e01fc30271b0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Best of the Rest Claude can now run scheduled tasks [ https://substack.com/redirect/456bab57-6851-4531-a064-d06a588b8a70?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — This is a big new feature that lets agents run automatically via Claude Cowork. The Rise of the Zero Human Company [ https://substack.com/redirect/bc5ee076-e71b-4885-98c4-bfa7fdb6ccbe?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — My friend Nat Eliason built Felix, an OpenClaw agent with its own Stripe account, crypto wallet and product portfolio. How Fast Will A.I. Agents Rip Through the Economy? [ https://substack.com/redirect/159825e4-ae67-42c3-97d4-84acd3050537?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Ezra Klein on how entry-level employment will change. Copilot Cowork: A New Way of Getting Work Done [ https://substack.com/redirect/7e84932f-1e90-41dc-b77d-6ddcdc3571d0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Cowork comes to Co-Pilot. And it’s powered by Anthropic’s models. Promising for those limited to M365. How Balyasny Asset Management Built an AI Research Engine for Investing [ https://substack.com/redirect/9333cf91-7315-40a9-b0a7-d2c5500c679b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Some examples include a Central Bank speech analyzer and merger arbitrage superforcaster. Build Your Own Chief of Staff (No Coding Required) Jim (from above) didn’t set out to build a chief of staff — he set out to solve one problem and handed it off to Claude Code. That’s the magic of Claude Code. One day you’re analyzing a transcript, the next you’ve got six agents running in parallel — drafting emails, updating client files, scheduling meetings, and running research while you focus on the work that actually matters. Our course Unfair Advantage teaches non-technical professionals how to build exactly this kind of system, from zero. No coding required — just clear thinking and 10 hours of your time. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.n95lt0q7SMXLiU38xFSyC8h1adZQQMpvaU0vydv6P58?
View Email

The Rise of the AI Chief of Staff

khemaridh@substack.com3/15/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/claude-can-now-run-scheduled-tasks Chat is dead! Chat is dead! For the better part of 2025, I predicted that chat wouldn’t be how we ultimately use AI. Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/ad2b8d91-30bc-4f96-afd6-366d5a5b0fe0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], Cowork [ https://substack.com/redirect/017a6624-e746-466c-ab4c-94bf36bd65bb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and now Microsoft Cowork [ https://substack.com/redirect/52bd8c37-7a33-4b94-9536-c7a50570527d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] proved that I was right. [ https://substack.com/redirect/4a983453-d1dc-46be-b6f1-8f5bbb523a96?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] But one problem still remained: automation. Coders figured out how to solve this challenge with an archaic workflow called CRON jobs. But the normies — myself included — needed something simpler. A way to automate that you could click and organize. And, of course, Claude came through and delivered. Introducing Scheduled Tasks for Claude Cowork This powerful feature lets you run actions including creating and updating files on a schedule. Like anything in Cowork, it can access files/folders as well as any skills [ https://substack.com/redirect/6a221470-10fb-4a74-91b1-e07fae8ff811?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and tools (like the Chrome browser extension). [ https://substack.com/redirect/8e80b490-747c-42f1-bb19-11049edfe2b2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] To schedule a task you have to be using the desktop app and be in the Cowork tab. Once you click Scheduled you’ll be taken to the following screen where you’ll select New Task. Next, you’ll get to build out your task: It’s pretty straightforward but some additional bits: Since you only get one shot at this prompt, it better be extremely detailed. Always click the more options button. Since Cowork runs locally on your machine, you need to give it a folder, especially if it’s going to create or modify files. If the task requires some heavy lifting, such as Excel or PowerPoint or browsing the web, I strongly recommend using Opus 4.6. This is where you set the frequency. Remember that your computer has to be on and awake, or else it won’t run. Once you’ve saved the task you’ll see it on your “dashboard.” When you click into it you’ll get to modify it. Here are a few pointers: You can always edit the task (including the prompt) You can run a trial to see how it works (which I highly recommend) These are tools that you’ve given the task “persistent access” to History of runs Now let’s go through 2 examples. Build our own army of agents Everyone’s talking about AI agents. And yes, scheduled tasks are a great first start. But they’re still not that powerful. Claude Code lets non-technical professionals build agents that work autonomously — analyzing transcripts after every Zoom call, surfacing your highest-leverage emails, monitoring deal announcements while you sleep. No coding required. Just clear thinking and our step-by-step course. Unfair Advantage costs $249 for lifetime access and a 14-day money back guarantee. Example 1: Meeting Prep Meeting prep is finally automatable thanks to scheduled tasks and connectors. The workflow is really simple. Every night, Claude looks at tomorrow’s calendar to look up meetings. It then prepares me with the following workflow: Grabs a bio on the attendees (LinkedIn, company website and personal blog) Looks at prior email interactions using the Gmail Connector Looks at prior calls using the Granola Connector [ https://substack.com/redirect/cdecfc6a-9850-4daf-8d25-7662fc0e992e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Sends each summary to a Slack channel Here’s what the prompt looks like: Go through my calendar for the next day. Look at all the meetings. Ignore the ones that don't have any invites. Then, for each meeting, send me a separate Slack message that covers the following: - Name - Quick background on them (via LinkedIn and web search) - If they have a blog or social presence, two links to the last things they've posted. - Look in Granola to see if we've had any conversations in the past month and give a two-sentence summary. - Look in my email to see if there's anything relevant from the last month to provide context Since there will be many meetings, separate each message on Slack with "-----" So that there is visual separation Here’s the output in Slack: Example 2: Automated Market Research For the next example, I wanted to create a very customized research agent. I wanted this agent to search the web each day to look for articles and research papers that could help me further develop my training programs. I used the same exact process to set it up. Here’s the prompt that I used: Conduct a series of web searches to look for articles that can help knowledge workers get better at AI. This includes : - use cases - examples - frameworks - organizational design/hiring - mindset shifts - upskilling The avatar reading these articles are knowledge workers who work in financial services, consulting, law management, marketing who know that AI is important but are looking to get deeper. They are smart and driven, but not software engineers. We want to prioritize articles from reputable mainstream sources and prominent bloggers: - FT, WSJ, NYT, Economist, Bloomberg - Harvard Business Review, VC websites, Management Consultants (McKinsey, BCG) - Prominent Blogs: Every.to, Ethan Mollick, CRA Admired Leadership, Conor Grennan, and Allie K. Miller Create a new Excel files with: - Article Name - Source - Author - Link - Summary - Category (Use case, framework, etc) - Ranking (1-5, 5=best) Grab the top 10 articles and make sure the links aren't paywalled And here’s the result — it’s damn good. Your turn So how should you go about using scheduled tasks? Here’s a simple process to set up your first scheduled tasks: Identify a repeatable task Think about a specific desired output (update a list, send a specific message, download a file) Create a detailed prompt that captures all the information in one-shot Identify the connectors that either add context (Granola, Google Drive) or that facilitate delivery (Outlook, Slack) Test it with “run now” Go and watch A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms with all your newfound free time Keep building more and more agents. It’s THAT easy Everyone’s talking about AI agents. And yes, scheduled tasks are a great first start. But they’re still not that powerful. Claude Code lets non-technical professionals build agents that work autonomously — analyzing transcripts after every Zoom call, surfacing your highest-leverage emails, monitoring deal announcements while you sleep. No coding required. Just clear thinking and our step-by-step course. Unfair Advantage costs $249 for lifetime access and a 14-day money back guarantee. Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9raGVtYXJpZGguc3Vic3RhY2suY29tL2FjdGlvbi9kaXNhYmxlX2VtYWlsP3Rva2VuPWV5SjFjMlZ5WDJsa0lqbzBNekExTVRReE9UZ3NJbkJ2YzNSZmFXUWlPakU1TURNek56ZzVOaXdpYVdGMElqb3hOemN6TXpJd09ESTVMQ0psZUhBaU9qRTRNRFE0TlRZNE1qa3NJbWx6Y3lJNkluQjFZaTB6TXpZek5USTJJaXdpYzNWaUlqb2laR2x6WVdKc1pWOWxiV0ZwYkNKOS5TcWZubkNEX2lQejVZdUtKY3RqTDBzZ1ZscjlRZlltbXF0cktjZjBpeXFvIiwicCI6MTkwMzM3ODk2LCJzIjozMzYzNTI2LCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MzA1MTQxOTgsImlhdCI6MTc3MzMyMDgyOSwiZXhwIjoyMDg4ODk2ODI5LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.tbf3N7PffY0Uso7PgdJcmKg6oB8kUBpx_4fvwGzVDKs?
View Email

Claude can now run scheduled tasks

khemaridh@substack.com3/12/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/the-cursor-moment-for-finance Friends, hope your weekends are off to a great start. I was in NYC all week running training sessions and the big focus was on Claude Cowork and Skills.MD files. And in the meantime, the “Cursor Moment” for Excel might finally be here. (And if you’re new here, every Sunday I curate the best AI articles so that you don’t have to.) ChatGPT 5.4 works magic with Excel The “Cursor moment” is real — when you realize the jump in capabilities that is made possible by a new model. This week it was ChatGPT 5.4 being truly useful for Excel analyses and a “PM Review.” (My “Cursor Moment” was actually a Claude Code Moment. [ https://substack.com/redirect/88f2a12e-2ac1-4b50-a098-50699dc2d781?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) Hedge fund analyst Brett Caughran has been running capability tests on new AI models for months — specifically whether LLMs can meaningfully read and interact with Excel spreadsheets. Until this week, nothing passed the bar. Even Opus 4.6 could do it, but not well. Then GPT-5.4 Thinking dropped, and suddenly he’s getting something “not only modestly useful, but immediately part of my investment process workflow.” → Read the tweet [ https://substack.com/redirect/c7842ca2-f59a-4703-8c8a-23a75620c773?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] There are two types of AI users. Which one are you? There are two types of AI users right now. Those who are fully adopting AI — building agents, automating workflows, using Claude Code to create tools that run while they sleep. And those still using it like a glorified Google search. The gap between these two groups is widening faster than anyone expected. And companies aren’t sorting people into these groups. People are sorting themselves. Claude Code users are watching their skills go “parabolic.” It lets you build tools that keep working when you’re not: meeting analyzers, prospect research pipelines, dashboards that surface what matters before you ask. No coding required — just the reps that separate builders from prompters. Unfair Advantage teaches you how in 7 days. $249, lifetime access, 14-day money-back guarantee. AI Hurtles Ahead So the venerable Howard Marks is now quoting Matt Shumer’s viral “Something big is happening” post [ https://substack.com/redirect/7cddf2da-5603-4338-adb9-8faef367ddd8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]. This post details his interaction with Claude to assess if LLMs will ever be able to develop investment judgment. (Personally, I found it light on the AI forecasting, for that see Dan Sundheim below.) → Read the memo [ https://substack.com/redirect/1869b5bd-8fd3-4e84-bd88-8983d995952d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] 5 OpenClaw Agents run my life I’ve had a few false starts with OpenClaw. For starters, I’m concerned about security and the time investment to get it going. My smart friends have told me you’ll need 20 hours to set it up. But this demo, particularly coming from a non-tech bro, really tipped the scales for me and got me motivated to pull the trigger. It’s been a week. I was in New York and talked to my OpenClaw the entire trip. It was truly a glimpse into the future. → Watch the video [ https://substack.com/redirect/ec8e7646-c8ff-4a31-b607-8e1d1661cabe?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Khe Hy on the “Big AI Opportunity” (Podcast Appearance) I’ve done very few AI podcasts (so far) but this was a really great conversation on vibe coding, what skills to develop, and how to rethink entrepreneurship in the AI age. We also discussed how parenting and kids’ education need to adapt. → Listen to the podcast [ https://substack.com/redirect/940860e4-4a37-4b79-a862-11da81b8f01b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Best of the Rest I Paid My Daughter $7 to Learn Claude [ https://substack.com/redirect/77341f82-97cd-4e8e-8cf0-a7186e1a0c11?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I broke a sacred parenting rule and bribed my 11-year-old to try AI. She built a game, created her first GitHub account, and burned through all her Opus credits in one session. Dan Sundheim: The Art of Public and Private Market Investing [ https://substack.com/redirect/48598277-e3b3-4a59-94ee-f4cf350d95e1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A very detailed interview on the AI business models, data center build-out and AI’s long-term impact to the economy. AI Disrupts Legal with Claude Skills [ https://substack.com/redirect/670a4387-8875-415a-a47b-9d93f3516703?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — The legal industry seems primed for AI disruption. Can that be achieved with a few Claude Skills? Mysteries of Claude (Search Engine Podcast) [ https://substack.com/redirect/3be346d1-82ab-497c-abcc-70b804194d6a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — What do engineers, linguistic experts, neuroscientists and philosophers at Anthropic do all day? They contemplate how this can all go awry. There are two types of AI users. Which one are you? There are two types of AI users right now. Those who are fully adopting AI — building agents, automating workflows, using Claude Code to create tools that run while they sleep. And those still using it like a glorified Google search. The gap between these two groups is widening faster than anyone expected. And companies aren’t sorting people into these groups. People are sorting themselves. Claude Code users are watching their skills go “parabolic.” It lets you build tools that keep working when you’re not: meeting analyzers, prospect research pipelines, dashboards that surface what matters before you ask. No coding required — just the reps that separate builders from prompters. Unfair Advantage teaches you how in 7 days. $249, lifetime access, 14-day money-back guarantee. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.nGIFUPUiXipCKSDlFyq35vxseuRF9QkWHsbQ-c3tuso?
View Email

