eComFuel Building an AI Brain: Lessons from a Failed Attempt and How We’re Building v2.0
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Sep 12, 2025 Patrick Ryan, Director of Ops at ECF, shares insights from his journey in developing an AI bot for the community. He reflects on the lessons learned from a previous failed attempt and discusses the advancements in AI technology that informed the new project. Topics include the ethical implications of AI, the importance of human connection in tech, and practical applications enhancing member support and forum interactions. Patrick also highlights the challenges of recruiting skilled AI talent and the balance needed between automation and personal engagement.
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Failed First AI Attempt
- Two years ago ECF spent ~$25–30K and months building a custom chatbot trained on forum data but it failed to deliver useful responses.
- Patrick says the models and tooling were simply too immature then to make it practical.
Tech + Talent Changed The Equation
- Improvements in both AI tooling and developer talent made v2.0 feasible.
- Patrick credits better cloud tools and experienced engineers for the turnaround.
Prefer Integrated Cloud Stacks
- Use integrated cloud ecosystems (they chose Google Cloud/Gemini) to avoid stitching many tools together.
- Centralized platforms simplify billing, dev work, and data syncing.