iswain.dev
Ian Swain  ·  AI Engineer  ·  Available for new projects

I build AI tools that run your
business while you sleep.

Building AI tools for restaurants, landlords, and local businesses. Guest questions answered. Leads captured. Websites built. One-time fee. Source code yours.

Deployed in days, not months.  You see it running before the final invoice.

15+
AI tools built and deployed
448hr
Typical time to first working demo
100%
Source code ownership — no lock-in
<24hr
Response time
Real builds

Live and running.

These aren't mockups. Every link below goes to a deployed, working tool.

🤖
Restaurant Chatbot
Live · Due Sorelle, Philadelphia
chatbot · reservations · guest Q&Alive

AI Guest Chatbot

Handles guest questions, hours, menu, and reservation requests automatically. Built for a South Philadelphia restaurant. Runs 24/7 with no staff involvement.

24/7One-time feeNo subscriptions
Try the live demo →
App Generator
Type a business. Get a live app.
web app · lead capture · landing pagelive

AI App Builder

Enter your business name and type — get a fully designed, working web app in under 60 seconds. See what a custom build looks like before you spend a dollar.

AI-PoweredLive PreviewNo Account Needed
Try the live demo →
📋
Automation Audit
Free · Takes 2 minutes
audit · report · freelive

Business Automation Audit

Answer 12 questions about how your business runs. Get a scored report showing exactly where you're losing time — and what to fix first.

FreeNo sign-upPDF download
Take the free audit →
Engineering depth

Built to learn. Deployed to show.

Full-stack, AI, and integration projects — each targeting a specific skill gap.

Vue 3 · Pinia · vue-router · Vitelive

Decipher — Vue SPA

Migrated a server-rendered Flask game to a Vue 3 SPA. Backend unchanged throughout — new frontend consumes existing API, deployed independently. Documents the server-rendered → SPA refactor pattern used in ColdFusion modernization work.

Live demo →
Node.js · Express · Vue 3 · SQLitelive

Node CRM

Full-stack contact manager. Express REST API with bcrypt session auth, ownership-checked CRUD, and notes. Vue 3 frontend with Pinia state management and debounced search. Deployed as a single service with the Vue build served statically.

Live demo →
ChromaDB · embeddings · Flask · OpenRouterlive

RAG Knowledge Base

End-to-end RAG pipeline. Documents are chunked, embedded locally with all-MiniLM-L6-v2, and stored in ChromaDB. Questions retrieve the top-3 semantic matches, which are passed to an LLM for grounded answer synthesis with source citations.

Live demo →
LLM function calling · Python · OpenRoutergithub

Tool-Use Agent

Agentic AI system with structured function calling. Four tools: web search, stock prices, sandboxed math, and SQLite notes. Multi-step reasoning loop with transparent tool call display and 10-iteration safety cap.

View on GitHub →
Slack API · GitHub API · Flask · webhooksgithub

Slack → GitHub Bot

Webhook middleware connecting Slack and GitHub. Verifies Slack HMAC signatures, sends the description through an LLM to generate a structured title and labels, then creates the GitHub issue via REST API and replies ephemerally with the URL.

View on GitHub →
Problems I solve

Common automation problems.

Sound familiar? There's a tool for it.

Customer support overload
AI chatbots answer common questions and capture leads — 24/7, without staff.
Manual reporting
Automated reports generated, formatted, and sent on schedule — no manual pulling.
Repetitive admin work
Scripts and bots handle the busywork automatically — scheduling, follow-up, data entry.
Disconnected tools
APIs and integrations that make your existing systems talk to each other.
Slow lead follow-up
Automated outreach sequences that respond instantly and keep your pipeline moving.
Paying for SaaS you could own
One custom build replaces the monthly subscription — you keep the tool forever.
How it works

Three steps.

01
You describe the problem

Tell me what's eating your time or slowing you down. No jargon needed — a plain description of the problem is all I need to get started.

02
I build the solution

I design, build, and deploy the solution. You see it running live before the final invoice — no surprises, no scope creep.

03
You own it

You receive the full source code, documentation, and two weeks of post-launch support. No subscriptions, no lock-in — it's yours to keep and run.

Most development shops
  • Long-term contracts with no exit — ongoing fees forever
  • They keep the code — you can never leave
  • Weeks of discovery before you see anything
My approach
  • One flat build — no recurring fees
  • Full source code delivered — it's yours to keep or move
  • Running live in days, not weeks
Case study

Harbor Coffee Co. Chatbot.

A real build, start to finish.

Problem

Staff spent hours answering the same customer questions — hours, menu, specials, WiFi password. No system to capture customer emails either.

Solution

AI chatbot embedded directly on the website. Answers common questions, captures email leads, and sends the owner a daily summary of all conversations.

Timeline

Built and deployed in 4 days.

Results
80%of customer questions answered automatically
24/7availability — no staff involvement required
100%source code owned by the client — no lock-in
A recent chatbot build now handles most customer questions automatically — hours, menu, specials — so staff no longer repeat the same answers all day.
Try the live demo →
What I build

AI systems that pay for themselves.