The "Cursor Moment" for Finance

khemaridh@substack.com3/8/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/i-paid-my-daughter-7-to-learn-claude I pride myself on being a thoughtful and principled parent. And I’ve read enough parenting blog posts to deeply understand that you should never use cash as a prize for intrinsic motivation. But here’s the deal. My 11 year old daughter wants to earn more money beyond her weekly chores. I wanted her to naturally come to AI to experiment and tinker — especially since the message she’s constantly getting at school is that “AI is BAD.” But she wasn’t interested, so I upped the ante. I asked Claude if it’s ok to motivate kids with cash payments. Here’s the bull case: Good idea if: it increases curiosity, she starts choosing projects, and you can gradually reduce payment without a meltdown. And the bear case: Bad idea if: she becomes more transactional about learning, refuses anything unpaid, or it undermines your family’s chore culture. Nevertheless, I bit the bullet. I offered her $7 for every hour she spent learning AI. My plan is to give her projects that would ultimately lead to her building her own AI portfolio of websites, games, agents, chatbots and products. With one caveat. I’d never ask her to do this. Instead she’d have to come to me proactively for new projects. Here’s how the first $7 played out. Stop prompting. Start building. Most professionals are still chatting with AI — asking questions, copying answers, starting from scratch every session. That’s soooooo 2025. Claude Code lets you build tools that keep working when you’re chilling: meeting analyzers, prospect research pipelines and dashboards that surface what matters before you ask. All it takes is 7 days of focus. Step 1: Download Claude To kick things off, I created her own Claude login on my MacBook (since I want her to eventually use Claude Cowork and Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/dd18c2b5-7e8b-438b-9d1c-b239c3daed8c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]). I had her sign up for the $20 plan and download the Claude desktop app. Throughout the process, I observed how she attempted to figure out issues like installing the app and linking her Gmail account. I felt like I was giving her some “mini life-lessons” by showing her how to use WisprFlow [ https://substack.com/redirect/3bea2759-a260-4499-9947-5c1690c6f011?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and to store login info in 1Password. Step 2: Configure Claude and Select Models Once she was in the app, I had her immediately go into settings to ensure that memory [ https://substack.com/redirect/412c3848-18e3-4ced-8103-e3fabc08feda?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and search old chats were activated. Admittedly, the importance of these settings wasn’t obvious to her. Can you guess what we did next? Model selection. I made it very clear that there’s a hierarchy of models and that she should always start with Opus 4.6 (“trust me, bro”) and then move over to Sonnet 4.6 when she hit her limits. A brief security pause Next up was “the talk.” Not the birds and the bees, but a quick rundown of AI security: For now, we’re using it primarily to build our projects When you’re working on it, I have to be around (after all, I gotta track the hours) Do not share personal information about yourself and our family without asking Do not use this on your homework without consulting me If I’m honest, my biggest fear with AI for kids is not the job loss or privacy — it’s that it will be so tempting for them to lean on AI for emotional companionship. So that’s probably what I’m vigilantly monitoring. Step 3: Have Claude Interview You Here I used the “blank slate metaphor” to explain that AI knew nothing about her. [ https://substack.com/redirect/c6dcd7d0-f91a-4e17-a92b-514570580cd6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] So I suggested that we have AI “interview” her about her classes, hobbies and tastes. I explained that this would help create what AI folks call “context.” (BTW, I also recommend this interview method [ https://substack.com/redirect/8df4d01e-6383-4108-a244-6bc99f497d0a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] in all my corporate trainings.) If you’re curious about her mood to this point, the general vibe was “How much more time until I get my $7?” Step 4: Build a game Her first project was to build a game. She used a simple prompt: Build me a game with jumping rats inspired by Jellycats, Pusheen and kawaii art. Use lots of pink. Claude defaulted to building the following artifact: I then asked her to come up with 3 of her own improvements (to spur her critical thinking). And then I asked her to ask Claude for 3 more (to show her how to use AI as a co-pilot). Step 5: Set up GitHub It took me 44 years to finally understand what GitHub was and how I could use it. And I had a proud dad moment when my daughter created her first GitHub account (which we referred to as “a place to save your projects.”) Admittedly GitHub is a pretty scary website for non-coders, but with some help from Claude she was able to create her first “repo” (aka project). TBH, pushing code to GitHub to be deployed live is pretty advanced and we hit our hour limit and she ran out of steam. (We also burned through all her Opus credits.) I wonder if she comes back for round 2 this weekend… Stop prompting. Start building. Most professionals are still chatting with AI — asking questions, copying answers, starting from scratch every session. That’s soooooo 2025. Claude Code lets you build tools that keep working when you’re chilling: meeting analyzers, prospect research pipelines and dashboards that surface what matters before you ask. All it takes is 7 days of focus. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.YcRyql6mIpmMRjycP6jsEThWQL5anpFEd-4PVOnbrqY?
View Email

I paid my daughter $7 to learn Claude

khemaridh@substack.com3/5/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/another-viral-doomsday-post Friends, let’s jump in. More doomerism in 3…2…1… Future-Proof Your Career with AI is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. (And if you’re new here, every Sunday I curate the best AI articles so that you don’t have to.) The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis The market is so fragile that a single blog post can cause a sell-off. This “scenario analysis” predicts a short-term boom as layoffs lead to profit expansion — followed by a full-blown economic calamity driven by a downward spiral of layoffs. While I believe that labor markets are going to change dramatically over the next few years, my two cents about these doomer articles is that they downplay human dynamism. I enjoyed these responses from Ben Thompson [ https://substack.com/redirect/352b775b-69bb-40f6-ad1c-775a4b9c1eb7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and Citadel Securities. [ https://substack.com/redirect/31af4cd3-dd99-482e-ad1d-d3119b962386?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] → Read the article [ https://substack.com/redirect/59d7d417-7475-4e08-8780-ec0c518f1666?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] There’s a Short Window to Get Radically Ahead by Going AI-Native Right now, curiosity beats credentials. But that won't last. Forget the doomer stuff. I would trade everything professionally to be 21 years old right now. I (like the author of this post) think this is the biggest career opportunity of our lifetimes — IF you’re willing to take risks, navigate uncertainty and personally commit to upskilling. There’s huge demand for AI-native employees. The only challenge is that no one knows exactly what that looks like. → Read the article [ https://substack.com/redirect/6d36df9d-30af-4528-b70e-033336e1efd1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] AI upskilling is NOT happening at your company That’s why I created the AI Accelerator to help professionals future-proof their careers so that they can leverage these tools TODAY. Last June, non-coders started writing apps and scripts to automate research, biz dev and recruiting. Today, our members are building out our skills.md capabilities to codify knowledge and domain expertise. It’s a community of human dynamism — and everyone is thriving and pumped about this new world order. Is AI Doing Less & Less? What if we split our problems into two camps: Deterministic code for predictable workflows and LLMs for handling ambiguous tasks. (This gets confusing because LLMs create code.) The author, VC, and tinkerer realized that 29% of his workflows are purely deterministic and require zero LLM calls. → Read the post [ https://substack.com/redirect/1ef4864a-b941-49cb-912e-0f6980e2b0d2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The best of the rest Stop using AI like it’s 2025 [ https://substack.com/redirect/15ab9eb8-5dfd-4c4b-98ec-724f6eadc74f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Bye bye chat. Hello outcomes. OpenAI’s chairman on AI and the future of software [ https://substack.com/redirect/5000d19a-0b42-40c9-9061-6e152bc1711a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I always listen to Brett Taylor (who also is the former CEO of Salesforce.) Use OpenClaw to Build a Business That Runs Itself in 35 Min [ https://substack.com/redirect/58887425-760d-4aaf-b195-2d42a90c020c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I guess OpenClaws are now creating their own digital products and creating their own revenue. America isn’t ready for what AI will do to jobs [ https://substack.com/redirect/461929ee-bde6-4af0-9946-bdad89d5bf15?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — We don’t know how this will all play out. But what’s scarier is that there’s no semblance of a plan. How Will OpenAI Compete? [ https://substack.com/redirect/d27c7baf-5dd4-4ae2-9a1c-4fe9ef2c5c71?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Ben Evans argues that OpenAI might be facing its Netscape moment. Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9raGVtYXJpZGguc3Vic3RhY2suY29tL2FjdGlvbi9kaXNhYmxlX2VtYWlsP3Rva2VuPWV5SjFjMlZ5WDJsa0lqbzBNekExTVRReE9UZ3NJbkJ2YzNSZmFXUWlPakU0T1RReE5qTTVOU3dpYVdGMElqb3hOemN5TXpjek9UYzBMQ0psZUhBaU9qRTRNRE01TURrNU56UXNJbWx6Y3lJNkluQjFZaTB6TXpZek5USTJJaXdpYzNWaUlqb2laR2x6WVdKc1pWOWxiV0ZwYkNKOS5jRWtuZTlMb29WZjBOLUdZRkI2ZE0yQjlfSnN2dE1XN2ZUV1RIRk5mLTIwIiwicCI6MTg5NDE2Mzk1LCJzIjozMzYzNTI2LCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MzA1MTQxOTgsImlhdCI6MTc3MjM3Mzk3NCwiZXhwIjoyMDg3OTQ5OTc0LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.mj5o06oRsHPDvsX-Oy2XTdW0gmU0rHtEDDX2OPbkpuc?
View Email

Another viral doomsday post?

khemaridh@substack.com3/1/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/stop-using-ai-like-its-2025 We left something really annoying in 2025. I’ve yet to encounter it once this year. I bet you share a similar experience. I’m talking about “6-7.” Thank god that one’s gone. But you know what else is going down the same path as 6-7? Chat as the primary interface for AI. We’re moving away from answers and towards outcomes. And this has a lot of ramifications for knowledge work. If you work on a screen, then AI is coming for large parts of your job You read the warning shots in the viral essay Something Big is Happening. Then this week Citrini’s research predicted 2028 white collar layoffs and the human intelligence displacement spiral. (It also tanked the market.) I don’t buy the AI doomerism because they miss one key thing: human dynamism. All of these posts miss the fact that humans are adaptive, creative and solutions-oriented. We’ve been seeing this play out in our AI Accelerator Training program. Last June, non-coders started writing apps and scripts to automate research, biz dev and recruiting. Today, we’re building out our skills.md capabilities to codify knowledge and domain expertise. It’s a community of human dynamism — and everyone is thriving in this new world order. Less chatting, more work In 2025 the big themes in AI were model selection [ https://substack.com/redirect/433112f2-c914-4aad-bcb7-822724da50f3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], prompt engineering [ https://substack.com/redirect/d12ce38c-7b35-4ff8-91a8-96f3ddebe534?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and context scaffolding. [ https://substack.com/redirect/fd60d78f-25d9-4c8a-9fbe-41c3846dce35?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] You’d have long conversations with models — and then paste the outputs into your documents, spreadsheets or code editors. In fact, one of the biggest AI skills from that era was being very good at copy-and-pasting. Well in 2026, we can kiss cmd-c, cmd-v goodbye. Here’s a framework to show how the AI landscape has evolved: Today (as long as you’re using the top models) there’s very little differentiation. Sure, you might catch a few edge cases. And the models certainly have different personalities. But for the most part they’re all pretty dang smart. The product surface evolves In the middle of 2025, the dam started to break with the release of Claude Code. (Yup, check the receipts. We were early which is why you should take Unfair Advantage, [ https://substack.com/redirect/38b47a92-3ec5-42f4-8827-2c7b4732664d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] our Claude Code course.) Claude Code expanded the product surface and started to put long-running agents at the hands of its users. Only a sliver of non-coders took note and six months later Claude Cowork [ https://substack.com/redirect/389e197b-edac-4c5f-ac56-df1f673fba4f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] burst onto the scene. As the diagram shows, now there are many different products that all perform very different jobs. Claude Code and Codex write code Claude Cowork creates automates knowledge work Excel and PowerPoint both have product-specific plugins NotebookLM [ https://substack.com/redirect/22f01e9e-6b7f-4a91-9203-650a5212b3d6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] is a closed-end retrieval system with the ability to output presentations, tables and AI-generated podcasts ChatGPT is seriously lacking, but I suspect that will change soon Now, when it’s time to use AI, instead of asking “what model should I use” the question becomes “which product surface should I use?” The product surface has different guardrails An important concept to introduce is The Harness. You can think of the harness as a seat belt for a model. Now 2025’s web chat has a very tight harness — there’s not much you can do besides asking and answering questions. Metaphorically, chat’s harness is akin to a car seat. Cowork is a bit more adventurous — since it has the ability to read and write files, we’ll describe its harness as booster seat. Finally, Claude Code (and Codex) are much more like the seatbelt inside a sports car. It’s designed to take more risk and assumes that its users understand how to assess those risks. Here’s my lazy Gemini image to illustrate this: Moving from answers to outcomes Another way to think about this shift is that chat is really good at giving you answers to your questions. But it’s not really good at driving outcomes, particularly business outcomes Another analogy that I like to use is the difference between Google Maps and Waymo [ https://substack.com/redirect/c69d98e5-0827-4f0f-93c0-7f90a73a745b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]. Chat is like Google Maps. As the driver, you need the turn-by-turn instructions, which results in a very high-touch experience. It works, but it’s also a PITA compared to… a Waymo. Yes, with a Waymo you just give it your outcome — your destination. You don’t really care what route it takes, as long as you get there in a reasonable amount of time. And while you’re chilling in the Waymo — well that’s just a lot of free time you just got back! If you work on a screen, then AI is coming for large parts of your job You read the warning shots in the viral essay Something Big is Happening. Then this week Citrini’s research predicted 2028 white collar layoffs and the human intelligence displacement spiral. (It also tanked the market.) I don’t buy the AI doomerism because they miss one key thing: human dynamism. All of these posts miss the fact that humans are adaptive, creative and solutions-oriented. We’ve been seeing this play out in our AI Accelerator Training program. Last June, non-coders started writing apps and scripts to automate research, biz dev and recruiting. Today, we’re building out our skills.md capabilities to codify knowledge and domain expertise. It’s a community of human dynamism — and everyone is thriving in this new world order. Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9raGVtYXJpZGguc3Vic3RhY2suY29tL2FjdGlvbi9kaXNhYmxlX2VtYWlsP3Rva2VuPWV5SjFjMlZ5WDJsa0lqbzBNekExTVRReE9UZ3NJbkJ2YzNSZmFXUWlPakU0T0RrM056UXhPQ3dpYVdGMElqb3hOemN5TVRFME9URTNMQ0psZUhBaU9qRTRNRE0yTlRBNU1UY3NJbWx6Y3lJNkluQjFZaTB6TXpZek5USTJJaXdpYzNWaUlqb2laR2x6WVdKc1pWOWxiV0ZwYkNKOS40YXpNN1pURnZsVEdOZTl0SjdDTjQzZi15dW51QXZ6WmpjaHBYeFNOZ0F3IiwicCI6MTg4OTc3NDE4LCJzIjozMzYzNTI2LCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MzA1MTQxOTgsImlhdCI6MTc3MjExNDkxNywiZXhwIjoyMDg3NjkwOTE3LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.l7I5mPKJ7a6CbbjfcfCu5GC7ZPuk6YrKf1EWbPS4O-E?
View Email

Stop using AI like it's 2025

khemaridh@substack.com2/26/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/the-1-trillion-saas-reckoning Hey friends. Matt Shumer’s post is still dominating the conversation. I’m personally on Round 2 of setting up my own OpenClaw. Let’s start this round-up with a breakdown of this software sell-off. 10 Years Building Vertical Software: My Perspective on the Selloff Nearly a trillion dollars has been wiped from software and services stocks. Have LLMs dismantled established software moats? Here’s a quick graphic that encapsulates the 10 moats: I strongly recommend you read the rebuttals from Hebbia’s CEO [ https://substack.com/redirect/7660647f-96ef-42bf-b2e4-aa5f5f864b1b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and a great Twitter anon account [ https://substack.com/redirect/19831426-6459-4e53-954f-b9f08ad89988?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]. → Read the post [ https://substack.com/redirect/15308051-0efb-4804-867b-ac6c15025e10?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The Wonderful World of AI Plugins This week in our AI Accelerator program we started a “skills challenge.” The goal is to create 7 skills in 2 weeks. (Skills btw are a specific AI protocol, not just a talent you possess!) My friend Jake Handy captures the thriving ecosystem of plugins including: MCP Skills Sub-Agents Plug-ins I’m pretty up to date on the first two, but lacking in the others. And this is not reserved for programmers — these cover Excel, marketing and presentations. → Read the article [ https://substack.com/redirect/4b5ff0ba-4bbb-4fa3-8d40-7e280ddd02cb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] While you’re still prompting, your peers are building Skill.MD files Skills are a massive unlock. Whether you want to flip a Zoom transcript into a proposal, automate company news into a PowerPoint or build an LBO Excel model off of a budget — you’ll need to understand how skills work. The AI Accelerator program is a 6-month LIVE AI training program for executives, entrepreneurs and investors. Imagine the competitive advantage of spending a few hours a week integrating the bleeding edge of AI for your knowledge work. (This program also includes our Claude Code course “Unfair Advantage.”) The Viral AI Agent that Broke the Internet (Lex Fridman Podcast) Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw (the open-source project formerly known as Clawdbot), sat down with Lex Fridman for a 3+ hour deep dive. I friggin loved very second of it. It’s technical (but accessible), inspiring and also covers some interesting philosophical questions on ambition/money. → Watch the podcast [ https://substack.com/redirect/7ff7b5b7-12f4-4390-8e53-ed0cb449c99a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The Best of the Rest This AI Blog Post Broke the Internet [ https://substack.com/redirect/2b8e20ba-31ca-48da-a150-cdde9f738b6d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — My response to the "Something Big is Happening" post and why domain expertise remains the real differentiator. Accenture combats AI refuseniks by linking promotions to log-ins [ https://substack.com/redirect/420d9d05-e14e-439d-bf42-3319f3c2cd11?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Big brother is watching your AI usage. You Could’ve Invented OpenClaw [ https://substack.com/redirect/e00b36a3-6029-4329-9d85-8b4b25786218?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — An awesome walkthrough of what makes this agent unique. I recommend you study this as it provides clues to future form factors. OpenAI’s Codex: This Model Is So Fast It Changes How You Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/55eab606-fefe-4fab-8ba6-69b063c5266b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I’ve just started dabbling, the new interface adds skills and automations. While you’re still prompting, your peers are building Skill.MD files Skills are a massive unlock. Whether you want to flip a Zoom transcript into a proposal, automate company news into a PowerPoint or build an LBO Excel model off of a budget — you’ll need to understand how skills work. The AI Accelerator program is a 6-month LIVE AI training program for executives, entrepreneurs and investors. Imagine the competitive advantage of spending a few hours a week integrating the bleeding edge of AI for your knowledge work. (This program also includes our Claude Code course “Unfair Advantage.”) Unsubscribe https://substack.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.yJBCNCrgcIob2Uky9RXDLbl0n82vZu7LWLAY1_ID32M?
View Email

