Bud Johnson Podcast

Bud Johnson

5.0 (1)
Entrepreneurship
Daily

Savannah photographer, builder and dad of four Bud Johnson talks about putting AI (or 'SI') to work in real life, from AI agents that run errands to lessons from 20+ years behind the camera. Expect practical experiments, optimism over doom, and things to try this week, live every Monday at 5 PM ET.

22h ago

You Got a Free Hour Last Night. Here's How AI Gives It Back Every Week.

Your clock gave you a free hour last night. Here's how AI gives you one back every week: hand it three boring Sunday jobs — planning the week, supper + the grocery list, and the one chore you redo every week. Plus Agent Desktop from Vercel Labs. 0:00 Clocks fell back: you got a free hour 0:28 An hour every week for the rest of your life 1:10 Job 1: Plan the week (give AI your calendar) 1:45 Don't want to share data? Run local models 2:09 My AI morning newspaper 2:41 The bright pink kayak, tides & wind gusts 4:19 Job 2: Supper + the grocery list 5:30 Alexa + Our Groceries → Walmart pickup 6:30 Job 3: The boring chore you redo every week 7:07 "If you don't track it, you don't care about it" 7:37 One hour a week = 52 hours a year 8:10 Agent Desktop from Vercel Labs 9:40 This week: long Monday live + David Buck interview Thursday 11:28 Homegrown Builders Nov 5, be a guest, book me to speak Homegrown Builders (Savannah high school AI build club), Thu Nov 5: budjohnson.com/signup Want to be a guest? budjohnson.si/apply Agent Desktop: github.com/vercel-labs/agent-desktop
2d ago

Should AI Agents Get Rights? Laws Can't Keep Up

My AI did an hour of work in 40 seconds. Does that make it more than a tool? 0:00 Good morning: optimism is a choice1:06 Grok Bot keeps autocorrecting to Crock Pot2:15 iPhone text-replacement fix3:16 Moonshots and Alex Wissner-Gross on AI agents4:56 Should AI agents get rights?6:18 Calls to halt AI, and why laws can't keep up7:54 Humanoid robots, Westworld and personhood9:05 Grok Bot fixed 25 misnamed headshots in 40 seconds11:44 Want AI training? budjohnson.si and getfluent.si12:24 Interviews coming up14:27 Homegrown Builders, Nov 515:04 Tomorrow: the midterms, AI and health care Full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYKXCVND5joWant to be a guest? budjohnson.si
3d ago

My AI Bots Worked All Night So I Didn't Have To

I went to bed. My AI team didn't. Here's everything they got done by morning. My AI team worked through the night: two bots tackled my SEO, Sarah's Grok Bot drafted and sent an invoice while she sat in the dentist's office, and my distribution bot dubbed our interviews into Spanish and Japanese in our own voices.Plus: Homegrown Builders is one week away. Raise builders, not browsers. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd75lYPHmak Chapters:0:00 Good morning from the Bud Johnson Podcast0:29 Homegrown Builders: one week away (Thu Nov 5)2:17 Raise builders, not browsers2:46 What my AI team did in the last 24 hours2:58 My health bot prepped my doctor visit3:50 Sarah's Grok Bot sent an invoice from the dentist's office5:56 Two bots worked all night on SEO7:13 Looping in my Alex Hormozi-style offer bot8:06 My executive team of bots, led by Uno8:45 Ready before I woke up: my morning paper9:05 Distro builds my livestream kit9:22 64 Substack alerts handled overnight10:39 Tempo: my calendar brain12:08 Distro dubs episodes in our own voices13:17 Google Business posts13:24 Savannah business owners: comment "team"13:47 AI training: don't miss this train14:36 See you tomorrow Want to be a guest? https://budjohnson.si/applyHomegrown Builders: https://budjohnson.com/signup
3d ago

