How Our AI Startup Uses AI: A Personal Journey with OpenClaw

BySteve Alcorn
Steve Alcorn

by BrainStream Chief Executive Officer Steven Craig Alcorn

We Build AI Tools — And We Use Them Too

At BrainStream, we’re developing AI-powered solutions for education. But we don’t just build AI products — we rely on AI tools every day to run our business. From drafting content and managing communications to analyzing data and automating repetitive tasks, AI has become woven into how our team works.

Each member of our team uses AI in their own way. Our COO uses it for operational planning and documentation. Our CMO leverages it for marketing strategy and content creation. Our CXO applies it to user experience research and design workflows. And I’ve taken things a step further by setting up my own AI-powered personal assistant.

My Experience with OpenClaw

A few months ago, I discovered OpenClaw, an open-source framework that lets you run your own AI assistant on a cloud server. It connects to your messaging apps, has access to tools like web browsing and file management, and can work on tasks autonomously — even when you’re not actively chatting with it.

I set it up on a small AWS server and connected it to Telegram so I could message it from my phone. What started as an experiment quickly became indispensable.

Here’s a sample of what my OpenClaw assistant handles for me on a typical day:

  • Email monitoring and response — It watches my inboxes in real time and alerts me to messages that need attention, drafting replies for my approval.
  • Website management — It creates and updates pages across multiple WordPress sites, including the one you’re reading right now.
  • Content creation — Blog posts, newsletters, social media — it drafts everything and I review before publishing.
  • Research — When I need to understand a new topic or evaluate a business decision, it searches the web, reads documents, and summarizes findings.
  • Automation — It runs scheduled tasks like social media posting, data synchronization between platforms, and system backups.
  • Book publishing — I’m an author of 27 books, and it helps manage metadata, descriptions, and updates across my entire catalog on Amazon.

The effect on my productivity has been remarkable. Tasks that used to take hours — or that I simply wouldn’t get around to — now happen in minutes. My assistant works in the background while I focus on the creative and strategic work I enjoy most. It’s like having a tireless, knowledgeable team member who’s always available.

What This Means for Our Work at BrainStream

Using AI tools ourselves gives us firsthand insight into both the potential and the limitations of these technologies. When we build products for educators and institutions, we’re drawing on real experience — not just theory. We know what works, what frustrates, and what genuinely saves time, because we live it every day.

It also reinforces our belief that AI’s greatest value isn’t in replacing people — it’s in amplifying what they can accomplish. The same principle that drives BrainStream’s educational products applies to how we run our company.

Try It Yourself

If you’re curious about setting up your own AI assistant, I wrote a detailed guide on my personal blog. It walks you through the entire process, from creating a cloud server to having your own assistant up and running. No programming experience required.

👉 Read the guide: “My AI” on SteveAlcorn.com

The future of work isn’t about AI doing everything for us. It’s about each of us having access to tools that make us more capable. At BrainStream, we’re building those tools for education — and using them ourselves every step of the way.

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