Introduction
As a software engineer, I'm constantly searching for tools and technologies that can revolutionize the way I work. Today, I want to share a prototype app: ChatGPT for Business. I believe if we follow through on building this, it has the potential to transform our industry. Join me as I take you through my experiences, challenges, and the immense possibilities that lie ahead.
From Crypto Trading to AI-Assisted Productivity
The story begins with me leaving my Director of Engineering job at a fast-growing startup that was about to be acquired. I stumbled into the world of crypto trading after attending a web3 event in early 2022, where I heard about arbitrage opportunities. Eager to explore further, I began experimenting with free bots at Pionex and discovered the passive income potential of trading bots. That's when everything changed.
Driven by curiosity, I reverse-engineered a promising bot, conducted extensive backtesting using historical price data from Binance, and optimized its parameters using genetic mutation techniques. Deploying it on AWS, I witnessed consistent daily returns, achieving a remarkable 18% annual return on a sizable investment. But as the market landscape shifted, I realized that luck played a significant role in my success, and a long-term buy-and-hold strategy would yield better results. When the SEC's lawsuit against Binance and Coinbase loomed, I secured my crypto in wallets and closed my trading operations.
Discovering the Power of ChatGPT
During this transformative period, I found myself increasingly relying on ChatGPT, a powerful generative AI model. What began as a tool for trivial questions quickly evolved into something much more. ChatGPT gradually replaced around 80% of my Google searches, becoming indispensable for coding technical analysis algorithms, troubleshooting Docker configurations, proofreading emails, and even generating pitch deck outlines. I realized that ChatGPT had become my go-to resource, surpassing Google searches in many aspects. However, it was missing the capability to search my private data and access any information released after 2021.
The Spark of Innovation
One day, over coffee, a friend shared an interesting challenge: scraping information from multiple mom-and-pop websites to create a comprehensive activities-for-kids marketplace. It was at that moment that I had a revelation—what if ChatGPT could help? Instead of writing custom web scrapers for each site, could ChatGPT extract the desired information? Intrigued, I stumbled upon an informative post titled "How to Train an AI Chatbot With Custom Knowledge Base Using ChatGPT API". Inspired by its possibilities, I pointed ChatGPT to a Boys and Girls Club website, asking questions about activities in Seattle, their schedules, and costs. To my delight, the results were remarkably accurate, and the cost of using OpenAI’s API was surprisingly affordable.
Unlocking the Power of ChatGPT for Business
Fueled by this success, I couldn't help but wonder how I could further enhance my productivity using ChatGPT. To my surprise, I discovered that very few business products allowed users to leverage ChatGPT with their own data. Existing solutions fell short in terms of integrations, customization, and scalability. MyAskAI catered to individuals with one-off files and only allowed two questions per message thread. AiSera seemed more focused on building chatbots with custom data. CustomGPT lacked the necessary integrations with data sources like Google Drive, Salesforce, and Confluence. Gerev.ai, although open-source and appealing, failed to index a 5-page PDF on a brand-new MacBook Pro. Klu had an impressive turnkey integration with sources like Google Drive, but its "Beta AI" spun endlessly when asked a basic question about a single 5-page PDF file.
This realization sparked a vision in me—I wanted to build a product specifically designed to empower all businesses, not just the ones with the funds to train new AI models, with ChatGPT's capabilities. Excited by the possibilities, I reached out to my friend Arty, a talented engineer, and we began brainstorming ideas together.
Seeking Validation and Refining the Vision
To refine our concept and gain support, we sought guidance from a local venture capitalist (VC). We were told that our idea might be too broad and that we should instead focus on a specific industry. However, we remained unconvinced that there isn't a place for a general-purpose ChatGPT tool for businesses. Therefore, we decided to rely on data to guide us in the right direction. Undeterred, we developed a playbook, crafted surveys, optimized keywords for SEO and advertising, and created compelling website mock-ups. But we knew that true validation would come from our fellow software engineers—the very people who could benefit from ChatGPT for Business—YOU!
Imagine, if you will…
A ChatGPT-powered teammate, seamlessly integrated with your data sources and the web, providing real-time insights, securely linked to source documents, and offering turnkey integrations with your company's tools and systems. We envision automated document synchronization, real-time web searches, single sign-on (SSO) integration, access controls, conversation sharing, onboarding and training, and robust security and compliance measures.
Imagine being able get the status of a Jira ticket in real-time:
Or, what about keeping tabs on the competition?
Or, even synthesizing reports from raw data. Sharing and explaining insights (like a goalie, answering questions before you need to!). The more documents you share with the agent, the more time it will save for you as you could even let this AI agent handle basic questions on your behalf!
The possibilities are endless.
Join the Journey
And now, dear reader, we invite you to embark on this incredible journey with us. We think we’re on to something, but we want your thoughts! Your insights and feedback are essential as we shape the future of ChatGPT for Business. Together, we can unleash the potential of ChatGPT, transforming the way we work, and empowering ourselves and our teams with a tool that will revolutionize communication. Please take a moment to share your thoughts by participating in our quick survey. Additionally, you can also register for the beta release.
Conclusion
Our journey with ChatGPT for Business has been one of passion, innovation, and relentless pursuit. We have witnessed firsthand the immense potential of AI in our field, and we’re determined to harness that power to create a tool that will revolutionize software engineering. Thank you for reading, and we eagerly await your input as we shape the future of ChatGPT for Business together.
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