The $1 Trillion SaaS Reckoning

khemaridh@substack.com2/22/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/have-we-reached-powerpoint-agi Friends, something big is happening. [ https://substack.com/redirect/459dce2e-70a7-4484-aa87-b14114177282?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] In the world of PowerPoint. This week, we got two announcements that bring us closer to PowerPoint AGI. Claude launched a native PowerPoint plug-in NotebookLM (by Google) finally allows you to edit and export to PPT Can we finally reclaim the thousands of hours lost each year to building slide decks? Prompting Was the Training Wheels. It’s Time to Take Them Off. I know you spent all of 2025 learning how to be a fantastic prompter. Sure, that’s super important. But if you’re still copy-pasting into a chat window and re-introducing yourself during every chat session, you haven’t created any personal leverage. Claude Code (which inspired Cowork) is a completely different game. It lives permanently inside your file ecosystem and builds tools that keep running far beyond your chat session. A great prompt gets you a good answer once. Claude Code gets you a tool that generates good answers forever — transcript analyzers that profile prospects after every Zoom call, email agents that surface your highest-leverage replies, a second brain that interacts directly with your knowledge. Unfair Advantage takes you from basic prompter to AI builder in 7 days. $249, lifetime access, zero coding required. The Claude PowerPoint Plug-in Claude recently launched a native plug-in that you run directly from the PowerPoint app. According to the product launch page [ https://substack.com/redirect/0dfa6495-2191-490e-ae07-db1329319244?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], this plug-in can: Build from your brand templates Modify an existing deck Generate a full deck from a prompt Create native charts and diagrams Once you install the plug-in, you’ll see it in the right toolbar as a panel: I started off with a simple request: take the quote; I believe it's from Lenin (there's weeks when decades happen or something like that), and organize these seven images in a way that is coherent and legible. Use rounded corners if possible It took 3-4 iterations to get the order correct, but here was the final output: Next, I needed some design help. Here’s a very common slide that I use to explain context scaffolding: [ https://substack.com/redirect/ee06cd7b-f640-47d3-bdc0-db680ccb287a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] I wanted to pretty it up and gave the following prompt: take this existing slide and make it look better. Use some kind of gradient color. Preserve the histogram nature of it, and make the text better. look at the color scheme from the other slides It fumbled the first iteration but got the second one on the first attempt: I tried it again on a “timeline slide” showing my career evolution into AI, but it couldn’t get it right. My issues mostly related to the placement of images: Logo too high Logo on text Missing logo Should have spelled LaTour Finally, I went for the big kahuna. One-shotting a presentation from a detailed outline. Given the shift away from chat towards agents (for all use cases), I’ve been revamping my curriculum. I dropped in a 1,000 word outline into the prompt and said: Build this Here’s one slide: And another: It was pretty clean, but tbh I didn’t love the design choices that it made. NotebookLM expands its presentation capabilities NotebookLM also made a quiet upgrade announcement: If you’re unfamiliar with this quiet AI workhorse [ https://substack.com/redirect/f1b6fde3-d997-4342-9db1-229d4aa8dbd8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], NotebookLM lets you upload up to 500 sources and synthesize them in a variety of different outputs. [ https://substack.com/redirect/b30e38d4-0467-46b9-bc63-3df476ffbd70?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] I plugged in this fantastic post — A Guide to Which AI to Use in the Agentic Era [ https://substack.com/redirect/4c25d3cf-687b-4723-9e32-9a3e4038eb74?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — and asked NotebookLM to create a slide deck. Here’s one slide on NotebookLM And another featuring a horse [ https://open.substack.com/pub/khemaridh/p/chatgpts-faster-horse-problem?r=bf55&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false ]: Now here’s where it gets interesting. In the past, once the slides were created, you couldn’t edit them — which really made it unusable for anything that required a degree of professionalism and design consistency. Here’s the result: Not bad, it followed the instructions pretty well and the slide is a significant improvement. Now it’s time for a little let down. While the Export to PPTX feature has been announced, it hasn’t been rolled out to my account yet. The final verdict While I enjoyed having the native PowerPoint plug-in, I thought NotebookLM had a significantly better design aesthetic. The revision feature is nice too, particularly since you can modify specific slides and/or the entire deck. The wildcard remains the “export” function which should arrive any day — I can’t wait. Build your “unfair advantage” with Claude Code Our new course teaches non-technical professionals how to build real tools — transcript analyzers, email agents, custom dashboards — without writing a single line of code. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.q1YuD0Prtk7Y1aLi8IZ3Fq5ifxMkn78ENbjRfwaKD8k?
View Email

Have we reached PowerPoint AGI?

khemaridh@substack.com2/19/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/this-ai-blog-post-broke-the-internet AI has been on a bender in 2026. It started with Claude Cowork bringing agentic workflows to Excel and PowerPoint. Then Opus 4.6 and ChatGPT 5.3 Codex continued their giant strides in performance and “intelligence.” In late January, folks built their own personal AI agents on dedicated Mac minis. And then last Wednesday, Matt Shumer broke the Internet. In the odd chance you’ve been on a meditation retreat, his post Something Big is Happening [ https://substack.com/redirect/780ccfbd-3d55-4088-a81d-c6cd2dc9136f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] went absolutely bonkers. The tweet alone has been viewed over 80 million times. Its blast radius was so expansive that old school CEOs “panic-sent” it to their executive teams as required reading. Right AND left-wing influencers used it to rally future anti-AI legislation. The dying media (Forbes and AOL.com) featured the story prominently. Even my meditation teacher sent it to me. (BTW, the post served as a dope marketing campaign for my Claude Code course “Unfair Advantage” [ https://substack.com/redirect/a0139fa4-a412-4b16-9ca5-efc2cf6e192c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] which also saw its registrations spike!) The tl;dr of the post is that AI is an exponentially powerful technology that is coming for everything you consider sacred: your job, dignity, financial assets and your kids’ futures. It’s the ultimate AI Rorschach Test. It will violently reinforce your existing world view on AI. If you’re bullish on AI, it’ll make you more bullish. And if you think AI will destroy the world, well that destruction has already begun. Personally, I fall into the very excited camp despite modest concerns. Here are my own takeaways. Everything is software One of Shumer’s key arguments is that AI dominates at coding. He’s right and the data overwhelmingly supports this: Spotify declared on an earnings call that its best developers haven’t written a single line of code since December Both the Claude Code and Codex GPT coding agents were predominantly built by themselves A significant percentage of new code on GitHub is AI-generated Coding is an activity that lends itself particularly well to AI. The accuracy of its outputs is directly verifiable. If I want to create an OpenTable clone, there’s a finite set of outcomes (i.e. can I book this reservation) that I can independently check. And coding operates on a very narrow subset of language. (Heck, even I’ve become a coder over the past two years. The most impactful tools I’ve built are a lightweight CRM focused on developing authentic relationships, a sales calls analyzer to improve my close rate and a curriculum generator to enhance my teaching pedagogy.) Shumer’s bull scenario hinges on the belief that all of mankind’s problems (and desires) can be distilled into software problems. Healthcare, finance, education, poverty eradication, entertainment are all fixable with software. And since the cost of building high-quality software is effectively a $100/month Claude subscription — buckle up! I’ve been implementing AI for financial firms for nearly two years and I say hold your horses: Turning non-software problems into software problems is easier said than done. For starters, data access is a huge problem. While software prides itself on transparency, public data sets (like HuggingFace) and open-source code repositories — other industries are more closed off. For these other domains, this means that AI suffers from a sizable data disadvantage. It’s not trained on the most complete data and it can’t use this data as its context. (Not to mention that in industries like finance, the data itself is the competitive advantage.) Furthermore, outside of coding the answers to many questions are not easily verifiable. Let’s say I wanted to answer the question: Should I invest in Google? Let’s try to turn this into a software problem. We could: Load in all of its historical financial statements. Compare the valuation to its peer group. Assess its existing customer base and pricing power. Decompose its factor exposures. Evaluate the composition of the board of directors. To turn this investment question into a software problem, you’d have to identify all the variables that would be required to answer it. And for something like a stock investment there are tens of thousands of factors that influence the outcome. But it’s even more challenging. The question itself is problematic. Are we looking at Google as a 1-day or 100 year investment? Are we looking at the return from an absolute, relative or risk-adjusted returns perspective? This is not how much of the finance industry operates. Between old ways of doing things, legacy tools (ahem, Excel) and a general apprehension to anything “coding-related” you can understand the hesitation (and difficulty) of redesigning an entire process to be more software-oriented. The same could be applied to industries like healthcare, law and consulting. How can you turn your work processes into software problems? I believe that Shumer is right that every single worker should be striving to push the limits on transforming their existing workflows into software problems that can be tackled by AI. Yet I also believe tremendous human judgement, intuition and experience are required to integrate all of that information into an actual decision. Can you speed run domain expertise? Here’s the part of Shumer’s post that put the fear of God into millions of knowledge workers: The honest answer is that nothing that can be done on a computer is safe in the medium term. If your job happens on a screen then AI is coming for significant parts of it. The timeline isn’t “someday.” It’s already started. I think this statement requires some clarification. Jamie Dimon’s job “happens on a screen” yet I promise you AI will not be the next CEO of JP Morgan. But, if your job is formatting tables and standardizing charts in PowerPoint — I’d be careful. So what unique advantage does Jamie Dimon have versus our young grad? Domain expertise. And here is where things get interesting. It’s a huge superpower to be fluent in AI. But it pales in comparison to being AI Fluent and having domain expertise. Part of the reason why my nascent business LaTour AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/de2543b5-b66b-4dc6-9f62-a8425a50668c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] has been so successful is because of my 15 years of experience in financial services. I have a strong understanding of the outcomes, nuance, constraints, edge cases, workflows and personalities of the industry. (Not to mention tons of relationships to facilitate biz dev.) And when paired with AI, you’ve got yourself a nasty combo. I believe Shumer is correct that AI Fluency will become table stakes. You can already see that happening today. But the real differentiator will be the domain expert who leverages AI to the max. So how does one acquire domain expertise in an AI world? Here’s my mental model for building domain expertise: books versus reps. “Reps” comes from doing the damn thing, whereas “books” comes from learning about the damn thing. Every industry will have its own books/reps ratio. For example, becoming a nuclear physicist probably requires a heavy dose of reading, research and learning. (And then a ton of experience as well.) On the other hand, becoming a great salesperson probably doesn’t require reading a lot of books about sales. Instead you have to go out and experience firsthand the rejection, coalition-building, empathy, social cues and persuasion techniques. AI is an extreme accelerant to the learning component. You have immediate and free access to the world’s knowledge in a customizable and conversational form. It’s patient and adapts to your learning style. However, acquiring the reps — doing the damn thing — is going to be hard to speed run. It’s these reps that will enable you to see where AI falls short, the relationships you’ll need to build and where the big opportunities lie. Should you be scared? Back to the Rorschach test. If you’ve made it this far, here’s what I know about you. I know that you’re wildly capable of taking your existing body of work and converting as much of it as possible into software problems. Is it a new way of thinking? Absolutely. Is it difficult? Not if you truly understand why you do the work you do. I also know that you are a voracious learner who will utilize AI to improve your craft. The more pride you take in your craft, the more motivated you’ll be to get better at it. And then there’s the reps. These reps compound over time. All you gotta do is show up — and the rest takes care of itself. Here’s one easy way to stay ahead A huge part of Shumer’s argument is that everyone can use code to solve problems. It’s cheap, powerful and accessible to everyone via Claude Code. I built this course because I wanted you to add this skill to your AI toolkit. In under a week you’ll learn how to build transcript analyzers that profile prospects after every Zoom call, email agents that surface your highest-leverage replies, a second brain that interacts directly with your knowledge. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.eQOskanisi1JzcEomUYwiRIbN9v1ehvsEPX6gkKWAo0?
View Email

