· Posted on X by Kyle Walker @kyle_e_walker · Opinion

Kyle Walker built his own AI agent setup, and doubts most people will

Kyle Walker didn't want to lock himself into another AI subscription, so he built his own agent setup in a day: OpenClaw agents on the VPS he already uses, talking to him and each other as Slack apps, with tightly scoped access to his Mac and Google Workspace, plus skills for maps, analysis and video. Then the twist: he doubts most people will do this. Most will just buy the product, some will hire a consultant, and only a few will roll their own. And he didn't roll his own Slack or OpenClaw either. Personal software still stands on shared infrastructure. Even zombies need a server.

I thought Grok Bot looked cool, but I didn't want to lock myself into yet another AI subscription.

So I built my own setup yesterday.

OpenClaw agents living on the VPS I already use for my automations, communicating with me and each other as Slack apps.

They have the exact amount of access to my work that I need - local agent summaries via agentsview, approval-only access to my Mac via Tailscale, Google Workspace connectors, and more.

As you can see in the video, I've packed them with skills so they can make maps, run analysis, and make videos for me.

So software is dead, right? Who needs Grok Bot?

The thing is, I can't see most people wanting to set all this up.

Most people will just buy Grok Bot.

A smaller but meaningful fraction will hire a consultant or developer to configure the custom setup for them.

And an even smaller fraction is like me and will try to roll their own.

But that's not even what I did! I didn't roll my own Slack. Or OpenClaw. Or G Suite. Or Mapbox. Let alone any of the dependencies those software platforms use.

I do think software will become more and more customizable. It will get easier and easier to set up your own thing.

But setting up your own thing by definition means that there has to be some sort of common infrastructure that the personalized software sits on - at least for the foreseeable future.

— Kyle Walker, read the original on X

More SaaS obituaries

All news →