Building Products with AI Without Losing Human Judgement | w/ Ben Bilbrough
Early Adoptr: Simplifying AI For Founders & Small BusinessesShow Notes
AI makes it easier to build a product, change your mind and start again. But when you can turn an idea into something usable over a weekend, it’s easy to fall in love with what you’ve made before you’ve worked out whether anyone needs it.
In this week’s episode, Jess and Kyle speak with serial founder Ben Bilbrough about building products with AI. His latest project, U26.vote, helps Americans understand the potential influence of their vote, but his experience offers practical lessons for anyone using AI to turn an idea into a business.
Ben shares how his team used AI to process complex data, develop ideas and iterate quickly—and where human expertise remained non-negotiable. They discuss what happens when Claude sounds right but isn’t, why easier development doesn’t always lead to better products, and how to keep a team focused when changing direction takes so little effort.
From the freedom to scrap your own work to the risks of falling in love with it, we explore what AI changes about product development, what it doesn’t, and why knowing what not to build matters more than ever.
Ben Bilbrough: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-bilbrough/ U26.vote: https://u26.vote/ ActionTank.io: https://actiontank.io/ Boardy: https://www.boardy.ai/
What You’ll Learn How small teams can use AI to build products and iterate faster Why the freedom to scrap your work can be both an advantage and a risk Where human expertise remains non-negotiable when building with AI Why vibe coding makes it easier to skip the questions that matter How to keep your team and your AI focused when changing direction is easy Why falling in love with the problem matters more than falling in love with your product
00:44 Weekly Catch-Up 05:02 This Week: What It Takes to Build Something Useful with AI 09:23 Introduction to Ben Bilbrough 12:42 Ben's Background in SMB and the Wedding Industry 14:17 The Knot, AOL and Ben’s First Exit 16:16 Why Ad Tech Treats Us as Consumers 18:26 How Nonprofits Can Ask Supporters for More Than Money 21:28 Understanding Voter Engagement and Political Influence 23:25 U26.vote: Scoring the Power of Your Vote 26:40 Building U26.vote With AI 31:50 AI as a Force Multiplier 37:05 Who Do You Need in the Room When Building With AI? 40:31 Users Never Behave the Way You Think They Will 43:26 The Role of Domain Experts in AI Development 45:48 How to Reduce AI Hallucinations in a Real Product 48:29 Why Fast Iteration Needs Guiding Principles 54:49 Finding Focus: The Problem Before the Product Get in touch with Early Adoptr: [email protected]
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