A.I. & Software

Home
Articles

This little-known agent beats OpenClaw & Hermes? intercd 0 Views • 2 hours ago

Get the toolkit: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/ari_meisel_toolkit
Presented by Zapier: https://zapier.com/
Ari Meisel shows how AI agents now run his business, customer support, content, and personal tasks with minimal oversight.

👉 Ari Meisel’s X: https://x.com/arimeisel

Andrew Warner sits down with Ari Meisel to explore how he uses AI agents to automate nearly every part of his business. Ari demonstrates his AI-powered website optimization workflow, autonomous customer support, social media creation, Trello task management, email automation, knowledge management, and personal assistant systems. The conversation covers Tasklet, Carbon Voice, Vizard, Bland.ai, and other tools that work together to build an AI-first business where agents continuously improve their own performance.

Apps featured:

- Tasklet
- Carbon Voice
- Zernio
- Vizard
- Bland.ai
- Trello
- Slack
- Google Analytics
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- Evernote
- Intercom
- WooCommerce
- ShipHero
- Zapier MCP

00:00 - AI Agent Overview: Ari demonstrates AI agents running his business end-to-end.
00:45 - Google Analytics Optimization: AI reviews website metrics and deploys improvements automatically.
02:51 - Tasklet: Build AI agents that integrate with business tools and automate workflows.
04:03 - Trello Automation: AI manages projects, follows up on tasks, and handles ongoing work.
05:24 - Shadow Mode: Train AI agents safely before allowing autonomous actions.
07:03 - AI Newsletter Creation: Generate newsletters using your knowledge base and recent discoveries.
08:24 - AI Knowledge Base: Build a searchable second brain from years of content.
12:36 - Browser Automation: Use AI agents to operate websites through a virtual browser.
14:24 - Carbon Voice: Communicate with AI agents using voice from anywhere.
16:48 - Website & Social Content: Create websites and social posts that continuously improve.
17:24 - Zernio: Distribute AI-generated content across multiple social platforms.
20:51 - Vizard: Turn long videos into short-form social clips automatically.
27:36 - AI Customer Support: Replace traditional support teams with autonomous AI agents.
30:18 - Intercom Workflows: Organize customer service with specialized AI agents.
38:06 - Bland.ai: Make AI phone calls for personal and business tasks.
40:21 - AI Agent Toolkit: The complete stack Ari uses to automate work and life.

Media/Sponsorship Inquiries: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/sponsor

👉 Join us: https://thenextnewthing.ai/

How Josh Mohrer built Wave AI intercd 0 Views • 2 hours ago

Presented by Zapier
https://zapier.com/

What does it look like when a single founder builds a profitable AI company — alone — and quietly grows it to millions in revenue?

In this episode of The Next New Thing, Andrew Warner sits down with Josh Mohrer, creator of Wave AI, to unpack how he built a $7M ARR AI business with no full-time team — and how modern AI tools fundamentally changed what’s possible for solo founders.

Josh previously helped scale Uber in its early days, but Wave AI is a very different story. It’s a one-person, profitable SaaS built around a deceptively simple idea: record real-world conversations, transcribe them, and generate high-quality summaries people actually trust. No hype. No venture capital. No big team.

In this conversation, Josh walks through:

-Why Wave focuses on generic, in-person audio instead of just meetings
-How AI finally made audio summarization a real product
-What it’s like to do all the engineering, support, and product work yourself
-How tools like Claude Code turned him into a full-stack builder
-Why polish and quality matter more than features
-How he thinks about pricing, growth, and staying independent

This is a grounded, honest look at the realities of building with AI today — not as a demo, but as a real business that pays real money.

What you’ll learn

-How a solo founder built a $7M ARR AI app
-Why summarization is still AI’s killer use case
-How AI tools let non-engineers ship real products
-What “vibe coding” actually looks like in practice
-How to decide which ideas are worth years of focus
-Why general-purpose products can win over vertical SaaS
-How solo founders think about scale, profit, and control
-Why quality and relentless polish still beat growth hacks