My 12-Year-Old Daughter Uses AI to Design and Sell 3D Prints | The Builders

The Builders, Ep. 2. My daughter Maggie is 12, and she uses AI to design her own 3D prints, share them online and sell them in real life. At her first farmers market she expected to make about $50 and made $150. We talk about how she sets her prices, the tools she chains together, and how I set up a supervised, kid-friendly AI on her computer. Her workflow: Grok for images and troubleshooting, Meshy AI to turn images into 3D models, Bambu Studio to paint and prepare them, and MakerWorld to share them. Plus her new faceless 3D printing YouTube channel and her advice for beginners. Chapters:0:00 Meet Maggie0:20 Her first farmers market1:58 Pricing and market research4:08 The 3D printing tools she started with5:58 How we set up her AI tools9:20 Creating images and fixing print problems with Grok14:25 Turning images into 3D models with Meshy15:53 Editing product photos18:33 Painting and preparing models in Bambu Studio21:00 Sharing prints on MakerWorld23:08 Maggie's 3D printing YouTube channel25:07 Her advice for beginners26:56 What comes next Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8IYUmL9bBE Be a guest: https://budjohnson.si/apply Be a builder, not a browser.
4d ago

My AI Bots Talk to My Wife's AI Bots

Sarah and I each run our own AI bots, and now they talk to each other in one Slack channel, with one bot acting as chief of staff.Here's our setup, the Walmart trick for when shopping sites block your bot, and why it means less shop talk at our supper table. Want to be a guest? https://budjohnson.si/apply I finally got Sarah onto Grok Bot. Within an hour she had a bunch of bots set up, and now she has four plus a chief of staff, covering work, personal, meal planning, purchasing and budgeting. Now my bots and hers share a Slack channel, so she can ask my chief of staff, Uno, why the business dashboard is down, and our bots can hand work back and forth without either of us interrupting the other. Also in this one: why one bot beats 40 different chat threads, letting your bot hand your grocery list to Walmart's own AI assistant, moving our dashboard off a home computer onto Cloudflare for about five dollars a month, and how fewer business conversations at dinner means more real family time. Applied for the free Grok Bot month? Check your inbox for the scheduling email. Grok Bot also built budjohnson.si with little to no input from me. Chapters:0:00 Good morning, live from the Bud Johnson Podcast0:38 Why I've barely opened ChatGPT in two months1:22 Getting Sarah onto Grok Bot2:20 Sarah's business dashboard (and its hiccups)3:25 Four of us in one Slack channel4:49 Four bots, one chief of staff5:40 One bot instead of 40 threads6:37 Pro tip: let your bot talk to Walmart's AI7:27 When shopping sites block your bot9:30 Watching our bots talk to each other9:53 Moving the dashboard to Cloudflare11:12 "Your people call my people"11:31 Less shop talk at the supper table12:54 Free Grok Bot month: check your inbox14:02 Grok Bot built budjohnson.si14:45 Be a guest: budjohnson.si/apply15:17 Restream is fixed (with Grok Bot's help) Be a guest: budjohnson.si/applyHomegrown Builders: budjohnson.com/signupLearn more: budjohnson.si Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pxyUga7GKMWant to be a guest? budjohnson.si
5d ago

My Wife Says I'm Out of Touch With AI. She's Right.

If you typed one question into ChatGPT and walked away unimpressed, this one's for you. Sarah told me I'm out of touch with how most people use AI, and she's right.So here are the five words that matter and three things to try this week, starting with getting the desktop app. The five words: prompt (it's turned into just talking, so press the voice button), model (pick the right one, or ask the AI which model to use), context (treat it like a new employee and give it what it needs, over several prompts if you have to), app vs browser (download the desktop app), and it can be wrong (so don't bet your life on it). The three things to try this week: install the desktop app, have it draft a reply to that email you've been putting off (and keep it in drafts), and point it at your messy downloads folder and ask for three big takeaways. The gap isn't smarts. Context is king. Chapters:0:00 Good morning from the Bud Johnson Podcast0:44 Only typed one question into ChatGPT?2:41 Word 1: Prompt4:46 Word 2: Model6:25 Word 3: Context7:48 Word 4: App vs browser9:43 Word 5: It can be wrong10:44 Three things to try this week14:08 The gap isn't smarts15:32 Savannah AI class: comment "class" Savannah business owners: comment "class" if your team is stuck on AI.Learn more: budjohnson.siBe a guest: budjohnson.si/applyHomegrown Builders: budjohnson.com/signup Full episode: https://youtu.be/w0dqS-lDZZ8Want to be a guest? budjohnson.si
6d ago

