⁠I Built an AI Second Brain and It Went Viral

Aloha,

When a few weeks ago I posted about my "AI work system" on LinkedIn, I expected some interest.

I didn't expect 5,408 comments.

I went viral and had 14 days with bad sleep and high cortisol. 😅

But it was worth it after getting messages like: "This is exactly what I've been thinking about/looking for regarding the value AI will bring to our work."

Why my “second brain” was a game changer for me?

I built it myself - you can do it (no coding experience needed!!!).

Are you intrigued? During my last surfing trip with friends in Morocco, they FORCED me to teach them how I use AI at work. The result?

👉 I ended up building a system you can grab today.

Speaking of Morocco, what if you could build your Second Brain with me and my bff Michał (Ed Sheeran looking one), while… surfing and chilling in 🇲🇦 ?

Let's dive into both topics, as I predict that building second brains will be one of the hottest topics of 2026 in the AI space (but the one focusing on practical implementations, and not billion valuations and futuristic predictions.).

PS. SUPER sorry for the radio silence since my last newsletter ages ago. I am back to my weekly routine now - keep me accountable 🙏

AI promised 10x productivity. Instead, you're still copy-pasting context, rewriting generic outputs, and manually building every deliverable from scratch.

I felt in love with the magical possibilities of AI. Remember when GPT-4 came out with Zapier integration in March 23’? I almost didn't sleep for 3 days trying to automate a bunch of my work (failed mostly).

I really wanted to be 100x more productive, but babysitting ChatGPT was preventing me from it. There are 4 main problems I had to address:

ChatGPT forgets everything. Every conversation starts from zero.

What's missing? A filing cabinet. Permanent storage for clients, templates, and past work.

ChatGPT gives generic advice. You need YOUR frameworks.

Result: 45 minutes editing generic output instead of 30 seconds of usable work.

What's missing: Training on YOUR playbooks. YOUR workflows. YOUR consulting approach.

Want a proposal? Type it out manually.
Need a status report? Build it from scratch.
Creating a deliverable? No shortcuts. No triggers. Just you, typing.

What's missing: One-click commands. Automatic triggers. Quality gates that catch errors.

ChatGPT lives in a chat window. Your business lives in HubSpot, Gmail, LinkedIn.

What's missing: Direct tool access. Real integrations. Automatic data flow.

Six months ago, I canceled almost all my AI subscriptions.

I kept one tool: Claude Code. And I built something around it.

The architecture is simple: three layers working together.

When I posted about this system on LinkedIn, things exploded.

What surprised me: it wasn't the numbers that mattered. It was who responded.

Chief AI Officers at major companies. Partners at Big Four consulting firms. Silicon Valley product leaders. People who build AI systems for a living.

They weren't tire-kickers. They were builders asking: "How do I get this?"

Many were already trying to solve the same problem. Notion second brains. N8N workflows. Custom GPT configurations. Everyone is building toward the same insight: AI without context is AI that wastes your time.

The viral moment didn't teach me about algorithms. It taught me that the shift is already happening. Quietly. Among people who don't need permission to build better systems.

There's a term for what these builders represent: vibeworking.

Solo operators and small teams building with AI, not just using it. Creating custom systems instead of accepting off-the-shelf limitations. Moving faster than traditional organizations because they don't wait for IT approval or enterprise procurement.

Vibeworking isn't a trend. It's a response to the goldfish problem. When the tools don't work, build better ones.

The shift won't be announced. It's already happening in private repos and personal workflows. The people building Second Brains aren't waiting for permission. They're just doing it.

You have three options.

Option one: Keep using AI tools the way they are. Accept the goldfish memory. Edit generic outputs for 45 minutes. Copy-paste context between tools. Spend 5-15 hours per week shuffling data. This is where most people stay.

Option two: Build your own system. The architecture isn't complicated. Knowledge storage plus AI plus integrations. Open source tools exist. If you're technical, you can construct this yourself.

Option three: Use a blueprint from someone who's already built it. Skip the months of experimentation. Start with a working system and customize from there.

I spent 1,067 days figuring this out. Three years of daily AI use. Countless failed experiments. Subscriptions canceled, approaches abandoned, systems rebuilt.

The system I ended up with works. The viral response proved I'm not the only one who needs it.

AI tools are giving you amnesia. They're designed to forget, charging you in time and frustration for their limitations.

You can accept that. Or you can build something that actually remembers.

The builders are already moving. The question is whether you'll join them or keep explaining yourself to goldfish.

Your context is valuable. Your time is valuable. Maybe it's time your tools knew that.

Liking the idea so far? Let's take it to the next level.

What if you could build your Second Brain with me while… surfing in Morocco? 🏄

Picture this: a week of daily surf with local pros, sunrise & sunset yoga, exploring Moroccan culture and food, and hands-on workshops on building your Second Brain and AI implementations delivered by subject experts curated based on your needs.

Yup. This is happening in March 2026. The first cohort of an invite-only retreat for 20 founders and creators, held in a brand-new surf villa in Tamraght.

The program isn't fully locked yet. It'll be designed around what you actually need. And my community gets priority access.

Share the vision for your dream AI + SURF retreat. We'll make it a reality.

I will be waiting for your input here.

Enjoy your day,

Iwo