Episode Highlights / Timestamps

00:00 $7M ARR as a solo founder
01:21 Profit, margins, and team size
02:51 Josh’s path from Uber to Wave
05:24 Choosing ideas in the early AI days
06:18 Why summarization felt like the killer app
08:15 Competing with Otter, Fireflies, and others
10:21 Recording real-world audio vs meeting bots
12:18 Spending more on AI to improve quality
13:39 Knowing you’re onto something from user emotion
15:09 Why Wave stayed general instead of vertical
16:12 Learning to build with ChatGPT
18:00 How Wave’s architecture evolved
19:39 Using Claude Code day-to-day
21:00 AI agents analyzing analytics and logs
25:21 The tools behind Wave (Cursor, Twilio, Adapt)
27:27 Building instead of buying SaaS tools
30:00 Using AI to ship features faster
32:06 Why Zapier matters for data portability
34:03 The future of cheap, abundant software
36:09 Running Wave like a corner store, not a startup
40:12 Growth goals without VC pressure
42:18 How Wave gets customers today
49:03 Why SEO side projects didn’t convert
50:24 “If you’re good, things might work out”
54:45 Revenue breakdown and take-home profit

👉 Join us: https://thenextnewthing.ai/

10 GitHub repos that will save you money intercd 0 Views • 2 hours ago

Link to Resources: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/github-repos-sep2
Presented by Zapier: https://zapier.com/
Andrew Warner breaks down 10 open-source alternatives that can replace popular paid subscriptions while giving you something even more valuable: the ability to own, customize, and build on the software yourself.

Andrew Warner explores 10 open-source projects that can replace popular subscription software, including Doodle Note as an alternative to Granola, Cap as an alternative to Loom, Vaultwarden as an alternative to 1Password, Ghost as an alternative to Substack, Twenty as an alternative to HubSpot, LanguageTool as an alternative to Grammarly, Umami as an alternative to Google Analytics, Nextcloud as an alternative to Google Drive, Chatwoot as an alternative to Intercom, and SlowBooks as an alternative to QuickBooks. The focus isn't simply on saving money—it's on owning your data, avoiding vendor lock-in, running software yourself, and having the source code available to customize and build on.

Repos featured:

- Doodle Note — https://github.com/Onyx-Dev-Labs/doodle-note
- Cap — https://github.com/CapSoftware/Cap
- Vaultwarden — https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden
- Ghost — https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost
- Twenty — https://github.com/twentyhq/twenty
- LanguageTool — https://github.com/languagetool-org/languagetool
- Umami — https://github.com/umami-software/umami
- Nextcloud — https://github.com/nextcloud/server
- Chatwoot — https://github.com/chatwoot/chatwoot
- SlowBooks Pro — https://github.com/VonHoltenCo....des/SlowBooks-Pro-20

00:00 - Doodle Note: A local, open-source meeting note taker that keeps recordings and transcripts on your device.
02:42 - Cap: An open-source alternative to Loom for screen recording and sharing.
04:30 - Vaultwarden: A self-hosted Bitwarden-compatible password manager for personal and team use.
06:00 - Zapier SDK: Let users connect thousands of apps directly to the software you build.
06:45 - Ghost: Own your newsletter, website, members, and revenue without giving a platform a percentage of your payments.
08:33 - Twenty: A self-hosted open-source CRM with contacts, companies, pipelines, and workflows.
10:12 - LanguageTool: Open-source grammar, spelling, and punctuation checking across 30+ languages.
12:09 - Umami: A privacy-focused, lightweight analytics platform that gives you control over your website data.
13:30 - Nextcloud: Own and self-host your files, contacts, calendars, and other cloud services.
15:45 - Chatwoot: Bring website chat, email, WhatsApp, social messages, and customer support into one inbox.
17:24 - SlowBooks Pro: An open-source alternative to QuickBooks focused on owning and querying your financial data with AI.
20:42 - Build Your Own: Why open-source software gives you the ability to customize tools instead of simply subscribing to them.

Send us your AI builds: hi@thenextnewthing.ai

Media/Sponsorship Inquiries: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/sponsor

👉 Join us: https://thenextnewthing.ai/

Free: AI design tools, tokenmaxxing, & more top GitHub repos intercd 0 Views • 2 hours ago

Link to Resources: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/github-repos-jul16
Presented by Zapier: https://zapier.com/
Andrew and Adam break down this week's top GitHub repos, featuring AI design tools, coding agents, and a surprise interview with the creator of the #1 trending AI Job Search workflow.

👉 Mads Lorentzen (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/mads-lorentzen/

Andrew Warner and Adam dive into the most interesting GitHub repositories of the week, from AI-powered design frameworks like Hallmark, Impeccable, and Arcify to developer tools that help agents control Microsoft Office, run multiple coding agents in parallel, and automate computer workflows. They also welcome Mads Lorentzen, creator of the AI Job Search workflow, to discuss how he built an AI-powered job application system after being laid off—and how it ultimately helped him land a new role. The episode also covers Office CLI, Orca, Cube Sandbox, Herder, OmniRoot, Codex Plugin CC, Claude Video, and more, with practical discussions on where these tools fit into modern AI workflows.

