I Built an AI Assistant That Works While I Sleep
11 February 2026

I Built an AI Assistant That Works While I Sleep

All the Hacks: Money, Points & Life

About
#265: Chris explores how modern AI tools have eliminated the barriers to building software, why planning matters more than coding skill, how anyone can turn a simple problem into a working app faster and cheaper than ever before, and how he built a personal AI assistant that's already started to run his life behind the scenes.



Link to Full Show Notes: https://chrishutchins.com/how-to-build-with-ai-tools



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Resources Mentioned

AI Models & Assistants


ChatGPT

OpenClaw

Gemini

Claude


AI Coding & Building Tools


Replit

Lovable

Cursor

Codex


Productivity & Automation Tools


Wispr Flow

Zapier

Nimble Links

Tampermonkey


Developer Infrastructure


Clerk

Supabase

GitHub


FinTech: Plaid

How to Run OpenClaw as your Virtual EA

Blogs


Doctor of Credit

Frequent Miler

The Points Guy


Deep Personality

Credit Cards


American Express® Gold Card

Citi Strata Elite℠ Card

Citi Strata Premier℠ Card

Bilt 2.0


ATH Podcast


Ep #263: How to Earn Millions of Points and More Listener Q&A


Chris’ Card Optimizer Tool

Ask Chris Anything!

Leave a review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify


Email for questions, hacks, deals, and feedback: podcast@chrishutchins.com





Full Show Notes

(00:00) Introduction

(01:41) Why This Is the Best Time Ever to Build Software

(04:14) How to Build Almost Anything with AI

(13:53) Why Context Is the Real Superpower

(15:58) Using Planning Mode Instead of Guessing

(16:41) Which AI Tool Should You Start With?

(17:53) Building a Real Credit Card Optimizer from Scratch

(28:48) What It Actually Costs to Build with AI

(32:38) The Real AI Learning Curve

(33:38) Moving from Cursor to Claude Code

(36:17) Why You Should Try Building Something (Even If You're Not a Coder)

(37:00) How OpenClaw Changes the Game

(38:57) Why Security Still Matters

(42:25) A Conversation with Ted, Chris' AI Assistant

(44:07) Letting AI Work While You Sleep

(49:41) Learning to Be Clear, Specific, and Intentional

(50:03) Start with a Real Problem

(50:39) Breaking Projects into Small, Winnable Pieces

(50:58) What Would You Build If Building Were Easy?

(51:59) Keeping Track of Cost and Budget



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