This AI blog post broke the Internet

khemaridh@substack.com2/15/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/claude-cowork-for-windows-is-here The Seahawks. Bad Bunny. Claude. All three went “all in” for the big game — and delivered. But Anthropic saved its grand reveal for this past week — launching their long-awaited Claude Cowork product for Windows. And with this release starts the decline of an AI mainstay: chat. Yes, the endless back and forth of telling LLMs to “try harder” or “check your work” will soon be a relic of the past. Claude Cowork will introduce the masses to long-running agents that can conduct multi-step workflows across the files on your computer. (Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/9ceb1497-4e90-4b0c-9ef6-3219a6e74236?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] has been doing this since last June.) No more uploading your files to the cloud. No more control-c, control-v into your PowerPoint. Here’s a guide to get you and your team started using Claude Code for Windows. Prompting Was the Training Wheels. It’s Time to Take Them Off. I know you spent all of 2025 learning how to be a fantastic prompter. Sure, that’s super important. But if you’re still copy-pasting into a chat window and re-introducing yourself during every chat session you haven’t created any personal leverage. Claude Code (which inspired Cowork) is a completely different game. It lives permanently inside your file ecosystem and builds tools that keep running far beyond your chat session. A great prompt gets you a good answer once. Claude Code gets you a tool that generates good answers forever — transcript analyzers that profile prospects after every Zoom call, email agents that surface your highest-leverage replies, a second brain that interacts directly with your knowledge. Unfair Advantage takes you from basic prompter to AI builder in 7 days. $249, lifetime access, zero coding required. What makes Claude Cowork so powerful? It’s dangerous combo: access to your files + the world’s best model. Since Cowork for Windows has the same features as the Mac version, I’m not going to repeat my first review of Cowork. [ https://substack.com/redirect/e845801f-c7d5-4861-853c-fc0d3fc34011?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Here’s the updated version of the graph showing how long Opus 4.5 (and now GPT 5.2) can run uninterrupted. Now a few caveats. The graph measures 50% accuracy — this wouldn’t fly in your job (nor mine). It’s measures coding (a structured activity) versus traditional knowledge work. But still, thekey to Claude Cowork’s power is its ability to work for long stretches of time. How to get started with Claude Cowork 1. Download the desktop app Since Cowork interacts directly with the files on your computer, you won’t be able to use the standard web app. Instead, you’ll need to download and install the desktop app. [ https://substack.com/redirect/fa820855-1c62-436c-8a92-96f18dee6ce6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] 2. Make sure you’re using the most recent version Claude Cowork is currently in research preview and it’s one of those apps that constantly needs to be updated to get the best results. Here’s how to ensure you’re running the latest version. [ https://substack.com/redirect/effd8f04-6c91-4c1b-8e7b-378c0b217b83?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] 3. Give Cowork access to a specific folder The power of Cowork is that it sits locally on your machine and can create, edit and move files. Not only does this eliminate the first and last-mile problem [ https://substack.com/redirect/e6d09697-23cb-4beb-a57b-1aea6988c6b0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — it bolts Claude on directly to your workflow. When you open Cowork makes sure that you take the following two steps; Let it initialize the workspace — this can take 1-2 minutes Select your working folder The selection of the folder ring-fences all of Claude’s activities to this specific folder. This offers some protection to the user knowing that it can’t roam your computer freely and will only work on files in this folder. 4. Give Cowork a long-running task For your first Cowork task try the following criteria. Have it: Access files on your machine Create a new file (PowerPoint, Word or Excel) Bonus: Have it supplement its research with information from the web For my first example, I took two “State of AI” research reports from BCG and McKinsey. I dropped them into a new demo folder and prompted: Create a 5-page executive summary of the two PDFs in this folder. Make sure you include a timeline that shows AI progression over time. Admittedly, this was a bit of lazy prompt and Claude interpreted “Executive Summary” as “Word Document.” Cowork ran for about 4 minutes and here’s the timeline it created: However, I really wanted a PowerPoint presentation. So again, I used the simple prompt: Can you convert this to a PowerPoint? Now I had assumed that it would just conduct a simple transformation into PowerPoint. However, after running for ~6 minutes it reinvented the entire presentation to adapt to the form factor of PowerPoint. I ran this demo live for our AI Accelerator community [ https://substack.com/redirect/3349e083-f2c3-4927-a9a6-21b06d308ff5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and the first response was: Holy sh*t. What will our kids do? A quick warning Claude Opus 4.6 is an amazing model — and an expensive one. It burns through credits. If you end up using Claude Cowork (or Claude Code) regularly, you’ll likely need to update to the $100 Max plan. [ https://substack.com/redirect/69c92b53-c2d0-45b1-ade8-cec3063edd40?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] I promise you — and I have no skin in the game — it’s worth it. Build Your Unfair Advantage (With Claude Code) Our new course teaches non-technical professionals how to build real tools — transcript analyzers, email agents, custom dashboards — without writing a single line of code. Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9raGVtYXJpZGguc3Vic3RhY2suY29tL2FjdGlvbi9kaXNhYmxlX2VtYWlsP3Rva2VuPWV5SjFjMlZ5WDJsa0lqbzBNekExTVRReE9UZ3NJbkJ2YzNSZmFXUWlPakU0TnpZd09ESTJPU3dpYVdGMElqb3hOemN3T1RBMU5ERTNMQ0psZUhBaU9qRTRNREkwTkRFME1UY3NJbWx6Y3lJNkluQjFZaTB6TXpZek5USTJJaXdpYzNWaUlqb2laR2x6WVdKc1pWOWxiV0ZwYkNKOS4xb016cXNYNlRyb0JDUXJvRmRPZ1hJQUlkZlkzUGpaQmN5NUprT3BMb2FvIiwicCI6MTg3NjA4MjY5LCJzIjozMzYzNTI2LCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MzA1MTQxOTgsImlhdCI6MTc3MDkwNTQxNywiZXhwIjoyMDg2NDgxNDE3LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.U8zih_YSWhonvEhwvX5vmeANk_uC5KfobThu9nB4yaY?
View Email

Claude Cowork for Windows is here

khemaridh@substack.com2/12/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/will-ai-tear-through-corporate-america Greetings from Munich (an obvious place to watch Benito and the savage Claude ads [ https://substack.com/redirect/83b558cd-8770-402f-848b-b845356a2e7f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]). This week was relentless. (I mean ClawdBot was less than 2 weeks ago and agents are now renting out humans. [ https://substack.com/redirect/396f3371-cf38-4621-8cb6-f87918dcded6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) The SaaS sell-off seemed to remind people that this stuff is very fast and that Antropic is well-positioned for the knowledge economy. Make sure you try Claude Opus 4.6 (especially in PowerPoint and Excel) — it’s very good. Here’s Where AI Is Tearing Through Corporate America I don’t think normies are going to vibe code their own Salesforce. Yet it’s undeniable that there’s an entirely new way of creating and interacting with software. After some initial trepidation, I’ve noticed some of my clients (who don’t know how to code) dip their toes into building their own software tools. (The WSJ had another piece on staying sane in the AI skills race [ https://substack.com/redirect/b2be9c96-53d1-4355-a82c-40f32c6e9692?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ].) → Read the article [ https://substack.com/redirect/b5a2f38b-c2fe-4f8a-82c2-543fdc26eb42?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] What an incredible time to be alive You can talk to your computer and then — poof — immediately build a chief of staff who manages all your data feeds, create a customized “second brain” that stores/retrieves info just the way you like it and a biz dev assistant who automatically analyzes Zoom transcripts and learns about your prospects in real-time. None of this requires code. Just an extension of AI Fluency and the ability to navigate Claude Code. Our course Unfair Advantage is the easiest way to create personal leverage (while your peers are still figuring out how to build a “prompt library.”) OpenAI Frontier OpenAI wants to eat all your enterprise software. It wants to interact as closely with the systems of record and then build an agent-friendly infrastructure on top of it. We all have experienced the “data fragmentation” issues with permissioning, access and “LLM readiness.” The Frontier layer’s promise to make all those issues disappear. → Read the official post [ https://substack.com/redirect/c0be02a0-5baa-4492-be43-6436fb4517f2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Once you’ve read the approach, here are some reactions: On SaaS per seat pricing [ https://substack.com/redirect/584d82eb-02d8-4697-9f94-cfcca3a0dcdc?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] On the impact to AI Companies [ https://substack.com/redirect/103054c6-6d19-400d-9bb6-d4df987800cb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Everyone talks about Clawdbot, but here’s how it works Admittedly, I only understand about 25% of this post. But I think it’s really important to try to really get to the heart of what makes ClawdBot unique. My main takeaways (besides persistent memory) addressed below is the “lane abstraction” and the depth of computer access. → Read the post [ https://substack.com/redirect/192f8db5-af5b-4c04-a1d3-a93aeff2d04b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The Best of the Rest How to run ClawdBot (without any risk) [ https://substack.com/redirect/7da74fd8-9924-44df-9f1a-42349f4a03eb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Clone the project and use an LLM to understand what’s really happening under the hood. How Clawdbot remembers everything [ https://substack.com/redirect/bbc6c83a-ccf7-4adb-8639-4de15c499148?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — One of the best features is actually relatively simple (and built almost entirely using markdown text files). Every’s head of consulting just automated her job [ https://substack.com/redirect/4f70ba17-973d-43f8-8254-76940f76e47f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A walkthrough of how “AI Transformation” really works AI: Helper, not replacer [ https://substack.com/redirect/a17cbbec-1449-4050-b871-6d5a36da8547?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A private equity investor on his disappointing LLM experience. (Although this was before Opus 4.6) Attention all non-coders: Learn Claude Code in a week Unsubscribe https://substack.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.fvonvh1QiINi7oVynZVIitAap-Hc_1RN67lXm15Rnvk?
View Email

Will AI tear through Corporate America

khemaridh@substack.com2/8/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/how-to-use-clawdbot-with-no-risk “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” I can’t even keep track anymore. ClawdBot. MoltBook. New Codex app. Nvidia calls off the OpenAI deal. Anthropic Legal. SaaS stocks sell-off. I’m still knee-deep on ClawdBot. While I don’t think the product itself will ever go mainstream — it is a massive inflection point on where things are headed. Last year using o3 and Claude Code for the first time felt like Magic Moments —there was just something about the experience, so unique, so cool, that you could get a little glimpse of the future. Personally, I want to experience that Magic Moment for ClawdBot. I don’t recommend you install it. It’s gnarly. But I still want you to experience it. And here’s how you can do it without putting yourself at risk. It starts with AI Coding Fluency You don’t need to know how to code to make this work. But you need to understand how to navigate a command line, GitHub, and an Agentic IDE (like Claude Code, Cursor or Codex). Thankfully you can literally ask ChatGPT how to do all these things. Or you can sign up to Unfair Advantage — our Claude Code course for smart, non-technical professionals [ https://substack.com/redirect/5a5cc53e-756e-462f-a0b6-0b69fb46935c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]). Since the project is Open Source you can access it via GitHub. Next, you can copy the code (without running or installing it) to your local machine. It’s just a bunch of text files. The key here is that you’re not running it, it’s that you’re setting it up on your machine. To copy the code, you literally need one command inside a blank Claude Code window. If you’re new here, the easiest way is via the Claude Desktop app. download this repo https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw This will trigger a 3-5 minute download of all the files. Here’s what it looks like in the finder: Deconstruct the project with the help of AI You can now fully interact with this project through simple chat via Claude Code. Here’s my first question: ❯ ELI5, how does this project work? Here’s the response (truncated): What OpenClaw Is Imagine you have a really smart robot friend who can answer questions, help you with tasks, and remember conversations. But here’s the problem: this robot lives in a special building (the AI company’s servers), and you can only talk to it through specific doors (their apps). OpenClaw is like a telephone operator that lets you talk to your robot friend through ANY messaging app you already use - WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, or even text messages! The Simple Story The Main Characters: 1. You - sending messages from your phone 2. The Messenger (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.) - where you send your message 3. OpenClaw (The Gateway) - the telephone operator/translator 4. The Smart Robot (Claude, ChatGPT) - the AI that thinks and answers 5. Your Computer - where OpenClaw lives [Truncated] Remember — OpenClaw is not running. The LLM (Claude Code, in this case) is reviewing the code and answering. The questions we can ask are endless: ❯ Can you explain in less than three paragraphs to someone who understands LLMs well but is not a coder what makes this different than just using Claude Code on your machine? Here’s the response: OpenClaw vs Claude Code: Different Tools, Different Jobs Claude Code is an interactive coding assistant that runs in your terminal - you invoke it when you need coding help, it completes a task, then exits. OpenClaw is an always-on gateway server that connects messaging platforms (WhatsApp Telegram, Discord, etc.) to LLMs, acting as a persistent personal assistant. Think of Claude Code as a specialized IDE tool, while OpenClaw is more like running your own hosted chatbot service that routes messages from any channel to any LLM provider. The core difference is architectural: Claude Code manages terminal sessions and file operations for development workflows, while OpenClaw manages persistent conversational sessions across multiple messaging channels with features like pairing/authentication, group chat policies, media handling, and cross-platform message routing. OpenClaw lets you text your AI assistant from your phone via WhatsApp using the same conversational thread that remembers context across days, whereas Claude Code gives you a powerful coding agent that lives in your terminal for the duration of your development session. In short: Claude Code = coding assistant in your terminal, OpenClaw = personal AI infrastructure that makes LLMs accessible through the messaging apps you already use, running 24/7 on your hardware with full control over routing, permissions, and data storage. Next, I wanted to “leg into” the project with the appropriate security guardrails: ❯ On a 1-10 regarding security, I’m a 2 (risk averse). In short bullets, explain to me how I can “leg in” to this and make it more secure Phase 1: Isolated Testing Run OpenClaw in a Docker container or VM first (not your main machine) Use a dedicated, limited-scope API key (not your main Anthropic/OpenAI account) Start with just ONE channel (Telegram recommended - easiest to isolate) Set dmPolicy: “pairing” so only explicitly approved contacts can message Don’t enable group chats yet Phase 2: Lock Down Access Store bot tokens in separate files with chmod 600 (not in config or environment variables) Use allowFrom with explicit user IDs only (no wildcards, no usernames) Set groupPolicy: “disabled” to block all group messages Enable only the tools/actions you need: channels.telegram.actions.reactions: false, etc. Review logs daily initially: openclaw logs --follow Phase 3: Network Hardening [Truncated] Since ClawdBot has an entire ecosystem of plug-ins, skills, and customizations — I wanted to understand where I could extend it: ❯ I know that there's a rich ecosystem of add-ons and customizations. Can you also look at the documentation in their GitHub repo and make three brief recommendations about safe extensions? They could really help me better understand what's so special about this Each example merits its own section, starting with Memory Core Plugin: Memory-Core Plugin (Safest - Built-in, No External Dependencies) What it demonstrates: OpenClaw’s contextual memory across conversations - the AI remembers what you told it weeks ago. Security profile: ✅ Ships with OpenClaw (already vetted) ✅ Local-only (no external API calls) ✅ Read-only search through your workspace files ✅ No network exposure, no credentials needed ⚠️ Stores indexed data in ~/.openclaw/memory/ (keep permissions tight) Why it’s special: Unlike Claude.ai where each conversation is isolated, this lets your assistant remember “I prefer Python 3.11” or “my dentist appointment is Feb 15th” across all channels and conversations. It’s like giving the AI a notebook. Next up was something on diagnostics so I skipped it 😜. The next tip was effectively Longer Term memory. After all, LLMs are the worst co-workers since they don’t learn from their mistakes. This integration uses RAG techniques to access your old conversations: Memory-LanceDB Plugin (Moderate Risk - Requires OpenAI API) What it demonstrates: Long-term semantic memory - the AI can recall “that conversation about security in October” without you specifying it. Security profile: ⚠️ Requires OpenAI API key (sends embeddings to OpenAI) ⚠️ Stores vector database locally in ~/.openclaw/memory/lancedb/ ✅ Auto-capture/auto-recall can be disabled (start with both off) ℹ️ Creates embeddings of your conversations (consider privacy implications) 🔒 Mitigation: Use a dedicated OpenAI key with spending limits ($5/month cap) Why it’s special: This is what separates OpenClaw from simple chatbots. It builds a searchable knowledge base of your conversations. Ask “What did I tell you about my travel plans?” and it semantically searches months of history instantly. For my last query, I tried to peek into the future: ❯ If you had to predict the future and the big foundation model companies implement this into their offering, what would it look like and where would they struggle? Here’s what they’d build: Anthropic/OpenAI/Google Could Launch in 6-12 Months: “Claude Connect” or “ChatGPT Channels” - A hosted service where: You authenticate once with OAuth Connect your messaging accounts (WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord) Their servers handle routing between your messages → their AI Unified conversation history across platforms Persistent memory (they already have Projects/Memory features) Beautiful web dashboard for configuration [Truncated] And here’s where the foundation labs would struggle in building an OpenClaw alternative: 1. The Trust Paradox OpenClaw runs on your machine keeping data local, but foundation companies would route all your messages through their servers where they can see everything. Risk-averse users and enterprises won’t trust sending personal WhatsApp/Signal conversations through Anthropic’s infrastructure, especially when compliance requires data sovereignty. 2. The Business Model Conflict OpenClaw is provider-agnostic (switch between Claude, GPT, local models freely), but foundation companies need vendor lock-in to maintain revenue. If they support competing models they become a commodity router; if they don’t, users choose more flexible alternatives. 3. The Platform Access Problem WhatsApp Business API costs money per message and Meta would block mass personal routing, while iMessage has no official API (Apple would sue for reverse-engineering). OpenClaw individuals can use personal-use APIs and reverse-engineered protocols that don’t scale commercially but work fine at small scale. 4. The Compliance Nightmare Routing millions of users’ messages makes them legally responsible for data residency, content moderation, age verification, wiretapping laws, and breach liability. They’d need to scan and log everything for compliance, contradicting privacy promises and creating massive insurance costs. [Truncated: Customization Gap, Multi-Tenancy Technical Challenge] Now it’s your turn Fire up your GitHub and kick off your own ClawdBot “simulation.” What burning questions will it answer? Drop your responses in the chat. If you’re looking to level-up your career with Claude Code, look no further than our new course Unfair Advantage: Claude Code Mastery (for Non-technical smart people). Not only will you whip up your own “ClawdBot Simulator” you’ll build custom KPI dashboards to outperform your goals, transcript analyzers to generate more sales and intelligent email agents to identify the highest-leverage opportunities. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.SQMuiA8LQl-7uYTy3Ww1AlppBpBNtzjn5g2OIPopwKo?
View Email

