AI tools have made building software more accessible than ever. A business owner with no coding experience can now build functional tools that solve real problems. That’s genuinely revolutionary.
But after 20+ years of building platforms at scale, I’ve learned something important: AI is an incredible builder, but it’s a terrible advisor on the things you should be asking about but aren’t.
The good news? Once you know what those things are, you can build with confidence.
What You Can Build Safely With AI
Let’s start with the good stuff. There’s a whole category of tools you can absolutely build yourself using AI, with minimal risk.
Internal tools are perfect starting points. Quote generators that turn your pricing spreadsheet into something your team can use on tablets. Inventory trackers that tell you when to reorder. Service checklists that ensure nothing gets missed. Reference tools that put your institutional knowledge in one searchable place. These tools make your team more efficient without creating compliance headaches.
Customer-facing tools work well too, as long as they’re focused and simple. Product recommendation quizzes that help people find what they need. Availability checkers that answer the “can you do this on this date?” question. FAQ finders that reduce repetitive customer service questions. Menu builders that let customers explore options.
These tools work because they’re straightforward. They don’t store sensitive customer data. They don’t handle payments. They don’t require regulatory compliance. They serve a specific purpose for a contained group of users. And if something breaks, you can fix it or rebuild it quickly.
This is where you should start. Build these. Learn by doing. Get comfortable with the process.
When You’ve Graduated to Needing Guidance
Here’s the thing: needing technical help isn’t a sign you’re doing something wrong. It’s a sign you’re doing something right. Your simple tool worked, customers want more, and now you’re ready to build something bigger.
That’s when the rules change.
For Main Street businesses building simple tools, you’re probably fine on your own. But the moment you’re handling:
- Customer data → GDPR/CCPA compliance
- Payments → PCI compliance
- Healthcare info → HIPAA
- Scale/security → SOC 2
- Industry-specific regulations
That’s when you’ve graduated to needing someone who knows what questions to ask.
What AI Won’t Volunteer
AI will happily build whatever you ask for. It won’t tell you that storing customer emails requires a privacy policy, that accepting credit cards means PCI compliance, or that your database structure will make it nearly impossible to scale later.
It’s not that AI doesn’t know these things. It’s that it doesn’t know to bring them up unless you specifically ask. And if you don’t have a technical background, you don’t know what to ask.
This isn’t a flaw in AI. It’s just how the tool works. A hammer doesn’t tell you where to put the nail.
What Technical Help Actually Looks Like
Here’s what you need to understand: you don’t necessarily need someone to build it for you. You need someone to help you not make costly mistakes.
Think of it like building a house. AI is like having an incredible construction crew that will build exactly what you draw. But you still need an architect who knows building codes, structural requirements, and what will cause problems years from now.
Sometimes you just need a few hours with a technical advisor. Someone who can review your plan before you build, identify compliance requirements you might not know about, and recommend whether you should use existing tools or build something custom. This is often enough for a simple tool that’s moving beyond the prototype stage.
If you’ve already built something with AI and want to make sure it’s solid, a contract developer can review what you’ve created, test for security issues, and document what you need to know going forward. Think of it as a technical inspection before you open the doors to customers.
For businesses building something more substantial – a core product rather than an internal tool – a technical co-founder who partners with you long-term makes sense. They handle complex technical decisions, manage technical debt as you grow, and build with the future in mind.
The Hello Alice community is a great place to start looking for technical guidance. Other entrepreneurs have been through this and can recommend people they’ve worked with.
A Simple Way to Know Where You Stand
Consider what you’re building and ask yourself:
About data: Will you store customer personal information beyond a basic contact form? Handle payment details? Collect info from people in the EU or California?
About scale: Planning for more than a hundred active users? Need it to work around the clock? Integrating with other systems?
About risk: What happens if this breaks for a day? What if customer data leaks? Could you face legal liability?
If these questions don’t apply to your project, you’re in safe territory. Build with AI, learn as you go.
If several of these make you pause, it’s worth getting a technical review before you build too far. That doesn’t mean you can’t start – it means you should start with guidance.
The Bottom Line
AI has given you the power to build things you couldn’t build before. Use it.
Start with simple internal tools. Build customer-facing features that don’t require sensitive data. Test your ideas. Validate with real customers. Get comfortable with the process.
And when you’re ready to build something bigger – something that handles customer data, processes payments, or could scale to hundreds of users – bring in someone who can help you do it right.
That’s not a limitation. That’s how successful products get built.
Ready to start building? The Main Street Rising Tour is coming to a city near you. Learn how to use AI to test your ideas faster, automate the tasks that eat your time, and build systems that actually scale your business. No tech jargon, no overwhelm—just practical tools that work for Main Street. Join the entrepreneurs who are rising. Learn more at mainstreetrisingtour.com.
Kelsey Ruger is Chief Product & Technology Officer at Hello Alice, where he leads engineering, product, and design for a platform serving 1.5 million small business owners. With 20+ years of experience building platforms at AT&T, P97 Networks, and Prodigy Internet, he teaches entrepreneurs how to use AI effectively while avoiding costly technical mistakes.