Learning in public
I started posting Python and computer vision videos to learn out loud. Explaining things forced me to actually understand them, and I never stopped.
01 / ABOUT NICOLAI
Hey, I'm Nicolai Nielsen.
I build AI products from start to finish, on my own, and I teach other engineers how to do the same. If you're thinking about working together, this page is a good way to get to know me first.
THE SHORT VERSION
8+ years of building AI, the fun way.
I've been building AI, machine learning, and computer vision systems for more than eight years. Along the way I've helped solo founders test ideas, startups ship their first AI products, and bigger companies and enterprises add AI to things they already run.
These days I build complete products on my own: the interface, the backend, the AI, the data pipelines, and the deployment. AI coding tools changed what one person can do. Stuff that used to need a whole team, I can now build solo, and usually faster, because there's nobody to sync with except you.
What I care about most is what happens after the demo. Does it hold up with real users? Is it fast enough? Is it easy to change next month? That's the part I enjoy, and the part I'll obsess over for you.
126K+YouTube subscribers
400+technical videos
4.2M+channel views
8+ yrsbuilding with AI
WHO I'VE WORKED WITH
Solo founders to enterprises.
The projects get bigger or smaller, but how I work doesn't change: directly with you, building the real thing, and being honest about what will and won't work.
Fig 2From solo to enterprise
1 solo · 2 startup · 3 scale-up · 4 enterprise
solo founder to enterprise · 4 scales
Why I work solo
Why I chose to work solo.
Fewer people, fewer handoffs, and the person you talk to is the one building it.
You talk to me, not a chain of peopleWhen you message me, you're talking to the person actually writing the code. No account managers, no telephone game, no "let me check with the team".
No overlap, no back-and-forthPut five people on one product and a lot of the week goes into syncing, handing things over, and redoing each other's work. I hold the whole thing in my head, so that time goes into building instead.
AI agents do the heavy liftingAI coding agents write a lot of the code now, and they're fast. That means more people on a project often slows it down. My job is the architecture, the reviews, and the calls that need experience.
Cheaper than even one employeeCompared to hiring even a single full-time developer, you skip the recruiting, onboarding, benefits, and paying for quiet weeks. And instead of someone who covers one part of the stack, you get someone who covers all of it.
My full take on solo vs teams Fig 1Team or lean
Watch, or press team or lean
5 people · 10 lines to keep in sync
THE JOURNEY
How I got here.
Full-stack, AI-first, solo
Now I build complete products on my own, frontend to backend to AI to deployment, for solo founders, startups, scale-ups, bigger companies, and enterprises.
126,000+ engineers along for the ride
400+ videos later, a lot of people learn computer vision, machine learning, and applied AI with me. That still blows my mind a little.
Products, programs, and companies
I build open source tools, work with companies, and run the AI Career Program for engineers who want a practical way into the field.
HOW I WORK
A few things I believe about building.
Value over tools
Nobody should care whether I use AI. What matters is how much it saves you or earns you, how fast, and what it costs.
The model is the easy part
Most of the work is everything around it: the data, the APIs, the interface, and what happens when things break. I like that part.
Fewer people, fewer handoffs
With AI coding tools, one person who knows every layer can move faster than a team passing work back and forth. So that's how I work.
Experience is the multiplier
AI tools amplify what you already know. Years of building software is what turns them from a toy into a 10x speedup.
Show, don't tell
I'd rather show you something working than send you a slide deck. That's why so much of my work is public.
Useful beats impressive
A cool demo is nice. Something you actually use every day after the demo is better.
Let's talk
Got something you want to build?
Tell us about it. You talk directly with the person who builds it, from the first chat to everything after.
- Reply within a day
- Straight to the builders
- No obligation
NNCODEAI engineering studio · founded by Nicolai Nielsen