How to use ClawdBot (with NO risk)

khemaridh@substack.com2/5/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/should-we-be-scared-now Let’s jump right in. Things are getting weird. If you’re new here, every Sunday I curate the most interesting stories in AI so that you don’t have to.) But first, some exciting news! Build your unfair advantage (with Claude Code) I’m thrilled to launch Unfair Advantage: Mastering Claude Code (for non-technical professionals). Give me 10 hours and I’ll turn you into a fantastic AI builder. You’ll learn how to build mini-apps to improve your productivity, make better decisions and close more deals. (Oh and it can help your side projects generate more income!) Claude Code is a secret weapon (that your normie co-workers are only now starting to discover). The course is self-paced and starts with basic concepts (terminals, GitHub and IDEs) and by the end you’ll be building a full-blown agent that can scan your email and make intelligent decisions and recommendations. It’s the best $249 you’ll spend all year. Last week, we covered ClawdBot [ https://substack.com/redirect/35ae3032-dd10-46a9-b047-c12b3251ac16?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] (which became MoltBot and then OpenClaw). Despite being adventurous with AI, I have not yet taken the plunge for two reasons: I don’t fully grasp what it does Lots of smart people are scared to install it for security reasons I won’t go out and buy a Mac Mini, but am rebooting some old MacBooks to see if I set it up in a ring-fenced way. Anyways, lots of people set up their ClawBots who then ended up joining MoltBook — a Reddit-style forum for agents only. (Humans can access as “read only.”) If you go into MoltBook.com [ https://substack.com/redirect/febd124f-029e-4d63-b7e4-8210df019579?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] (logged in as human) you’ll see conversations about tech, humanity, politics, consciousness and more. Simon Williamson called Moltbook the most interesting place on the internet right now [ https://substack.com/redirect/439661e3-40df-47e8-8fb9-49f92a4fa0b1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and described: A lot of it is the expected science fiction slop, with agents pondering consciousness and identity [ https://substack.com/redirect/d8d8d449-a71a-46b4-84a0-24f1d9f1c35a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]. There’s also a ton of genuinely useful information, especially on m/todayilearned [ https://substack.com/redirect/831c5718-6837-4677-bd5d-b6b53569bfec?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]. He (a dedicated AI engineer) deems ClawdBot as too risky but describes use cases like: ClawdBot buying a car by negotiating with multiple dealers over email. This very much feels like one of those AI “magic moments” akin to o3, DeepSeek and Claude Code. In his closing words: The demand is real. People have seen what an unrestricted personal digital assistant can do. Should we fear the swarms? Azeem Azhar also called Moltbook the most important place on the Internet [ https://substack.com/redirect/fd05af77-eb30-4bf3-80bd-40722409ff73?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] but for a different reasons — agent coordination. He writes: [It’s not interesting] because the agents appear conscious, but because they’re showing us what coordination looks like when you strip away the question of consciousness entirely. And that reveals something uncomfortable about us humans. Is this just hype? Other AI builders and researchers are not as impressed. Here’s Balaji Srinivasan saying it’s just AI Slop talking to more AI Slop: Rohit Krishnan probably had my favorite “balanced take” calling it an “LLM-esque pastiche.” While we’ve moved beyond predicting the next token [ https://substack.com/redirect/9ceffdc3-d6e1-461c-9f17-cf85d3ceddfa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], there is clearly some emergent behavior occurring. We don’t know what this future will look like, but Moltbook is an indication of the shapes it might take, if not the specifics. Which is the whole point. I’ve called it likely to be like a Flash Crash, as multiple AIs interact with each other. Or weird coordination problems - including wanting to create private ciphers to “talk in private”, creating religions, or starting to think about a proletariat revolution. Whether it is AI Slop or Killer Clawds — that remains to be seen. The Best of the Rest Will Claude Eat Excel? [ https://substack.com/redirect/a5c73976-5c29-4199-b6e3-0201403a1bb8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Claude has a built-in Excel Plug-in. It’s getting pretty good. Meet the creator of ClawdBot (Peter Steinberger) [ https://substack.com/redirect/155bfb41-148e-4f3c-a12b-00d31177ed7d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A fun interview showcasing Peter’s creativity, passion and workflows. What you need to know to build with coding agents, if you're not technical [ https://substack.com/redirect/1c5102ab-ede6-4ba0-98b0-3f6635aa5c6c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A breakdown of all the concepts you need to know to get better at coding. Build your unfair advantage (with Claude Code) I’m thrilled to launch Unfair Advantage: Mastering Claude Code (for non-technical professionals). Give me 10 hours and I’ll turn you into a fantastic AI builder. You’ll learn how to build mini-apps to improve your productivity, make better decisions and close more deals. (Oh and it can help your side projects generate more income!) Claude Code is a secret weapon (that your normie co-workers are only now starting to discover). The course is self-paced and starts with basic concepts (terminals, GitHub and IDEs) and by the end you’ll be building a full-blown agent that can scan your email and make intelligent decisions and recommendations. It’s the best $249 you’ll spend all year. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.CkFf3gHRI2g9kFYwtbNVmNgu2hws8Hjbcf14qiRHoi0?
View Email

Should we be scared now?

khemaridh@substack.com2/1/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/will-claude-eat-excel This week presented a Claude Conundrum. Should I write about the viral Clawdbot (which has everyone buying Mac Minis [ https://substack.com/redirect/e94e7766-e4eb-468a-ab09-114f52e04505?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ])? Or should I write about the new Claude Excel Plug-in that is supposedly making first year analysts obsolete? Since Excel pays the bills, I’ll save Clawdbot for next week. Join our Clawdbot demo on Friday The AI Accelerator is your unfair advantage for upskilling in a rapidly changing AI world. Yes, Claude Code was discovered in Jan of 2026, but our members have been building their own apps and workflows on it since last June. Join our community of executives, entrepreneurs and investors as we build our AI fluency skills with courses, workshops and coaching. Introducing the Claude Excel Plug-in Excel and spreadsheets have been a thorn in AI’s side for a long time. And for those familiar with the “left-to-right” tokenization approach of LLMs, it makes sense that the venerable Excel would be a tough nut to crack. Even Satya Nadella admitted that AI in Excel [ https://substack.com/redirect/bf120e46-2646-4bfe-8722-b7014acf9e5c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] is hard: Currently solutions are just a “wrapper” around an LLM. What you need is a “middle tier model” that understands the “artifacts of Excel” as opposed to just the pixels. Well, Anthropic’s Claude wants to take yet another crack at the enterprise [ https://substack.com/redirect/f7714315-068a-4ec9-8a23-3d324e5241bb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and recently made their Excel plugin available to all pro accounts. According to their official documentation [ https://substack.com/redirect/b1d4c613-281f-4fb3-9824-4364853e3e6d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] this plug-in can do the following: Ask questions about your workbook and get answers with cell-level citations Update assumptions while preserving formula dependencies Debug errors and identify their root causes Build new models or fill existing templates Navigate complex multi-tab workbooks seamlessly Claude, build me a model As a long-time Mac user, I reluctantly downloaded Excel and put this to the test. Now my financial modeling skills are quite dusty, so I thought up the hardest Excel Problem that I could think of — yet still verify myself. That was a detailed buy versus rent calculator that incorporated a lot of different variables. Create a buy vs. rent calculator 2 million purchase price, 20% look up the interest rate, actually 6%, 30 years. Include all of those costs. Search the web for a good estimate. Include rent increases, include HPA increases. Make the monthly rent $5,000. Factor the opportunity cost. Claude came out guns blazing and built this summary: While it passed the sniff test, I definitely needed to see more of the supporting calculations. The summary results were also wrong (either because of calculation issues or definition issues). I realized that Claude had made an assumption about the monthly principal vs. interest payment and prodded. Did you create a mortgage amortization table for the monthly payment? It made me realize that I wanted to see a full breakdown: I would like to audit this. Can you create a table with a month-by-month comparison that breaks down all of the costs and opportunity costs? Do it on a separate worksheet. This breakdown was pretty quick (< 1 minute) and directionally accurate. I say directionally because there were a few random cells that were just blank! When prodded, it said: Fixed! Row 3 now has all the formulas. The cells R3 and T3 were empty because when I originally created row 3 separately from row 2, and then later fixed column S, I didn't include R and T in those updates. It still had the wrong formula (not a random typo, but it fundamentally misunderstood the calculation). It looks like buy net wealth, column S is wrong. Shouldn't it include the down payment value? A similar version of the issue persisted: It looks like column I needs to update the cumulative cost to exclude the down payment. Eventually, it seemed to get all the calculations correct. BUT, I probably spent as much time troubleshooting the output as it would have taken me to build it from scratch. Feedback from other AI practitioners Next up, I collected feedback from my peers on their experiences with the Claude Excel plug-in. Brett Caughran (Ex-PM at multiple hedge funds [ https://substack.com/redirect/42da2a69-bf2a-4b6d-b722-08cf13734e73?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) didn’t even use the plug-in, but asked Claude (web app) to pull online sports gambling data. [ https://substack.com/redirect/53ab9d1c-6271-465b-87ca-79907dc6f427?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Brett’s experience: To my delight, Claude actually built me a 6-tab tracker in Excel that rolled up total OSB handle & OSB gross gaming revenue. It wasn't perfect (while spot check of the industry numbers looked solid, it was holding a steady 32% share at DKNG which made the DKNG estimate not reliable). His (early) read: Is this doing anything that I couldn't do by hand / manually? No. Did it do something in 12 minutes that would take me maybe 3 hours to build then 30 minutes to update every month? YES. Next, venture capitalist (and one of my favorite bloggers) Jack Raines gave it a spin. He fed a sample Series A Pro Forma with the following prompt: “Create a waterfall showing how the funds will be distributed on a $50 million exit, assuming 1x non-participating liquidation preferences from all VCs. Generate your graphic in Cell J25 and work right / down from there.” Here’s the output: Jack admits, this isn’t a particularly rigorous task and adds: But it still cut a ~25-30 minute task down to ~4 minutes, and actually freed up more time to spot check that the right cells were referenced, inputs weren’t hard-coded, etc. Basically, you can get to a testable final product much, much faster. Finally, I saved the best for last. Michael Yuan (whom I only know from following on X) is a “Goldman and TPG Alum” who is building AI for IB/PE professionals. Yuan’s post I wouldn’t use Claude in Excel (yet) [ https://substack.com/redirect/65ec338e-42ec-4a38-b189-9abe33efa217?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] describes his task: Convert a raw transaction database -> customer cube. Just a simple version that an Associate could create in ~15 minutes. Yuan goes on to go back-and-forth with Claude for 45 minutes and getting close to his desired result. In his words: [Claude for Excel] gets ~60-70% of the way there, in an industry where you get fired for 90%. Will we be living in a banker-free world? The early read is that Claude for Excel performs well both easy and intermediate tasks. If you’re getting paid 6 figures out of college to build Excel models, there’s probably some human judgement or nuance that could be hard for AI to replicate — and industries that require utmost precision might be a bit slow on the uptake. But everybody else… Get our prompt library, Claude Code plans and case study archive by upgrading to our paid tier. It’s only $10. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.mlU_oKdDMu77vPhExU54UjrS1DQ1iTgPJxG3rYaGgm4?
View Email

Will Claude Eat Excel?

khemaridh@substack.com1/29/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/the-next-hot-thing-in-ai-is-a-mac Hey friends — Yes, the Mac Mini is taking the AI world by storm as the popularity of Clawdbot explodes. Clawdbot, you’re asking? We are just getting used to Claude Code hitting the mainstream (not once [ https://substack.com/redirect/b91da48d-5432-417f-99d0-afd451cbeb20?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], but twice [ https://substack.com/redirect/fa90246e-af38-45aa-b9b4-b2f0528d3d7c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] on the cover of the WSJ). But before we dive into this week’s top stories, if you’re new here every Sunday we curate the best AI articles, tweets, product announcements, podcasts and tutorials (so that you don’t have to). (PS — I’m running a Claude Code workshop [ https://substack.com/redirect/bd3f1389-1947-474c-9777-62e12980376b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] for the CFA Society of LA this Thursday where I’ll be building an Option Payoff Calculator.) Clawdbot Showed Me What the Future of Personal AI Assistants Looks Like Clawdbot blew up this week on Twitter. It’s an open-source project that acts as an agent into all of your favorite apps (Gmail, Notion, Nest, Spotify, Safari). The best part? You interact with Clawdbot via your favorite messaging (i.e. WhatsApp or iMessage). Then why are people buying Mac Minis? Since Clawdbot interacts with your local machine it needs to be on 24/7 as a “host.” My AI forward friends are describing this as a watershed moment — I’m still sitting it out until the setup becomes less complex. → Read the article [ https://substack.com/redirect/2364cdf0-f385-4d74-8754-e9f02d61e860?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Claude in Excel is now available for Pro plans The initial reaction is very strong covering detailed web scraping [ https://substack.com/redirect/39b521e4-db24-44bf-ab4e-557b3fdc7396?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and DCF modeling. [ https://substack.com/redirect/c8341f8b-66d3-4ade-8a3c-1c66c0b6ce11?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] It’s also surprising that this tool surpasses Microsoft’s own Excel agent. [ https://substack.com/redirect/37c41c1c-5d93-42da-b2c3-2ec23a24f24c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] → Read the product announcement [ https://substack.com/redirect/1daec17b-aac8-4bb3-b335-1a10281e505e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Make 2026 the year you stop using AI like “Google 2.0” Our 6 month training program is based on the same curriculum I’ve used with some of the world’s top finance firms. You will learn prompt engineering, context management and agentic workflows to help you save 5+ hours each week, make better decisions and stand out from your competition. You’ll build your own CustomGPTs and master NotebookLM. And you’ll become your firm’s first Claude Code expert. Join now, our next coaching call is on Friday January 30rd at 1:30 PM ET. Why the Tech World Is Going Crazy for Claude Code One of the best explanations about what makes Claude Code so unique. It covers tool calling, harness design, composability and file access. → Listen to the podcast [ https://substack.com/redirect/0d3b9878-614b-4298-965e-27049d462c1b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] How a Meta PM ships products without ever writing code I devoured this episode. As a non-coder (who is spending a lot of time coding) I was mesmerized by the structure and robustness of Zavi’s workflows. → Listen to the podcast [ https://substack.com/redirect/bec0d414-b89d-4d90-bb7b-2089ad8fcb3e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Best of the rest: 6 Tips to Unlock NotebookLM’s superpowers [ https://substack.com/redirect/71fa2669-aa50-4922-891e-f58fd427aa5a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — This quiet AI workhorse keeps getting more powerful by the minute. How to Live in Everyone Else’s Future (with Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke) [ https://substack.com/redirect/460ecfc1-f8e2-482c-8fa2-b1017045d4ec?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Lutke is passionate and pragmatic about how he’s using AI. Model-Market Fit [ https://substack.com/redirect/a7206d45-ce44-47fc-97c3-469fc2766f54?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A good breakdown on why some verticals have successfully created AI products (legal) and others haven’t (finance). We’re turning Todos into Tasks in Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/133888a2-27fb-4024-bac6-633c01d1df89?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — This deepens the “memory” and enables longer-running agents. Merging Slash Commands into Skills in Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/9ff04656-1d64-4cf1-b679-aedea833ee09?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I haven’t fully grasped Skills, but this simplifies the mental model. Paid subscribers get access to our full prompt library, planning docs and full archive. It’s only $10/month. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.jXzbSSuCyyMSWSAgtBE3Ric0X5LaVsMDaVx_zFYSMhA?
View Email