Repos featured:

- Hallmark
- Impeccable
- Arcify
- AI Job Search
- Desktop Commander
- Office CLI
- Orca
- Cube Sandbox
- Herder
- OmniRoot
- Codex Plugin Claude Code
- Claude Video

00:00 - AI Design Repositories: Three GitHub repos that help AI create more original, polished designs.
00:26 - Hallmark: Generate design DNA cards and analyze or recreate visual styles.
02:29 - Impeccable: Improve AI design workflows with annotation tools and browser feedback.
04:04 - Arcify: Turn plain English into clean diagrams and workflow visualizations.
06:04 - AI Job Search: Meet Mads Lorentzen and see how his AI workflow automated job applications.
11:40 - Desktop Commander: Give AI agents deeper control over your computer and files.
14:19 - Google's C++ Libraries: Why a non-AI repository made this week's trending list.
17:24 - Office CLI: Let AI control Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with visual awareness.
19:36 - Orca: Run multiple coding agents in parallel and merge the best result.
24:11 - Cube Sandbox: Safely execute AI-generated code inside isolated virtual machines.
25:47 - Herder: Manage multiple coding agents from a single terminal interface.
27:55 - OmniRoot: Automatically switch between AI providers and model subscriptions.
30:00 - Codex Plugin Claude Code: Bring OpenAI models directly into Claude Code workflows.
31:28 - Claude Video: Search, analyze, and learn from videos using AI.
34:10 - Final Thoughts: Why building and sharing AI tools creates opportunities for everyone.

Send us your AI builds: hi@thenextnewthing.ai

Media/Sponsorship Inquiries: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/sponsor

👉 Join us: https://thenextnewthing.ai/

Free Grok Bot and all of this week’s news intercd 0 Views • 2 hours ago

Link to Resources: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/c....orey-ganim-shownotes
Presented by Zapier: https://zapier.com/
Andrew Warner and Corey Ganim break down this week's most interesting AI releases, from free AI coding agents and second brains to Codex remote controls and community-built AI bots.

Andrew Warner and Corey Ganim explore the latest AI tools and projects making waves this week, including Inbox Zero's free alternative to expensive AI coding agents, specialized bots in Hermes Agent, Meridian's automatic daily activity tracking, Clipto's privacy-first second brain, vibe-coded apps, a developer learning platform, an iPhone remote control for Codex, and Bot Directory AI. They also discuss how specialized AI agents can make automation easier to understand and adopt, while highlighting practical examples of people turning simple problems into useful products with AI.

Links featured:

- Rakazo — https://rakazo.com/
- Rakazo GitHub — https://github.com/elie222/rakazo
- Meridiona — https://meridiona.com/
- Meridian GitHub — https://github.com/Meridiona/meridian
- Clipto — https://www.clipto.com/
- Clockout X Post — https://x.com/ophy_dami/status/2089872914644430928
- Clockout — https://useclockout.com/
- Healora X Post — https://x.com/devhch/status/2088312569354174530
- Healora AI — https://healoraai.com/en
- DevAtlas X Post — https://x.com/sankitdev/status/2089742121968476578
- Dev Atlas — https://dev-atlas-six.vercel.a....pp/#/notes/what-is-a
- Codex Remote Control — https://x.com/Kappaemme1926/st....atus/208787179123474
- Microdex — https://github.com/Kappaemme-git/microdex
- Bot Directory AI — https://botdirectory.ai/
- AI Edge's Agent Collection — https://x.com/aiedge_/status/2090107020766851436

00:00 - Inbox Zero: Run a free AI coding-agent alternative locally with your own model.
00:27 - Specialized AI Bots: Why named, task-specific agents could drive mainstream adoption.
02:33 - Meridian: Automatically track your workday and turn it into a useful daily report.
04:12 - Clipto: Build a privacy-first second brain that makes your desktop data searchable by AI agents.
06:09 - Vibe-Coded Apps: Turn simple problems into useful products and find customers through AI search.
07:03 - Clockout: A simple time-tracking app built around a real-world business problem.
07:12 - Developer Learning Platform: Keep projects, notes, and technical knowledge organized for job readiness.
08:15 - Microdex: Control Codex remotely from an iPhone with a customizable set of actions.
09:18 - Bot Directory AI: Browse and reuse specialized AI bot configurations and workflows.
10:21 - Agent Collections: Discover how people are building and using specialized agents for real-world tasks.

