Pre-AI
Foundational work in practical business tools, web publishing, and scripting.
Workflow systems, conversational agents, product design
David Holt
AI Solutions Engineer | Mister Automate
I build software that reduces friction in how people think, plan, and execute. My work spans pre-AI tooling, modern conversational systems, and product design grounded in how work actually unfolds.
Experience
Two eras of work feed the same outcome: less overhead, clearer decisions, and systems that are easier to trust.
Modern
Current work focuses on AI-assisted systems and productized workflow automation.
- Compass app
- Conversational agent for Salesforce
- Conversational agent for Outlook email
- Conversational agent work for Compass
- OAuth and API key integrations
- Email to task list workflow design
Projects
Compass is the primary case study, alongside a handful of smaller side projects built for personal use.
Compass
Compass
Compass is a task management system built on subtraction, not addition. Instead of trying to show everything forever, it uses dated pages, status-driven visibility, and a unified Today surface so the right work appears at the right time.
- Pages
- Auto Death
- Status workflow
- Today surface
- Planning module
- Priority matrix
Side Projects
Side Projects
Small tools built for one user: me. A drawing-based instrument synth, an automatic volume regulator for calls, a gas price watcher, a typing test with real history, and an audio-to-animation pipeline.
- Instrument Builder: freeform synth
- Zoom Volume Regulator: call audio AGC
- GasBuddy Watcher: price tracking dashboard
- Custom Typing Test: number-row drills with per-digit hesitation stats
- YNAB Insights: recurring-transaction forecasting and net worth tracking
- Animation AI: audio to animated scene
How I Work
Software should reduce thinking overhead.
I favor systems that make the next decision clearer, remove stale noise, and encode useful structure so the tool helps drive execution instead of becoming another thing to manage.
Working principles
- Workflow first, software second
- Subtraction over feature accumulation
- Automation through understanding
- Professional, usable defaults