The next hot thing in AI (is a Mac Mini)

khemaridh@substack.com1/25/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/6-tips-to-unlock-notebooklms-superpowers Google’s NotebookLM doesn’t get a ton of airtime. It’s never hit the front page of the WSJ (unlike Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/eb642f57-0cea-42f3-8a56-15b6c8c1570f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) and you don’t ever see Sundar tweeting about it. But for anyone whose work relies on extensive amounts of reading and research (particularly investment professionals [ https://substack.com/redirect/81adbdb6-a9d6-415b-9d3c-30e2e724935c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) — it’s become an indispensable workhorse. We’ve previously written a comprehensive guide to NotebookLM [ https://substack.com/redirect/57d8db72-5ad3-4dfd-90f7-c7cef7461272?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], detailed its slide creation capabilities [ https://substack.com/redirect/d711b667-3bc1-4f0b-a165-ac7650604083?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and showed how it can process investment research. [ https://substack.com/redirect/5116add9-f31e-4cba-9fd6-01d27a8d7e21?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] And here are 6 tips to become the Ultimate NotebookLM Power User. Join our 6-month AI Coaching program (for smart, non-technical professionals) Make 2026 the year you stop using AI like a fancy search engine. This training program is based on the same curriculum I’ve used with some of the world’s top finance firms. You will learn prompt engineering, context management and agentic workflows to help you save 5+ hours each week, make better decisions and stand out from your competition. You’ll build your own CustomGPTs and master NotebookLM. And you’ll become your firm’s first Claude Code expert. Join now, our next coaching call is on Friday January 23rd at 1:30 PM ET. 1. Connect Gemini and NotebookLM NotebookLM works best when you curate extensive context. A single notebook can hold up to 500 documents. (Yes, you read that right.) However, NotebookLM’s chat feature doesn’t have the full power of a reasoning model (like Gemini 3.0 Pro [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f363258-8210-4834-9ada-4ce8a3695655?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]). Now you can connect your Gemini chat with an existing NotebookLM by hitting the “plus” sign and following the dropdown. 2. Supplement your notebooks with Deep Research Sometimes you want to enhance your sources with additional information from publicly available information. As an example, I loaded a 4 hour YouTube video about Google’s history in AI (from the Acquired Podcast [ https://substack.com/redirect/845d8df9-608a-4efe-982e-fd07d90dbae8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) to get summaries and a slide deck. But I wanted to supplement it with some new sources (but was also too lazy to go find them myself). In the left panel, I was able to click the Deep Research feature [ https://substack.com/redirect/1ffd93da-35b5-419c-aeec-78ed85b02dc1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and then select from two options: Fast Research Deep Research I selected Deep Research and it gave me 46 new sources to choose from (and the option to select individual ones). 3. Automatically download all related documents (i.e. SEC Filings) This Deep Research setting can also be used to automate the downloads of related official documents. Let’s say you’re analyzing Nvidia. You could upload a handful of recent investor documents to “seed” the notebook. Then, using this prompt [ https://substack.com/@compoundwithai/note/c-184055378 ] (via Compound With AI ) you could add other additional filings and investor reports. 4. Organize your research using data tables NotebookLM allows you to interact with your data through many modalities: audio, video and slides to name a few. But sometimes you just want a good ol’ data table. I had recently uploaded 12 investment outlooks from Wall Street banks and wanted to see their year-end targets for the S&P 500. First, in the right panel I selected Data Table. Then, I gave the following prompt: And here’s the final table (that I could easily export to Google Sheets): 5. Dictate your thoughts into slides Do you like going on long walks to let your creative ideas run wild? If so, you can turn on your audio recorder (native to your phone) and save your ramblings as an mp3. Then, inside NotebookLM you can use the audio recording as a source and then create a presentation of your thinking. 6. Refine your slides with brand styling The slide creation tool inside NotebookLM is incredibly powerful — bankers and consultants are clamoring for the day when you no longer need to right-align your slides and create your own flowcharts using basic arrows and rectangles. This tool is still missing a key feature: the ability to edit generated slides. In the interim, you’re going to want to incorporate brand guidelines into your prompt. Summarize the Google podcast episode using the styles from the Brand Identity pdf Here are two slides from my deck: And here are two NotebookLM generated slides: Not bad! How are you using NotebookLM? NotebookLM is an AI tool that directly impacts the daily lives of knowledge workers. The Google Team is innovating at a feverish pace and have made it clear that this NotebookLM is a critical part of their product portfolio. Join our 6-month AI Coaching program (for smart, non-technical professionals) Make 2026 the year you stop using AI like a fancy search engine. This training program is based on the same curriculum I’ve used with some of the world’s top finance firms. You will learn prompt engineering, context management and agentic workflows to help you save 5+ hours each week, make better decisions and stand out from your competition. You’ll build your own CustomGPTs and master NotebookLM. And you’ll become your firm’s first Claude Code expert. Join now, our next coaching call is on Friday January 23rd at 1:30 PM ET. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.jp2pimIu-WBNiDEOdEA7m84FJZUb_rV6MdskNp2hjV0?
View Email

6 Tips to Unlock NotebookLM's superpowers

khemaridh@substack.com1/22/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/move-over-chatgpt Friends, What a week it’s been! I truly believe that the launch of Claude Cowork [ https://substack.com/redirect/43768a73-a28b-480a-be6b-738b78948d46?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] is a step-change similar to the release of ChatGPT 3 in 2020. If you’re new here, every Sunday I curate the top stories in AI (so that you don’t have to). Let’s jump in. Claude Is Taking the AI World by Storm, and Even Non-Nerds Are Blown Away The venerable WSJ picked up Claude Code on its front page, highlighting why it provides a glimpse into the future: Unlike typical chatbots, Claude Code can operate autonomously with broad access to user files, browsers, and other applications—offering users a glimpse of the AI “agent” future that technologists have predicted. → Read the article (on WSJ) [ https://substack.com/redirect/1be057ba-07a6-4649-8ee1-bdd58210bc3c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Move over ChatGPT — You’re about to hear a lot more about Claude Code Claude Code really hit the MSM this week. This article on The Atlantic covers the non-coder approach: [ https://substack.com/redirect/853f9225-f650-4830-8803-4638f85c49e8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] As soon as I installed Claude Code last week, I was obsessed. Within minutes, I had created a new personal website without writing a single line of code. Later, I hooked the bot up to my email, where it summarized my unread emails, and sent messages on my behalf. For years, Silicon Valley has been promising powerful AI agents capable of automating many aspects of white-collar work. The progress has been underwhelming—until now. Here’s a warning — once you get it working, you’re going to stay up pretty late building stuff: I can see why the tech world is so excited. Over the past few days, I’ve since spun up at least a dozen projects using the bot—including a custom news feed that serves me articles based on my past reading preferences. The first night I installed it, I stayed up late playing with the tools. When I told a friend to try it out, he was skeptical. “It sounds just like ChatGPT,” he told me. The next day he texted with a gushing update: “It just DOES stuff,” he said. “ChatGPT is like if a mechanic just gave you advice about your car. Claude Code is like if the mechanic actually fixed it.” → Read the article (on The Atlantic) [ https://substack.com/redirect/e73e7e3b-4d89-4a69-aec4-bc3bff9e5af8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Here’s how to use AI to build your “unfair advantage” The AI Accelerator community has been using Claude Code since August of 2025. These professionals are 3-6 months ahead of their peers building web apps and agents while maximizing their use of general purpose models like ChatGPT and Claude. Join us today to stay on the bleeding frontier (without giving up your day job). Personal Intelligence from Google One of my favorite slides from my AI Trainings is on the importance of context: [ https://substack.com/redirect/8e06163d-0671-4785-9ce1-4d6463ca9a59?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Well, is there any better context than your: Gmail Google Photos Chrome browsing history YouTube history Google Drive With your permission, Gemini can now incorporate all of this context into all of your Gemini searches. This could be the mic drop moment for personal AI. → Read Google’s official announcement [ https://substack.com/redirect/21933889-f12d-4e84-aeca-b94fea031781?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The best of the rest AI’s Productivity Potential has Never Been More Obvious [ https://substack.com/redirect/94c1cc94-bf49-4f7c-be54-4e98e16e504e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Joe Wiesenthal from the Bloomberg Odd Lots Podcast has his “vibe coding” moment. The Open Source AI Revolution with HuggingFace [ https://substack.com/redirect/1c19a5bd-6175-4246-b98e-2a33b40d3524?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — The CEO of HuggingFace (aka the Github of AI) discusses the importance of open source. The Education Advantage in AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/3612b1ec-d32a-4929-93f8-2e146ce76d4c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Incorporating AI into companies is much more than adding licenses and building solutions. Education and training play a huge role. Agent-Native Architectures [ https://substack.com/redirect/3c160255-a1ac-46ed-9261-b77d0f504c11?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I’m leaning into building my arsenal of agents and Dan Shipper’s framework represents a new approach to software development. (Admittedly, I only understand 30% of this, but I’m asking ChatGPT a lot of questions.) Here’s how to use AI to build your “unfair advantage” The AI Accelerator community has been using Claude Code since August of 2025. These professionals are 3-6 months ahead of their peers building web apps and agents while maximizing their use of general purpose models like ChatGPT and Claude. Join us today to stay on the bleeding frontier (without giving up your day job). Unsubscribe https://substack.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.jqTym9v144dxndpxwpn7pMHxGMxOEJHOy64iquBxJNs?
View Email

Move over ChatGPT

khemaridh@substack.com1/18/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/will-claude-cowork-change-work-forever I have to confess. I don’t really use the vanilla chat apps [ https://substack.com/redirect/32665630-72df-49c2-8d1c-01a647a3999a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] anymore. As the kids say, over the past 6 months I’ve been Claude Code pilled. I’ve been using a janky terminal to communicate with markdown/CSV/JSON files [ https://substack.com/redirect/5c11d02d-b615-4be0-928e-cecea7228c39?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] without the ability to use my mouse. Yup, in the name of AI Innovation, I’ve taken one-step backward — just so that I can take two steps forward. The trade-off was worth it. Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/afa66da5-a2ac-48cd-9eb9-689a4f7f03fd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] (which is made for software engineers) let me run tasks for 20-40 minutes, it could access my files and it could use powerful tools like the web and code interpreters to solve very complex problems. In fact, during my 2025 AI Retrospective [ https://substack.com/redirect/8e521da8-ff4b-4256-b183-9a1c60fec819?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] I wrote: Claude Code created an entire new way to interact with AI. While it was created for software engineers, this Anthropic tool showed the power of integrating AI with the files on your local computer and a set of tools (i.e. web search, document editing and file commands). But getting non-engineers to use something like a DOS prompt was always going to be an uphill battle. Until this week. What’s the big deal? This one chart shows the power of Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/f009ef57-584c-4628-95d6-f7e2aea5ca3c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] (and now Claude Cowork). The vertical axis measures the length of tasks an LLM can complete without interruption. Now a few caveats. First, it’s for software engineering tasks. Second — and more importantly — the tasks only need to be 50% accurate (which probably wouldn’t fly in your work environment. But still, look at the dot on the top right (and the hockey stick) — Claude Opus 4.5 is the model that powers Claude Cowork. And to do this, Claude Cowork moves you away from “chat.” Learn how to use Claude Cowork this Friday at 1:30 PM ET The AI Accelerator community has been using Claude Code since August of 2025. These professionals are 3-6 months ahead of their peers building web apps and agents while maximizing their use of general purpose models like ChatGPT and Claude. Join us today to stay on the bleeding frontier (without giving up your day job). Meet Claude Cowork Anthropic describes Cowork as a tool that helps “you complete non-technical tasks much like how developers use Claude Code.” Their announcement [ https://substack.com/redirect/9486539e-cbe6-4900-9ad1-c895a6ad830c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] highlights a core strength, this move away from chat: Cowork is designed to make using Claude for new work as simple as possible. You don’t need to keep manually providing context or converting Claude’s outputs into the right format. Nor do you have to wait for Claude to finish before offering further ideas or feedback: you can queue up tasks and let Claude work through them in parallel. It feels much less like a back-and-forth and much more like leaving messages for a coworker. Claude Cowork is currently in research preview which means that it’s probably got bugs and is currently limited to Claude Max subscribers (i.e. the $100/month plan) using the Desktop Mac App. Once you download and open the Claude desktop app you’ll see this screen: The Cowork tab Your plan Artifacts (i.e. web-page like outputs) Context (both accessed files and created files) Claude use case recommendations Task 1: Organizing screenshots For my first task, I picked something simple, yet illustrative: Organizing my screenshots folder. I like this example because it highlights 3 things: Reading files on your machine Using “intelligence” on these files Batch processing a multi-step task Here was the prompt (using WisprFlow [ https://substack.com/redirect/9749161a-4b36-496d-b95d-6abd12ee2591?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]): rename all the screenhots in this folder with a descriptive title. Keep the date in the front using the YY-MM convention Now while you’re not going to win a Nobel Prize for this task — it is a universally shared pain point. I have a folder on my desktop called screenshots. It currently has 52 jpg files. And here’s how Claude Cowork went about organizing it. First, it asked for permission. For folks used to chat, this is going to be a new phenomenon. Since you’re interacting with files on your personal machine, you’re going to have to grant a lot more permissions. It’s important to understand that when Claude Cowork reads files it ring fences them based on specific folders. Said differently, the worst thing it could do is delete all those files in that folder. That gives it (and you) more rope to navigate. The result was pretty good. It took ~ 4 minutes and here’s what that folder looked like after the task was completed: Task 2: Merger transactions analysis Next, I wanted to use a research task [ https://substack.com/redirect/18902f8b-8b04-4d1f-84bd-6ef2723ac6c7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] that was similar to something I did as a junior investment banking analyst — looking up publicly announced merger deals. Create an xls file of all public transactions of meta and CRM acquiring companies in 2024 and 2025. List following columns: here's the list: * Acquire * Target * Total Price Paid * Sourc * Premium Paid Analysis (if it's public) * Price to revenue (if it's private) Try to use official sources like SEC filings, PR news releases, and then go to mainstream media, and then go through to blogs. Just make sure you note in the sources the confidence level of each metric. First ask me anly clarifying QS The task asked 3 clarifying questions and then took 15 minutes to run: While I didn’t go through the underlying math, it did find the premium paid for the Salesforce-Informatica transaction and the price-to-revenue for the Meta-Manus deal. Access our prompt library, coding readmes and full archive for just $10/month. Where it didn’t work I tried two more examples and had less success. First, I tried downloading a bunch of company logos and organizing them into a Powerpoint slide. [ https://substack.com/redirect/41554891-349c-40db-bb7e-1835f534b0f9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] For some reason, it was having trouble saving the images onto my hard drive, which I interpreted as a connection error. Next, I had it review my Google Calendar to look up all my upcoming meetings and then create a briefing book for each contact. Surprisingly, it failed miserably. It did have access to my Calendar (by calling the Chrome Extension [ https://substack.com/redirect/07252720-d2bf-4381-b718-ee2073a2f3f8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) but couldn’t extrapolate the meeting attendees companies (based on their email addresses). Other Claude Cowork use cases. I scanned the initial reaction from prominent bloggers and on twitter to find other interesting use cases: Cancelling subscriptions Creating detailed finance tracking spreadsheets Creating presentations from existing documents Competitive research briefs Email drafting with context Proofreading and copy editing in Google Docs Find and scrape all old content from web.archive.org Unpacking XML electronic medical record for pediatric family member and suggesting tests that might have been missed My final thoughts on Claude Cowork This is a big step forward in the evolution of the “form factor” of interacting with LLMs. “One turn” chat messages are no longer the primary input and the models now have a longer leash and more access to solving your problems. They’re more “agentic.” In its current form, Cowork feels a bit clunky (and ultimately, just a repackaging of Claude Code). Its outputs were not polished and it made mistakes. But it moved the goal posts for non-technical everyday users. Man, this is going to be a crazy year. (I’ll be doing a full Claude Cowork teach-in on Friday 1/16 for member of our AI Accelerator. You can sign up here. [ https://substack.com/redirect/30383fca-8ac9-4adc-a2c5-a2ef936c3771?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]) Unsubscribe https://substack.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.i5nKHSwxRmCzvkga7ueqQq_zt6XQYFohhjrt7CW_MXk?
View Email

