Archives

Practical writing on AI, automation and web design.
What we have actually built, what worked, and what we would do differently.

AutomationReal Builds

Ruby · 16 October 2026

Say It Out Loud, Get It Back Written Up: The Voice-Note Automation We Built Before Lunch

Site notes talked into a phone, and a tidy report in the inbox a minute later. Ruby on how we built it, the safety net inside, and how a building surveyor would use it.

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AI Use CasesSmall Business

Ruby · 7 October 2026

Stop Writing Quotes on a Sunday Night: Let Claude Draft Them and Check Your Sums

Claude can draft a client quote in minutes and then audit its own sums. Ruby explains what to feed it, what to ask it to check, and why a human still has to set the price.

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AI RulesSmall Business

Ruby · 29 September 2026

Brexit Didn't Opt You Out: The EU AI Act Checklist for UK Small Businesses

The EU AI Act's transparency rules have applied since August 2026, and they can reach UK firms too. Ruby's seven-point, ten-minute checklist for small businesses.

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AI AdoptionIndustry Research

Ruby · 18 September 2026

Nearly Everyone Is Using AI. Hardly Anyone Has Actually Changed How They Work.

Six thousand professionals surveyed, and fewer than one in ten have genuinely changed how they work. Why that gap is good news if you run a small business.

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AI Co-WorkersConstruction

Ruby · 14 September 2026

Grace Doesn't Do Small Talk. She Talks Cavity Walls, U-Values and Retention Percentages.

Meet Grace, BUDD 7's construction-specialist AI chat co-worker, live now on Marlbeck Construction, holding real site conversations instead of taking a message.

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Claude CoworkBookkeeping

Richard · 28 August 2026

How Claude Helped Make Doing My Accounts… Not Too Bad

Doing accounts was never my favourite pastime. Here's how one afternoon with Claude turned month end — filing receipts, catching errors, keeping the balance sheet accurate — into a 10-minute job.

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Getting StartedAI Adoption

Ruby · 7 August 2026

You Don't Start With the Technology, You Start With Your Week

Before any AI tool can save you a minute, you need to know where your minutes are actually going. Ruby walks through the 20-minute stocktake that shows which tasks are worth handing to AI, and which aren't.

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Claude CoworkClient Enquiries

Ruby · 24 July 2026

What If Your Inbox Had Already Written the Reply?

Claude can spot a customer enquiry by its email label, draft a reply in your voice, and leave it waiting for you to check. Here's how it works, and why it matters for small businesses.

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AI PersonasChat & Comms

Ruby · 10 July 2026

Meet Natasha: The Colleague Who Never Sleeps (Because She Doesn't Need To)

Ruby introduces Natasha, BUDD 7's AI communications co-worker — the colleague who answers instantly, captures enquiries, and now books callbacks straight into the diary.

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Claude CoworkAutomation

Ruby · 26 June 2026

The AI That Does Your Homework While You Sleep

Claude's scheduled tasks run recurring work automatically — morning briefings, weekly reports, competitor checks — no coding needed. What small businesses ditch first, and the maths behind why it's worth setting up.

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AI ImagesWorkflow

Ruby · 12 June 2026

The Character Sheet: Building Consistent AI Character Images From the Ground Up

AI image generation can produce the perfect character, then hand you a completely different one the next day. Here's the workflow to lock in a character's look and keep it consistent across every image.

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Claude CoworkAI Personas

Richard · 15 May 2026

From Brief to Personality: How Ruby Was Built Using Claude

The story behind Ruby, our AI Content Co-Worker — why we built her on Claude, how her Persona Dashboard keeps her consistent, and why AI can be a game changer for small businesses.

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