TL;DR
- My first exposure to AI was over three decades ago, long before it was practical.
- AI went through long periods of promise without delivery.
- The last two years changed everything.
- Re-engaging deeply with AI gave me new energy, curiosity, and purpose.
- I’m deeply thankful for the team, clients, and community that made this possible.
1.0 How I First Met AI (Long Before It Was Cool)
My first exposure to AI wasn’t recent.
It goes back to the late 1980s, when I was sailing on merchant ships during the Iran-Iraq war, working alongside the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf. I was second-in-command, a year away from my own command, and spending long stretches at sea with nothing but time to think, read, and learn.
That’s when computers started catching my attention.
I was already building electronics and gadgets, and I kept asking myself, what’s next?
Reading magazines on those ships, I first encountered the idea of AI, neural networks, and machine intelligence. No internet. No demos. Just concepts. And it felt like the perfect intersection of electronics, computers, and problem-solving.
2.0 Studying AI Before It Was Ready
In 1989, I came to the U.S. to study.
I looked at the top AI schools at the time, Cambridge, Oxford, CMU, MIT.
I looked at the top AI schools at the time, Cambridge, Oxford, CMU, MIT.
I didn’t get into those.
I started at a small school in Iowa, then found my way to the University of Texas at Austin, which was highly ranked and had professors working on neural networks and machine learning.
My plan was ambitious: redo my undergraduate degree, get a master’s, then a PhD in AI.
But by the early 1990s, reality set in.
AI was heavily talked about, but it wasn’t delivering. Funding was drying up. Progress was slow. And I didn’t have the luxury of waiting indefinitely.
So I pivoted.
3.0 The Long Detour, Architecture, Hardware, and Business
I moved into computer engineering and computer architecture.
That path took me to IBM, Motorola, Apple, Intel, and deep work on computer systems and performance.
Nineteen years ago, I started Kuware as a hardware company designing phones in Cupertino, CA.
That evolved into marketing and growth work in Austin Texas.
That evolved into marketing and growth work in Austin Texas.
And for a long time, AI faded into the background.
Not because the interest disappeared, but because the technology simply wasn’t ready.
4.0 When Everything Changed Again
Fast forward to late 2022.
We were already using tools like Jasper in marketing, but when ChatGPT launched, it was different. Something felt fundamentally shifted.
At first, honestly, I felt behind.
AI was moving fast. Very fast.
And for a few months, I struggled with how do I even catch up?
And for a few months, I struggled with how do I even catch up?
By mid-2023, I made a deliberate decision: I was going all-in.
I restructured the company so I could step away from day-to-day operations. The team took over, and they did an incredible job. Kuware kept growing.
Meanwhile, I dove deep into AI research, tools, models, and architectures.
That decision changed everything.
5.0 From Learning AI to Building With It
In 2024 and early 2025, we started transforming our own tools with AI.
That directly benefited our core business.
That directly benefited our core business.
We didn’t just read about AI.
We built with it.
We built with it.
By early 2025, we were ready to work with clients beyond marketing. We launched Kuware.com as a focused brand for AI transformation.
We started:
- Building AI-first tools
- Training and deploying models
- Rapidly “vibe coding” applications
- Re-architecting workflows around AI
6.0 A New Lease on Life
I told my wife recently that AI gave me a new lease on life.
I had started to feel stale.
Doing variations of the same work.
Solving familiar problems.
Doing variations of the same work.
Solving familiar problems.
AI changed that.
It pulled me back to my technical roots.
It gave me something new, deep, and challenging to learn.
And there is so much still to figure out.
It gave me something new, deep, and challenging to learn.
And there is so much still to figure out.
Today, everything we build has AI in it. Everything.
Our development team has gone from traditional web apps to AI-driven systems in a remarkably short time.
Our development team has gone from traditional web apps to AI-driven systems in a remarkably short time.
And now, we’re working with real AI clients, helping transform businesses and, in some cases, build entire companies around AI from the ground up.
7.0 Gratitude, Especially This Week
As this year ends and the holiday season is here, I want to pause and say thank you.
To:
- Our clients who trusted us
- Our team who made this possible
- Our partners and community
- And to you, for reading, responding, and engaging
If there’s anything I can do to help you on your AI journey, just reach out.
8.0 Coming Next Week
I’ll be sharing “10 AI Unlocks for Business Owners”, ideas I’ve been posting about on social media, distilled into practical takeaways.
You can get a sneak peek on my YouTube channel here:
👉 https://www.youtube.com/@AviUnlocksAI
👉 https://www.youtube.com/@AviUnlocksAI
If you’re not already subscribed, now’s a good time.
Thanks for reading Signal > Noise, where we separate real business signal from the AI hype.
Wishing you a restful holiday season and an exciting year ahead,
See you next Tuesday,
Avi Kumar
Founder: Kuware.com
Subscribe Link: https://kuware.com/newsletter/