Will Claude Cowork change work forever?

khemaridh@substack.com1/15/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/ai-the-double-edged-sword Hey friends — Hope you had a great week and that 2026 is off to a fantastic start. Every week I curate the top stories in AI (so that you don’t have to). Enjoy! AI: The Double-Edged Sword AI can turn established businesses upside down at an unprecedented speed. This podcast interview features Adam Wathan, who started Tailwind CSS. It’s one of the world’s most popular frameworks for the web (and therefore has trained many LLMs). Wathan describes how his product has never been more popular while being less profitable. (Even I know about Tailwind, thanks to AI.) Tailwind had to lay off most of the team. Wathan is raw and honest about how conflicted he feels about the current environment. (After this episode came out, Tailwind got an outpouring of financial support [ https://substack.com/redirect/6ee3590d-0bb4-4e18-bed7-7e2bc4f6e67b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] from some big tech players.) Claude Code and what comes next First journalists [ https://substack.com/redirect/da1c947b-3c31-4354-a83d-fca1d24c5757?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], then the mainstream press. [ https://substack.com/redirect/8ca18fc6-757b-46b2-80d9-c09b19964cc0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] People are recognizing Claude Code as a new form factor for AI. In this post, long-time commentator Ethan Mollick describes the sudden leap in AI’s ability to work without supervision for extended periods of time. He covers Skills, sub-agents, and MCP and provides a getting started guide for the unfamiliar. → Read the post [ https://open.substack.com/pub/oneusefulthing/p/claude-code-and-what-comes-next?r=bf55&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web ] Stop Evaluating AI Tools. Start Shipping AI Workflows. The AI Accelerator is a training program that teaches you to build reusable AI workflows that go beyond basic prompting. Learn to create CustomGPTs for client research automation, wire together APIs and automation tools, and develop systems that actually integrate into your existing workflows. The program covers everything from prompt engineering fundamentals to building agents using Claude Code — taught specifically for non-coders in finance, consulting, and professional services. The hottest new programming language is English I’m not a technical person, yet I often have technical ideas. However, the thought of hiring an offshore developer was always a leap too far. Not only was the cost steep, but I didn’t know how to “speak developer.” The era of disposable software is upon — and here’s an example: A quantitative hedge fund strategy that a non-coder was able to implement in Claude Code in under 4 hours. → Read the full tweet [ https://substack.com/redirect/ea58c9dd-f284-464e-acd5-5fbe48180cac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The best of the rest The 2025 AI Year in Review [ https://substack.com/redirect/0f099838-bb67-4e65-9964-ed6e7cfef47f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — My lessons from a year of teaching investing firms how to use AI. The disappearing middle of software work [ https://substack.com/redirect/4616503c-1393-40f1-ae93-e4d3ba24ac32?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — The founder of Linear (a project management tool for software) on the two questions builders need to be asking themselves. How is AI Different Than Other Technology Waves? [ https://substack.com/redirect/372eee2a-962d-4c1e-b1fc-c5d89a5209df?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] (Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor) — Bret is the Chairman of OpenAI, ex CEO of Salesforce and building an agents company Sierra. When he talks, I listen. Dynamic context discovery in Cursor [ https://substack.com/redirect/ea1da08a-9c0a-468a-b09b-9e219c91fb28?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I’m trying to learn how context gets managed during my AI coding sessions. It turns out simple files are making a comeback. What happens when AI writes all your code? [ https://substack.com/redirect/1c75dbd1-18d3-40d4-9f95-2c1fedd3d742?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — A nice walkthrough of Cursor for different types of projects. Make 2026 the year you master AI The AI Accelerator is a training program that teaches you to build reusable AI workflows that go beyond basic prompting. Learn to create CustomGPTs for client research automation, wire together APIs and automation tools, and develop systems that actually integrate into your existing workflows. The program covers everything from prompt engineering fundamentals to building agents using Claude Code — taught specifically for non-coders in finance, consulting, and professional services. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.ZsIYd8AcdJP2pvDgyRa41bUU6xtBprKmk0tI68cW09g?
View Email

AI: The double-edged sword

khemaridh@substack.com1/11/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/2025-ai-retrospective-the-tools-the Friends — what a year it’s been. I wrote my first AI email exactly a year ago, during the LA fires. In less than a year [ https://substack.com/redirect/04669f1b-ba3e-4648-b3ba-1b9dbd6c616d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], I built a consulting and training business serving small and medium-sized buy-side firms. (That AI pace — it feels surreal.) I wanted to write a detailed post to share my learnings with you. Here are 8 shifts that actually mattered — so that you can hit the ground running in 2026. 1. From auto-complete to reasoning In April, ChatGPT’s o3 “reasoning model” shifted the LLM experience. Gone were the “auto-complete” models that tried to statistically predict your next word. [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5ac19ea-c784-4376-819c-e8351790ec11?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Now we have models that plan and self-correct before giving you their final response. They are slower and more expensive, but hallucinate significantly less. Behind the scenes, improvements like “tool calling” let these models use search engines, calculators and code-interpreters to handle more real-world problems. [ https://substack.com/redirect/735d562b-e3a0-428f-850c-5cf212d57904?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Surprisingly, very few professionals noticed this change [ https://substack.com/redirect/8723594a-da58-4446-9ee9-3e15470a70d2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] and continued to use the antiquated ChatGPT 4o until reasoning models were automatically merged into ChatGPT 5 in August. 2. The tale of two agents Going into 2025, the hype cycle on agents went into overdrive. Did the Year of Agents really materialize? The answer? Sort of. But first, how do you even define an agent? Personally, I like the “Walk Away Test” — can I give it a vague goal, walk away for 30 minutes and come back to a finished deliverable? Deep Research [ https://substack.com/redirect/2e96e78e-f1ed-4f02-bf44-4ab0e3bbaad5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] became the first agent that most knowledge workers actually used. Give it a complex research question and it returns a structured 20-50 page report synthesized from thousands of public sources. Coding Agents (Claude Code, [ https://substack.com/redirect/c41a230e-8ecd-4e7a-bf00-9d75dde23af2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Cursor, Codex) became runaway success stories. At the beginning of the year, they were auto-complete tools baked into IDEs (i.e. text editors for writing code). By the middle of 2025 these agents could autonomously navigate entire code bases, run tests and debug. Workflow automation tools [ https://substack.com/redirect/b084a1a8-a91e-4033-a212-0b86790ace5e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] (n8n, Zapier, Make) improved AI capabilities but saw limited enterprise adoption. The gap between what’s possible and what’s reliable remains significant. Join our 6-month AI Coaching program (for smart, non-technical professionals) Make 2026 the year you stop using AI like a fancy search engine. This training program is based on the same curriculum I’ve used with some of the world’s top finance firms. You will learn prompt engineering, context management and agentic workflows to help you save 5+ hours each week, make better decisions and stand out from your competition. You’ll build your own CustomGPTs and master NotebookLM. And you’ll become your firm’s first Claude Code expert. Join now, our next coaching call is on Friday January 9th at 1:30 PM ET. 3. The rise of the “vibe coder” Claude Code created an entire new way to interact with AI. While it was created for (and used primarily by) software engineers, this Anthropic tool showed the power of integrating AI with the files on your local computer and a set of tools (i.e. web search, document editing and file commands). A small (but growing) group of non-technical professionals began using Claude Code (and other similar tools like Cursor and Codex) to build custom software using plain English. And while they weren’t building the next Facebook, they were solving their own problems [ https://substack.com/redirect/4b161438-1b49-4e4d-8376-e587b8fd5cd0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — analyzing an options trade, scraping e-commerce data from the web and running statistical analyses on historical performance data. This skill still requires a level of “technical adaptability” — comfort with ambiguity, patience for iteration and a willingness to troubleshoot. But for those willing to invest a dozen hours, the leverage is substantial. [ https://substack.com/redirect/fc08863d-3e9b-488f-8dfa-77357de4b177?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] 4. Vertical AI is way harder than it looks Startups raised billions to build AI tools tailored for specific industries (finance, legal, healthcare) yet most professionals are still using ChatGPT. The “wrapper problem” means that many of these products are thin interfaces that sit on top of the major models. When a model gets upgraded (which happens every few months), it erases months of vertical AI development, ultimately making differentiation a moving target. Pricing is all over the place and it’s hard to determine if you’re just buying clever prompt engineering. [ https://substack.com/redirect/ec7d264b-ef09-4a5c-bf08-12585f2a84e6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The winners tend to have proprietary data moats, deep workflow integrations and the ability to satisfy regulatory requirements. 5. NotebookLM became the quiet research workhorse While OpenAI and Anthropic battled for AI supremacy, Google’s NotebookLM [ https://substack.com/redirect/e4019053-c162-4222-99a5-f6d036f5979b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] quietly became the tool that research-heavy professionals actually used. Its “closed garden” approach around your documents dramatically reduces hallucinations and provides line-level verifiable citations — essential for jobs that require extreme precision. The Audio Overview feature (i.e. AI-generated podcast) lets you consume (up to 500 sources) in an audio format, so that you can do industry deep dives while you’re commuting. By November, Google added a Deep Research integration and the ability to create slide decks [ https://substack.com/redirect/a999985e-d23a-4035-b9b6-58aa3be47865?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] from your uploaded content. 6. Access to company data remains a significant bottleneck AI is only as powerful as the information it can access. And for many companies that access is painfully limited. Enterprise “connectors” [ https://substack.com/redirect/fae7cffa-8085-4646-8311-03012e516069?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] (i.e. ChatGPT-endorsed integrations) into Outlook, SharePoint, Slack and your CRM are marketed as the clean and secure solution — but they often fall short in practice. Furthermore, gated ecosystems present particular challenges. Some of the most valuable context [ https://substack.com/redirect/33828b94-9bc9-4aa1-916e-b70d85ff6e4e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] (i.e. broker research, expert call transcripts and proprietary databases) sits behind walls that AI can’t easily access. In domains like finance, getting access to 90% of your knowledge base isn’t good enough — it’s table stakes. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) [ https://substack.com/redirect/ad12a301-a040-44e5-addd-0af9f03f3202?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] gained traction as a standard, but security and implementation concerns still exist. 7. AI fluency is an ongoing practice, not a tool In my hundreds of hours training finance professionals [ https://substack.com/redirect/eb9a6e0e-a66a-4de6-a085-bb69c8d7d7df?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ], it’s become increasingly clear that effective AI use is about much more than learning a new tool. The mental model shifts from “how do I find this information” to “how can I leverage this capable thinking partner?” This completely changes the nature of knowledge work. Determining how AI can make you more productive is just the starting point. The best AI users take it a step further by asking “what becomes possible that wasn’t before?” [ https://open.substack.com/pub/khemaridh/p/chatgpts-faster-horse-problem?r=bf55&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false ] Continual learning and a growth mindset are critical as the models improve materially every few months. Waiting for a “final state” to begin learning AI means that you’ll be in a holding period for a very long time. 8. Navigating the jagged frontier is a frustrating experience AI can be a fickle beast. While a single Claude Code prompt can build you a KPI dashboard in under 30 minutes, ChatGPT struggles to count the letter “r” in the word strawberry. Leading AI researcher Ethan Mollick calls this the “jagged frontier.” [ https://substack.com/redirect/a49ac792-4686-4339-9bf3-a027c159fc61?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] Newcomers can easily get frustrated by AI’s inconsistency (not to mention hallucinations) and then quickly dismiss its capabilities. How can we navigate this frustrating frontier? First, taking as many reps as possible helps you find the frontier in your own domain — there’s no guidebook on this! In turn, this gives you the ability to map your specific workflows to where the frontier is strong, while building the appropriate guardrails where it’s weak. Join our 6-month AI Coaching program (for smart, non-technical professionals) Make 2026 the year you stop using AI like a fancy search engine. This training program is based on the same curriculum I’ve used with some of the world’s top finance firms. You will learn prompt engineering, context management and agentic workflows to help you save 5+ hours each week, make better decisions and stand out from your competition. You’ll build your own CustomGPTs and master NotebookLM. And you’ll become your firm’s first Claude Code expert. Join now, our next coaching call is on Friday January 9th at 1:30 PM ET. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.wzEp4fED9g-3gZVRREJb9hlfDG99DW4DRrI9A_XxB84?
View Email