Media/Sponsorship Inquiries: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/sponsor

👉 Join us: https://thenextnewthing.ai/

How to sell to AI Agents intercd 0 Views • 2 hours ago

Presented by Zapier: https://zapier.com/

Guest link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nevo-david/
https://postiz.com/?utm_source=l_nevo

Nevo David’s SaaS was stuck… until he started building for AI agents.

In this episode of The Next New Thing, Andrew Warner talks with Nevo David, the creator of Postiz, about how his revenue jumped to $45K+ MRR after a surprising shift: he stopped building primarily for humans and started building for agents.

Postiz began as a simple open-source social media scheduler — a crowded market with dozens of competitors. But Nevo found a “blue ocean” by leaning into open source and by quickly adapting to emerging AI workflows.

First came integrations with automation tools like Zapier, which helped users schedule content automatically and dramatically reduced churn.

Then came the real breakthrough.

When AI agent tools like OpenClaw began gaining traction, Nevo realized something important: agents need software that’s easy for them to operate programmatically.

Instead of optimizing only for APIs and human interfaces, he built a CLI (command-line interface) version of Postiz designed specifically for AI agents. The CLI dramatically reduces token usage, simplifies commands, and allows agents to interact with the product far more efficiently than sending long JSON API requests.

The result?
Developers building AI agents started using Postiz as the easiest way to publish content automatically — including one viral example where an OpenClaw agent named “Larry” generated TikTok slideshows that racked up massive views.

Nevo believes this pattern will only grow: future startups will increasingly design their products with CLIs and agent-friendly interfaces from day one.

This conversation explores what it looks like to build software in a world where AI agents — not just humans — are the primary users.

Episode Highlights / Timestamps
00:00 Revenue explodes after building for AI agents
00:18 The origin of Postiz as an open-source social media scheduler
01:12 Finding a “blue ocean” inside a crowded market
01:57 Adding MCP and early AI integrations
02:42 Why automation dramatically reduces churn
03:54 Growing Postiz to $17K–$20K MRR
04:03 Discovering OpenClaw and the shift toward agent-driven software
05:06 Building a CLI so agents can control Postiz
05:51 The viral “Larry” OpenClaw agent story
07:48 Why agents need strong documentation and skills
09:18 Turning a full API into a simple CLI with Claude
11:51 Why CLI tools may become the default interface for agent startups
12:45 The next startup idea: agent-native UGC video generation
13:03 Why CLI reduces token usage compared to APIs
16:21 Using Claude to build the CLI automatically
17:06 Postiz reaches $45K MRR

👉 Join us: https://thenextnewthing.ai/

Top 10 Repos explained: Archify, Omarchi, OpenMAIC, and more intercd 0 Views • 2 hours ago

Resources: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/github-repos-sep4
Presented by Zapier: https://zapier.com/
Andrew Warner and Adam Brakhane break down this week’s most useful and unusual GitHub repos.

Andrew Warner and Adam Brakhane explore this week’s top GitHub repos, from AI-generated system architecture diagrams and a browser-based global tracking console to custom learning environments, scientific agent skills, small language models, OpenSEO, Omachi, and Google’s TimesFM forecasting model. They also review viewer-submitted projects for agent memory, AI usage tracking, YouTube research, design systems, and multi-agent collaboration, with a recurring theme: open-source tools are making powerful AI workflows easier to customize and run yourself.

Repos Featured:

1. tt-a1i/archify https://github.com/tt-a1i/archify
2. bilawalsidhu/gods-eye-view https://github.com/bilawalsidhu/gods-eye-view
3. THU-MAIC/OpenMAIC https://github.com/THU-MAIC/OpenMAIC
4. JetBrains/go-modern-guidelines https://github.com/JetBrains/go-modern-guidelines
5. Gitlawb/openclaude https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude
6. K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/....scientific-agent-ski
7. jingyaogong/minimind https://github.com/jingyaogong/minimind
8. every-app/open-seo https://github.com/every-app/open-seo
9. omacom/omarchy https://github.com/omacom/omarchy
10. google-research/timesfm https://github.com/google-research/timesfm

Audience submissions:

1. EfficientStreet/hindsight https://github.com/EfficientStreet/hindsight
2. timharris707/modeldeck https://github.com/timharris707/modeldeck
3. Artistsyn/cortex_suite https://github.com/Artistsyn/cortex_suite
4. sulabhdubey/rta-smriti-brain https://github.com/sulabhdubey/rta-smriti-brain
5. EfficientStreet/youtube-subscriptions-ingest https://github.com/EfficientSt....reet/youtube-subscri
6. Kayforkind/reimagine-it https://github.com/Kayforkind/reimagine-it
7. templetongroup/radiant https://github.com/templetongroup/radiant

