10 Years in Advertising. 6 Years Building AI. Now I Teach Others How.
I consult with product teams on AI features and run a free course that takes non-technical people from zero to a deployed app.
AJ Otranto, New York, 2026
I spent 10 years at ad agencies in New York. Big brands, big teams, a lot of PowerPoint. The useful thing I took from it: focus on the problem first, not the tool.
In 2020, I started building AI products — first as side projects, then as tools for the agency, then as full products for clients. I've built AI tools for ad agencies, wedding venues, small service businesses, and a couple of my own SaaS products.
Now I split my time between consulting and teaching. I created a free vibe coding course that takes you from truly zero — installing VS Code, talking to Claude, deploying to Vercel. The people I made it for are the ones who want to build something but don't know what to install or where to type.
Chess and code scratch the same itch — you think you see three moves ahead, and then you don't.
A lot of my free time looks like small experiments. I'll build a tiny tool to solve an annoying problem, obsess over the workflow for a week, then either ship it, scrap it, or fold it into the next idea.
I've been a chess person for as long as I can remember. My poppy taught me how to play when I was young, and it's something I've stuck with ever since. Not in a “serious tournament arc” way, more in a “give me puzzles, openings, and a quiet hour to think” way.
I'm engaged, and most weeks are some mix of work, building, trying to stay consistent in the gym, getting humbled by Spanish, seeing friends, and trying to be a normal person who doesn't turn everything into a project.
Fun fact: my greatest accomplishment is getting on the wall at my local Applebee's (Floyd Football, 2013). Peak performance.
Want to work together?
I'm currently accepting engagements for Q2 2026.