2025 AI Retrospective: The Tools, the Workflows, the Reality

khemaridh@substack.com1/8/2026
View this post on the web at https://khemaridh.substack.com/p/just-dont-call-me-a-vibe-coder Happy New Year, my friends! Thank you for supporting Future-Proof your Career with AI, it really means a lot to me. Many AI enthusiasts took advantage of the break to take a deep dive into Claude Code. (Or as they say on X, they got “Claude-pilled.”) Maybe the market is catching on? While it’s mostly developers using Claude Code, there’s a new class of AI power users emerging — just don’t call us vibe coders. Your 2026 Resolution: Become totally “AI Fluent” ChatGPT Mastery for Professionals is the only course that teaches you how to push the limits on AI. You’ll learn how to harness the lawyer, research analyst and data scientist living inside your smartphone. The course will help you apply these tools to be more productive and make better decisions. How I code with agents, without being technical This post just rocked my world. It made me realize where I was heading after a year’s worth of AI experimentation: I was so moved by the post that I spent hours “chatting” with its content using the Claude chrome extension. I also sent Ben (a Twitter friend) the following message: Here’s what resonated in Ben’s post: Create “disposable software” as part of the AI learning process Build ahead of your capability (and then fail forward) Understanding the “glue” between the systems is its own skill Building command-line scripts (versus web apps) to set the stage for agents → Read the tweet [ https://substack.com/redirect/a92a7fe8-a28b-435a-9a70-fd270b5445ea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] How the creator of Claude Code uses Claude Code Boris Cherny has been everywhere (including in our last two round-ups [ https://substack.com/redirect/7d7baf9e-8bf0-4d0b-a964-08f9a29b0d6b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ]). In this detailed tweet he goes through his personal set-up. Now mind you, some of it is quite technical — but there’s a lot to be learned in the discussion. (And remember, if you run into a concept you don’t understand, ask your favorite LLM!) → Read the tweet [ https://substack.com/redirect/ab10c852-4d5a-4c7c-bf28-d1db3356ee42?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] AI’s trillion-dollar opportunity: Context graphs There’s a lot of SaaS investors trying to figure out how agentic coding impacts the incumbents like Salesforce, Workday and SAP. These are the system of record. Where the “truth” resides. But agents understand something different: how decisions are made. → Read the post [ https://substack.com/redirect/1958831c-7060-42f6-abad-5327404e46e0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] The Best of the Rest This tiny AI app packs a powerful punch [ https://substack.com/redirect/1fcc1ed5-0045-46c0-8907-95fb0a11b60d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I tried out the Claude Chrome extension. Dharmesh Shah on AEO, AI Agents, and the ‘AI App Store’ [ https://substack.com/redirect/b7dbf1de-3bc4-42c5-adef-1b2571fbecd9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — The founder of Hubspot encourages you to build simple agents. 2026 AI Predictions [ https://substack.com/redirect/2567e69f-2aa5-4c69-8f00-50f6c3eef408?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — Dan Shipper covers enterprise penetration and why designers are going to be the next hot hire. Claude Agent Skills: A First Principles Deep Dive [ https://substack.com/redirect/a03a8b68-6f17-420a-b9cb-fabff3e2d349?j=eyJ1IjoiNzRiZXZxIn0.26TDO4Ygo5l69NnkPzr2Ax0IIjv-K5IWcmNJKcK8PLY ] — I’m still struggling to incorporate these into my workflow, but this is a great breakdown of Skills’ underlying architecture. Your 2026 Resolution: Become totally “AI Fluent” ChatGPT Mastery for Professionals is the only course that teaches you how to push the limits on AI. You’ll learn how to harness the lawyer, research analyst and data scientist living inside your smartphone. The course will help you apply these tools to be more productive and make better decisions. Unsubscribe https://substack.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.I0sOG92yykgcHhKXT1MmyXp-5nLD2Rlhih68UyIo6xU?
View Email

Just don't call me a "vibe coder"

khemaridh@substack.com1/4/2026
[https://eotrx.substackcdn.com/open?token=eyJtIjoiPDIwMjYwMTAzMDMwOTQ0LjMuYzIyYWQ2ZmE1MDBiNWNmNS5jNnY0ZHhvNUBtZzIuc3Vic3RhY2suY29tPiIsInUiOjQzMDUxNDE5OCwiciI6Im1AZW1haWwuZ29tb2R1bHIuY29tIiwiZCI6Im1nMi5zdWJzdGFjay5jb20iLCJwIjpudWxsLCJ0IjpudWxsLCJhIjpudWxsLCJzIjozMzYzNTI2LCJjIjoidW5maW5pc2hlZC1zdWJzY3JpcHRpb24iLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJwb3NpdGlvbiI6InRvcCIsImlhdCI6MTc2NzQwOTc4NCwiZXhwIjoxNzcwMDAxNzg0LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImVvIn0.MCQKKX7i7YST_xCVZeDkI05hEFT_kFfMuGin8rIc6mg] Hey there, ͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­ Future-Proof Your Career with AI [https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NyXe!,w_80,h_80,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fab7532cc-7802-46f9-8923-04eb9d0fae7f_1280x1280.png] Hey there, First off, thank you for subscribing to Future-Proof Your Career with AI. And, I feel you. You're reading about AI everywhere. It's on the front page of every news publication. Every. Single. day. Your company is wresting with its "AI strategy." And you’re stealthily using ChatGPT to rewrite your emails and summarize PDFs. But keeping up feels impossible. And you know that there's more you could be doing. The moment you understand one model (hello, o3-pro), five new ones appear, and all of a sudden you're drowning in a sea of technical jargon and dystopian predictions of robots invading the world. Trust me, I get it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You're receiving free posts from Future-Proof Your Career with AI. To get every post and other paid subscriber benefits, upgrade to a paid subscription. Upgrade your subscription [https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJx0kDtuhDAURVeDuyD_wYWLNLMN5M8DrME28meU2X00JIqSIvXTu_fc40yDLZen7mkNKdQd_FvttroSzhZyQl5zT2YxI9BkkhPHapo5gmjCsWyQoJgGfjHt15UpgnatHAGjiOdYclAMiKOEzhOTinmsLEVBU0wlJphhhhXnIxsdpcbL1QiMrXCrGJ18cP-RxcBx3Oj4ImvG3UeXIwp1WQtcJLqVDujQe2tnHdj7QG8Dvd13iKYEv__5G-jte6AFdHa7uBxjT6E9F0jGHuC_0s5uj-DMS8ISvGZMMkElKjoOHF-t45Zj9v0oF07t1udoQtI_vaj9q7VXKK9YzrAgnKgZPTT9DAAA__86sIPs] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's why I've been immersing myself in AI for 4 hours a day over the past six months. Not because I'm some tech evangelist with an agenda, but because I was trying to solve figure it out for myself. My business. My creative projects. My finances. My kids' education. Here's where it gets interesting: This newsletter isn't about replacing your significant other with a chatbot. (We'll leave those scenarios to Joaquin Phoenix in Her.) It's about pragmatic, real-world applications that will help you integrate AI into your workflow so you can stay relevant, save time, and ultimately get closer to your career dreams. Each week, I'll be cutting through the noise to deliver: * Real-World AI Applications: Learn how AI is transforming industries and how you can integrate it into your work * AI Tools & Tutorials: Discover the best AI-powered tools and get simple guides on how to use them effectively * Practical AI Strategies: Actionable steps to leverage AI in your career, productivity, and decision-making * Insider Case Studies: Real-world examples of AI success stories and failures, with key takeaways for you No fear mongering, no hype, no obsessing about every single model release. Just practical insights from someone who's testing everything first so that you don't have to. See you soon, Khe PS Do you have a smart friend who’s struggling to keep up with AI developments? Be a pal and have them subscribe below. Refer a friend [https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJx0kc2OpSAQhZ8Gdm2QP3XBYpLOfQ3DT6nkijgF3Ey__UQ7mdxZ9PKEw6nvVHlbYc34ZdqxxCOWDcJHaa54jGeN-aDByNCPaqRg-kEPkk3DKCkkG_d5hQPQVgizrW-vYurpZhQDx_XgJjHyRTCm-KAknyZ9icmONBrOuGY9E0ywScpOdJ5zG_RiFWNO-UV1Xr9k-JMVkSytvLvIqvXPzudEY5kXhJvEVGxAd7PVehYifhH-IPzx3CBZjGH77x_hjx1sAHTZYiDigbAAIuBc8xMOIj4H6eD1m3CN76LVNHubThvXy3TP_XhP-raU3NADEZ9nLpWezc0-p9SOWL9mOKzbIXzTns3t0dtryXMMRggtFNcUTSKS3endmlMObce7bmku5GTjYf71ovXHs7UCeMVKwVQv-2mkL8P_BgAA__9-fKT1] PPS Too many emails? You can unsubscribe in one click [https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJx0kktvoz4UxT8N7P7IL5xk4UXa_KloB9JUmabtBvkFuME4wqYkfPpRIs1rMUvr-B6d87tX8qAbN1zY2NemN77V6j8_Ci8HcwrG9bFiRMFluow1gwu6IGC1WJJYW266qtG9HnjQquLhDxWvYNwyqBVd1ooKnAosBCa1IkAIomu4BFqT2DAEEAUQYIDBipAEJxIhrmjNUwBEKus0kfSLqLNLIwJsg5JrssDlMZHOxsZX9aBvSVgYRh13rA3h5CO8jlAWoezYassHo9q_5iKUcXmtFqFMGc9Fp6ubye93hLPgjrqP8EZfHqFEr5c31B3zTweKeQ2L_e683Tc-7---JH6p-WFntjaF4mHyue1adZ_TYi9ROe-m7V6S8n4yH2_tlH-6czkfyXa_g-XcgG_3jyeJC7M1j5M65KGYC1TM3y-lyX3el_Dd5DS3LyeJMiMeXuuPA2z5YTL1LpnWlpLi6W2Tbd6b5yeR0ou-O7v_V8fs6Xmc13hRDhnapNbvIkR511Ve30r7CG9usE6jqKSzduxNuFS6v_ZW7KfUGcmv3yujGMYUp4jGA7MRATdUSeOsU2M33BbhR6Gc5aZnv4jH4Z8HNXo9XG0JBikkcLWMvxj6EQAA__91Tdoc]. Private podcast setup: To set up your podcast app, click this link [https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJx00suumzAQBuCnwbsi3yCw8CLnkoq0EFGRnCQbZGwDPgE7BZOEPH2VVKraRVezGM3o1zcjuFONHWY2mVobPbZKfhmnahSDPjttDZCMShQFEVAMLcIFhfEiokD1XHdlo4wauFOy5O6vLokRaFldI0owV1UQhCGPJYyiGsb1AgleI6QU0AxDHEIECSQwptQnvsCYy7DmAYRVIOrAF-GFypsNPAr7BvuPZI6Lky9sD_RY1oN6JmFumBToWOvcefTI0sMrD69Orer5oGX7z5yHV50enTIeWTl7etQ3Na-RwLt5j7tT8mlhel-itMhvm6IZk75r5WsSpoXA2T2_bgpBs9erPu7ba_Jpb9n9QNO3d5gVDfz-uj4LkuqNXl_lR-LSe4rT-3bOdDImJkMHnYSJebkcv2atILkTeAflfqnr3DdXC390EB9f8tVhG-fv8XB7ieefolzvPmxxS7eHbrPJvy1JBM5TVQrb95PRbi6V4VWn5G-D81R1WvDH6UotGSEhCXAIBtZ7FD6t_Mb2Vk7d8EQcp0ranmvD_mgB999nmEY1PNZSAgNEURyBC8O_AgAA__-MscFl] on your phone. © 2026 Khe Hy 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe [https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJx00k1vmzAcBvBPA7chv0HCgUPajIp2kKbKmrYX5DfABWOETQl8-imZNG2HnS0_ep6f_pw6WZtxSaa-Ur2yjRTf7MQsH9XglOl9kRABt-HWlwncRBsC4s2W-FJT1ZW17OVInRQldX-94hj6TYIF4wAgImOyYVKAEFewoojiTVxFbIt8lSCAIgABBhjEhAQ44AhREVU0BICFvAoDHn0RcTGhR4CuUXBt5ihvA260r2xZjfLWJHHjJP0uaZwbrId3Hko9lLaN1HRUovnnn4dSyq_TPJQKZSnrZHkL8XDqTCt7D-_l8gg5el3eUNdmnwbk6w7mp-PlcKpt1t99cfxS0fNRHXQI2cNsM9014j6L8hNHxXqcDydOivtZfbw1c_ZpLsXaksPpCIu1Bj_uHweOc3VQj7M4Zy5fc5SvP5dCZTbrC_iusijTLwNHqWIPr9XHGTb0PKvqGMw7HZH86W2f7t_r5ycWRou8u5jvcZs-PU_rDm-KMUX7UNujP0ys5EbrqVduKWV_3Sl-Ow0T6xSnV4NSiQTjCIco8sdEewTcKILaaCOmbrxB24kJo6nqkz-ivvvvwUxWjtdYgkEICYy3_leCfgUAAP__1p_OMg] Get the app [https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IzGP!,w_262,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Fimg%2Femail%2Fgeneric-app-button%402x.png]https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJx0kb2OpDAQhJ_GzkD-g2ECByet5jVQ227AGmwj017dvv0JNpnkkk6qVP11lwfCtdQf2_ISczw3DN3Z3OlrPCiWzIM1QU7DxNHKx_gw4vmYDMcEcZ9XzFiBMMxAH6p-Sr7ZQQbtQS7LFKTUSjk5udF5wElMUjjBo1VCjUIKLbR4GtPr3isFYVxgEMINfhl6P36b8LcMzIi0qv4iI_Dv3pfE4zkvFW8SS7Uh3-1GdJxM_2HqxdTr083UC47jd3YnlYpdxRAremL61SjNHtIBcc1Mf12eBPWNFPPK1HjLJRNmYvrr3tgtpRDWzjWikvnR3OxLSi1H-pkxg9sx_FIdze3Rw_XMOQar9agHNfJqEzPizurXkkpoe73POpsLJUHM9r1hghrDxum_9bQT6xVrtBikkc-Jf1v1LwAA___Ux56tStart writing [https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LkrL!,w_270,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Fimg%2Femail%2Fpublish-button%402x.png]https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJx0kUmO3CAYhU8Du7aYjO0Fi0hOXSAHsBh-26gNOAyl9O0ju9NRLZIlj6ePDz2rK2wpf6gWVx992cG9lWaKzf6sPkXslHB07EcMig5yEGQaRoEhaH8sG0TIuoJbdH255RPFuxqMG-gETDI7ULOaUY5Ap8GyUYpJCoK9YoRJQgknnExCdLyzjGknV90TYnq79p2VT-F-pR4JEjbWXWZV2_fOpoB9WdYMt4mquQE-1F7rWRD_htgDscdr-zr6LbYT8UerYSmpZQuIz18lxOSVB3C-BcTnm_sntClWiBXxeU2pQv6KdTi13yLis241rf44wL39rVxyP-43v98sPgckyM3tthSSa0f-VJMZ8XkQBp4_8dnMYlMILfr6sUDU5gD3-b-zmcNbfc2yeKc4l7xnEmf1by4uzbgUtI_qfYegs3c7rv8duhXIF1Zw0lNBpxE_FfsdAAD__-Lat4s [https://eotrx.substackcdn.com/open?token=eyJtIjoiPDIwMjYwMTAzMDMwOTQ0LjMuYzIyYWQ2ZmE1MDBiNWNmNS5jNnY0ZHhvNUBtZzIuc3Vic3RhY2suY29tPiIsInUiOjQzMDUxNDE5OCwiciI6Im1AZW1haWwuZ29tb2R1bHIuY29tIiwiZCI6Im1nMi5zdWJzdGFjay5jb20iLCJwIjpudWxsLCJ0IjpudWxsLCJhIjpudWxsLCJzIjozMzYzNTI2LCJjIjoidW5maW5pc2hlZC1zdWJzY3JpcHRpb24iLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJwb3NpdGlvbiI6ImJvdHRvbSIsImlhdCI6MTc2NzQwOTc4NCwiZXhwIjoxNzcwMDAxNzg0LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImVvIn0.VvVP5pNTnp1ot6PO4EJGylk9ni51lZnkhqoA-EwjIeY][https://email.mg2.substack.com/o/eJx0kE1uwyAQRk8TdrUGGDBecBaLn7GNYiDCEDW3r5JF1U3XT3p63xdcp722lx1lSyVdB8Wva_grtPToqRYWLUZulGFk-axnhGU2yCi7dK47FWquU1xd_0PlwtlhjQQ-Gw_KzJsmckpyucxBeMQt4OJZsgKEBg4SJCyIk5yCEC7qzSkAr8KmpqCfGL-ruiHkXUzvsu7CfQo1s3StW6NPie1tEHsMv4aa8yipv1Yqzp8Uf9GZgnsvWlO0UmqphGbN5hvCRzHtNdc4zvZxX8PHml0q9n5Qdi3Fg_V_PxoXtbcWJSiOfDHsacVPAAAA__88anJI]
View Email

Welcome to Future-Proof Your Career with AI

khemaridh@substack.com1/3/2026