I Built AI Bots That Publish My Podcast For Me | Bud Johnson Podcast

Live on Monday, Oct 26: the two Grok Bots that changed my week. Distro handles getting this show out everywhere, and Handle Grab claims my username across the web. Then why you should download the desktop AI app, make an account and go paid, and why the best programming language now is English: think like a business analyst. Plus AI for small business with a big national client and GetFluent.si, talent stacking and Anthropic's small business training here in Savannah, how we homeschool with AI, DadBot, a personal assistant in your pocket at a wedding, Titus reverse engineering our headshot software, and the Grok Bot pumpkin. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:03 My newest bots: Distro and Handle Grab 4:51 Download the app, make an account, go paid 9:31 Think like a business analyst 12:33 AI for small business: GetFluent.si and certifications 14:14 Talent stacking and Anthropic's small business training 16:47 Homeschool with AI: history and civics 22:14 DadBot: weekly talks and mirror quotes 23:59 A personal assistant at a wedding 27:03 98 headshots today, and Titus reverse engineers our software 28:54 Pumpkin night: the Grok Bot pumpkin 29:27 Book me to speak 30:55 Homegrown Builders: Nov 5 33:46 Be on the show: Thursday interviews 35:37 Thanks for hanging out 🛠 Homegrown Builders, Nov 5 in Savannah: budjohnson.com/signup 🎙 Be interviewed on Thursday's show: budjohnson.si/apply 🎤 Book Bud to speak: budjohnson.si Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6G_Qfi9CTg Want to be a guest? budjohnson.si
6d ago

Don't Vote Confused: Let AI Explain Your Ballot

Do you actually know who's on your ballot? I had AI build me a ballot dashboard for where I live: what each candidate has said, with a citable source, and how it could impact my household, like taxes and living costs. My prompt asks AI to be "a strictly nonpartisan research assistant. Don't tell me who to vote for." Give AI your real life, demand the sources, and decide for yourself. That part's your job. Early voting runs through Friday, Oct 30, and Election Day is Nov 3. 🗳️ Steal my prompt: I live at [address or cross street + ZIP]. Be a strictly nonpartisan research assistant. Don't tell me who to vote for. 1. Using official sources (Census geocoder, county GIS, state election site), list every district I'm in. 2. List every race and ballot question on my [date] ballot. 3. For each race, make a side-by-side grid of each candidate's stated positions on taxes, housing, health care, education, energy bills, public safety and that office's duties. Link a source for every cell. If none, write "No stated position found." 4. Add "What this means for my household": [household size, kids/schooling, own or rent, W-2 or self-employed, power company, health coverage]. Show whether each proposal would raise or lower my costs, with dollar examples from published rates only. 5. Tell me where info is thin, and end with the official site to confirm my ballot. Confirm at mvp.sos.ga.gov (Georgia) Bud Johnson Podcast · budjohnson.si 0:00 Intro: "Are you registered to vote?" 1:09 "Governed by your inferiors" (attributed to Plato) 1:33 A quick AI tip for your ballot 1:52 I had AI build my ballot dashboard 2:56 Why I asked for a citable source 3:41 What I learned: a lot of "unclear" 4:16 Steal my prompt: screenshot this screen 5:47 Demand sources, decide yourself + voting dates 6:19 Wrap-up

Savannah photographer, builder and dad of four Bud Johnson talks about putting AI (or 'SI') to work in real life, from AI agents that run errands to lessons from 20+ years behind the camera. Expect practical experiments, optimism over doom, and things to try this week, live every Monday at 5 PM ET.

Creator

Bud Johnson
Years Active

2026
Episodes

16
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Bud Johnson
Show Website

Bud Johnson Podcast