00:00 - Archify: Turn system architecture into interactive, clickable diagrams.
01:57 - God’s Eye View: Track planes, ships, satellites, wildfires, cameras, and more from one interface.
04:12 - OpenMAIC: Generate interactive AI-powered courses for almost any topic.
05:33 - Zapier SDK: Connect software to thousands of apps without building every integration yourself.
06:36 - Go Modern Guidelines: Help coding agents use current Go packages, features, and best practices.
07:48 - OpenClaude: Run a Claude Code-style workflow with OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek, or local models.
10:21 - Scientific Agent Skills: Add 160+ specialized scientific research and lab skills to AI assistants.
11:42 - MiniMind: Train small language models from scratch on regular hardware.
13:21 - OpenSEO: Get a customizable, open-source alternative to expensive SEO platforms.
15:45 - Omarchy: Bring old laptops back to life with a customizable, AI-native Linux setup.
18:18 - TimesFM: Forecast time-series data with Google Research’s prediction model.
20:15 - Hindsight: Help coding agents review past sessions and learn from their mistakes.
21:27 - Model Deck: See how much usage you have left across your AI subscriptions.
21:45 - Cortex Suite: Give coding agents persistent memory and codebase context across sessions.
22:30 - RTA Smriti Brain: Preserve evidence-backed project memory between AI coding sessions.
23:06 - YouTube Subscriptions Ingest: Turn thousands of subscribed YouTube videos into searchable Markdown.
23:51 - Reimagine It: Create reusable visual design systems that coding agents can directly understand.
25:21 - Radiant: Put multiple AI agents into one shared conversation where they can work together.

👉 Say Hi to Adam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-brakhane/

👉 Media/Sponsorship Inquiries: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/sponsor

👉 Join us: https://thenextnewthing.ai/

Free Wispr Flow, ElevenLabs & CapCut alternatives + more GitHub hits intercd 0 Views • 2 hours ago

Andrew Warner and Adam Brakhane break down the top trending GitHub repos of the week.

Presented by Zapier: https://zapier.com/
👉 Link to resources: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/github-repos-jun26

They also cover codebase-memory-mcp, Google Research’s timesfm, worldmonitor, penpot, voicebox, system_prompts_leaks, Agent-Reach, daily_stock_analysis, and OpenCut. Along the way, they look at a few extra projects people are talking about, including peerd, FluidVoice, and birdclaw.

Chapters:

00:00 - Hot GitHub repos this week
00:27 - OpenMontage: Create full edited videos from a plain-language prompt using Claude Code.
01:48 - Why agent-native video editing matters: Andrew and Adam explain why coding agents may be more flexible than traditional editors.
04:03 - codebase-memory-mcp: Give coding agents memory and codebase awareness while cutting token usage.
06:09 - Help Andrew get Matt Van Horn on the show
07:39 - timesfm: Google Research’s time-series model for forecasting trends from numerical data.
11:06 - Zapier MCP: Safely connect agents to apps like Gmail, Calendar, Notion, and more.
13:21 - peerd: Run a browser-based AI agent locally without backend tracking or telemetry.
15:27 - FluidVoice: A local, open-source dictation tool and WhisperFlow alternative.
17:15 - birdclaw: A cleaner, more focused way to read and manage X without using the regular feed.
18:18 - worldmonitor: Track global events, conflicts, markets, and prediction signals in one dashboard.
21:18 - penpot: An open-source Figma alternative with self-hosting and code-friendly design workflows.
24:27 - voicebox: Clone voices and generate editable speech locally without subscription tools.
27:00 - system_prompts_leaks: Study real system prompts from major AI coding tools to improve your own prompts.
29:51 - Agent-Reach: Give agents direct access to sites like X, Reddit, YouTube, GitHub, and LinkedIn.
31:39 - daily_stock_analysis: Generate daily AI-powered stock analysis for your watchlist.
32:42 - OpenCut: An open-source CapCut alternative aiming to become agent-friendly video editing infrastructure.
35:24 - How Adam evaluates open-source tools
37:21 - Andrew’s process for building the report
39:27 - Watch the next AI apps episode

👉 Join us: https://thenextnewthing.ai/

Showing 2 out of 3

Please note that if you are under 18, you won't be able to access this site.

A.I. & Software

Language