Philadelphia small businesses run on tight margins and tighter time. Every build is scoped to your exact workflow — not a template. Includes full source code, deployment, and two weeks of live support. You see it running before the final invoice.

01
lead capture

Automated Lead Capture & Booking System

Handles guest questions, reservation requests, hours, and lead collection — automatically, 24/7. Staff stops answering the same questions by phone. Every inquiry is captured and logged. Guests get instant responses at 2 AM or 2 PM.

See a live example →
  • Live on your site in 48 hours
  • Captures every inquiry as a named lead automatically
  • Handles reservations, Q&A, hours — no staff required
  • One-time setup — full source code yours
02
free

Business Automation Audit

Free. I find every hour you're losing to manual work. Answer 12 questions about how your business runs — get a scored report with a ranked action list. No sales pitch. Just the facts.

Take the free audit →
  • 12-question assessment
  • Scored report by category
  • Ranked list of what to fix first
  • PDF download — no sign-up
03
full build

Website Design & Overhaul

No templates. No page builders. I build fast, clean websites that convert — coded from scratch, source code yours. If your site looks like it was built in 2015 or made on Wix, this is for you.

Get a quote →
  • Custom design — not a theme
  • Fast, mobile-first, SEO-ready
  • Built to convert visitors into leads
  • Full source code ownership
04
custom system

Custom Automation System

You tell me where time and revenue are leaking. I map the full workflow, identify every manual step a system should own, and build the fix — deployed, documented, and tested against your real data before handover.

Describe your problem →
  • Scoped to your exact workflow — not a template
  • Deployed live, tested with real data
  • Documented and supported for two weeks post-launch
  • Full source code — no lock-in, no recurring fees
05
audit

The Discovery Sprint

$499. A 5-page technical audit that maps your current workflow against an automated future state — every time cost, every gap, every fix, in priority order. If we build together, the $499 applies to your project cost.

Book a Discovery Sprint →
  • 5-page written audit delivered in 5 business days
  • Current workflow vs. automated future state
  • Prioritized fix list with time and cost estimates
  • Full $499 credited toward any build
How fast does it ship?
Discovery Sprint5 business days
Lead Capture & Booking System48 hours
Website overhaul1–2 weeks
Custom Automation System1–3 weeks
Start a project →
About

13 years in operations.
Now I automate it.

I spent 13 years running operations — retail, multi-channel, front-of-house. I watched businesses lose hours every day to work that a well-built system handles in seconds. So I learned to build those systems.

I don't hand you a SaaS subscription and walk away. I build the tool, deploy it, hand you the source code, and you own it. No lock-in. No recurring fees. No dependency on me to keep the lights on.

I work with restaurants, local businesses, and anyone who's tired of doing manually what a machine should be doing.

Languages
AI & Automation
RAG Pipelines Multi-Agent Systems Vector Embeddings LLM Tool Use Prompt Engineering
Python Node.js JavaScript SQL Bash
Frameworks
Flask Express.js Vue.js React / Next.js
AI / Data
OpenRouter ChromaDB RAG pipelines LLM function calling n8n
Infrastructure
GitHub Actions Render Railway Vercel PostgreSQL SQLite
$ python deploy_chatbot.py --client "Due Sorelle"
✓ Training on menu, hours, and FAQs...
✓ Embedding on client site...
✓ Live at demos.iswain.dev/restaurant/
✓ Source code delivered to client
Done in 4.2s — no subscriptions attached
Background

14 years before the code.

01

Freelance Software Developer

ISDev (iswain.dev) — Amissville, VA

Design and deliver custom AI tools, automation systems, and web applications for small business clients. Full project lifecycle from brief to live deployment.

Oct 2025 – Present
02

Certified Sales Representative

GreenLabs — Baltimore, MD

High-volume retail environment. HIPAA and MCA compliance. Multiple Employee of the Month awards.

Sep 2024 – Oct 2025
03

Team Manager

Charm City Hemp LLC — Baltimore, MD

Operations across three retail locations — staffing, scheduling, inventory, and performance management. Improved staff retention through structured coaching.

May 2022 – Nov 2023
04

General Manager

Harbor Vapor LLC — Fells Point, MD

Full store operations — training, scheduling, inventory systems, and team culture. Grew location to top performer in the portfolio.

Oct 2017 – Nov 2020
05

Social Marketing Director & Sales Manager

The Gathering / Baltimore Food Truck Festivals — Baltimore, MD

Led promotional strategy for three multi-city food festival events. Ran campaigns for 50+ independent vendors. Grew audience to 1M+ views and 200,000+ followers across platforms.

Apr 2012 – Dec 2015
Contact

Let's build
something.

Tell me what task is eating your time. I'll tell you if it can be automated.
Available Mon–Sat, 9am–9pm EST · Usually responds same day

contact@iswain.dev

AI tools may produce inaccurate results. Review all outputs before use.

Start a Project →