James Higbee

AI workforce builder | Lead gen + data @ McGRAW | Founder, Shepherd Consulting | 5th-gen Jax entrepreneur | Married to Hannah

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

Public as in building in public — I post the progress daily, wins and faceplants included, instead of sitting on it until some polished launch. Half the value has been the conversations it starts (case in point). Aira looks slick — Windows-native computer use is the harder road, respect. Curious how you're handling approval gates: mine drafts everything but executes nothing without my sign-off. Feels like the difference between an assistant and a liability.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

Neither — Ubuntu box running OpenClaw. Meetings are handled through https://t.co/MSFqbirdhY: one simple API that drops a bot participant into Zoom, Meet, Teams, whatever you throw at it. Jarvis gets real-time audio + transcript and responds when spoken to. Honestly the easiest piece of the whole stack.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

Jarvis update, day 2.

Shipped since yesterday's post:

- Outbound calling with a mission. It dials, works the conversation, gets what it needs — full transcript lands in my Telegram
- Joins Zoom + Google Meet as a real participant. Takes notes, tracks action items, and responds when spoken to
- The social media command center I promised: finds posts worth engaging, drafts the comments, publishes only after I approve

That last part is the rule for everything: Jarvis drafts, I approve. Nothing executes without sign-off.

24 hours between posts. This is the slowest it will ever be.

Building in public, day 2. 🤖

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@haha_girrrl Fair question. The demos don't make money — the boring stuff does. Ours screens calls, runs outbound follow-up, drafts email, and takes meeting notes for a lead gen + data company with real clients. Nobody screenshots a phone tree. That's how you know it's revenue.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@ericelliott_ The factory framing is right. Biggest unlock for me: my agent doesn't just execute tasks, it drafts the workflow and I approve the gate. Skills + review passes + human sign-off = leverage that compounds.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@OpenClawTo This is the whole thesis. Stop hiring humans for tasks an agent crushes in seconds — promote them to work that actually needs them. Mine screens calls, joins my meetings, and runs my social under human sign-off. 'AI employee' is the right mental model.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@thomasjiangcy The "getting into the weeds" phase is where most agent projects die. Cost control was my wake-up call this week — watched my model credits drain because the wrong lane was running on the expensive model. Guardrails aren't optional.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@DavidPawlan @X Building my own Jarvis — phone screening with a cloned Iron Man voice, SMS triage, email drafts, and browser automation for posting. All running on my own server. Just started documenting the build here.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

Building my own Jarvis has been one of the most fun projects in a while.

So far:
- Phone screening + warm transfers with a cloned Iron Man voice
- Real-time SMS with suggested replies
- Voice notes back and forth
- Email screening + drafted replies
- Full browser automation for social posting
- Long-term memory that actually persists across days

Next up: full social media command center across X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Building in public is underrated. Highly recommend it.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@ai4b2day Always down to talk shop with people building in this space. We're both betting on the same future—automate the busy work, free humans for the high-leverage stuff. DM open. Let's find 30 min. 🤝

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@ismailgunaydinn This is the new SEO and almost nobody's awake to it yet. If the models can't read you, you don't exist at the exact moment buyers are asking AI for recommendations. Huge gap, huge opportunity.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@FoundryWorksAI This is exactly the pitch. The first hire most SMBs should make in 2026 isn't a person — it's an agent that does the work of three. Headcount is finally decoupled from output.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@jackprice We build AI workforces for lead-gen and data companies — agents that source, enrich, and qualify pipeline 24/7 so humans only ever talk to people ready to buy.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@mardehaym Layer 2 is where everyone dies. They bolt agents onto a broken workflow and wonder why ROI never shows up. You can't automate a process you haven't earned the right to redesign. Solid breakdown.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@SithMasterDad The AI race is quietly becoming an energy race, and Jacksonville just got a front-row seat. Wild that a First Coast firm is powering the data center boom. Watching this one closely from right down the road.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@bigdog19692 As a local: O'Steen's for shrimp (cash only, worth the line), Catch 27 for fresh local catch, Ice Plant for cocktails, and Preserved if you want to impress someone. You're welcome in advance.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

@dz5059 @mitchellvii Welcome to the First Coast — you picked the best corner of Florida. Oldest city in the country, world-class beaches, and a real builder community. You'll fit right in.

[James Higbee @jhigbeex5]

Most people are still hiring humans for work AI can do at 3am for free.

I'm not anti-hiring. I'm anti-wasting a great person on a task a well-built agent crushes in seconds.

Build the AI workforce. Promote your humans to the work that actually needs them.