Vikram Bhalla

Creatively directing humans @2dsgn by day.
Creatively directing AI in Claude Code by night.

Follow my Substack on AI:

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

I’ve started a Substack! 🤓

Every week, I’ll be talking about all the ways I use AI to remove/reduce big and small frictions in my life and the lives of those around me (primarily @Kaju_Katri, who is my most patient guinea pig).

It’s going to be about giving AI the stuff we hate to do, so we have more time and mental bandwidth to do the stuff we actually love.

I’m going to try and keep it light, not too technical, and maybe even… fun??

https://t.co/Ftpq4WNrHV

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

In our scariest, most adultmaxxing challenge yet, @kaju_katri and I are now thinking of building a home.

Except I’m lost when anyone starts talking square metres or worse, square footage. Don’t even get me started on the imperial system.

So I built a little tool with @claudeai that lets me draw a house and actually understand how much space we need.

It’s so simple I haven’t even bothered hosting the tool anywhere. You could ask Claude to build you your own version tonight.

I get into it on my Substack. Link below:

https://t.co/NWJclr2Q4v

🏡

[ThePrintIndia @ThePrintIndia]

'Every Indian thinks their mango is the best. Goa is making a case too—through exhibits, tastings'

Karanjeet Kaur @Kaju_Katri, columnist, writes

#ThePrintOpinion

https://t.co/1rh7Nw3i7Y

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

Here's a radical idea — if you don't want your writing to sound like AI, maybe don't use AI to write for you.

I'm not advocating that everyone avoid using AI entirely, of course. Because it's undeniably great at research, brainstorming, even editing and feedback. In fact, a real unlock I've found is having @claudeai "interview" me in depth about my ideas, which, ironically, takes longer but brings so much more clarity.

But the actual writing? I recommend you do that yourself.

This week's post is all about how I now use AI in my writing process, without AI ever writing a single word for me.

Read at the link below:
https://t.co/7mZ3DFk4NE

[ThePrintIndia @ThePrintIndia]

'In India’s NEET and CBSE exam crisis, the only adults in the room have been children'

Karanjeet Kaur @Kaju_Katri, columnist, writes

#ThePrintOpinion

https://t.co/rrXKYi7SOo

[ThePrintIndia @ThePrintIndia]

'Twisha Sharma’s death became another public trial of a modern Indian woman'—ThePrint columnist Karanjeet Kaur @Kaju_Katri in this week's column

https://t.co/53ZRlda9iK

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

Opus 4.8 just showed up for me! No official announcement yet, but it’s rolling out, folks!

Thanks @AnthropicAI! 🕺🏻

Happy Opus Day to all who celebrate! 🥳

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

For 16 years running my own creative firm, I've had to be Creative Director/Admin guy/HR/Legal team/intern. One of the least glamorous parts of my job involves making monthly reports to send to our retainer clients.

It used to mean 9-12 painstaking hours across clients, every month, reconstructing work we'd already done, scanning emails, Trello/Asana, messages, meeting notes... And the best reply I could hope for was a 👍.

So as soon as I could, of course, I automated the whole damn thing. Now all I need to do is review the final report. The thumbs-up persists, but at least now it feels well earned.

Read all about it on my latest Substack post. See what I built, and why I'm never doing this task manually again.

https://t.co/Wki78aqGZN

[ThePrintIndia @ThePrintIndia]

'Twisha Sharma’s death became another public trial of a modern Indian woman'

Karanjeet Kaur @Kaju_Katri, columnist, writes

#ThePrintOpinion

https://t.co/TnfjUASMvN

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

Curious about Mimir? Here’s an introduction:

https://t.co/YYZV52ONyq

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

Mimir, my personal OS, goes on physical! 🤖

Thanks, @M5Stack!

[ThePrintIndia @ThePrintIndia]

Why middle-aged Indian women are hiring Rahul Roy for romance- ThePrint columnist Karanjeet Kaur @Kaju_Katri explains

https://t.co/hkdDWcjn8q

[ThePrintIndia @ThePrintIndia]

'Why middle-aged Indian women are hiring Rahul Roy for romance'

Karanjeet Kaur @Kaju_Katri, columnist, writes

#ThePrintOpinion

https://t.co/KcEpvKsIjf

[ThePrintIndia @ThePrintIndia]

In light of the recent case of the Manipuri nanny allegedly abused by her employers at IIM-Bangalore, columnist Karanjeet Kaur @Kaju_Katri examines the relationship between caste and merit at India’s pre-eminent educational institutions

https://t.co/ZPYWmGgYML

[ThePrintIndia @ThePrintIndia]

Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts is hosting Growing Up in Mário’s World—a month-long exhibition of a hundred original works from a private collection. Watch Karanjeet Kaur @Kaju_Katri in this week's column for ThePrint

https://t.co/uI3ZP8UUTl

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

Most of us open Microsoft Word or Google Docs regularly and probably don't even notice what feels like 128 icons and menus around the blank page. That's because tools like Word have to serve everyone — from the person who only needs basic formatting to the power user who somehow figures out how to run Doom inside it.

For a long time, that model worked well enough. Scale was the point. Build for the broadest possible user base, keep adding features, and expect everyone else to adapt.

But things are shifting. When I sat down to think about what I actually needed from a writing tool, I realised Word was too much for me. So I built my own, inside Mimir. And it's perfect. For me.

I don't want to onboard another tool. I want the tool to onboard me.

My latest post is up on Substack:
https://t.co/wztU855XJh

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

If you’re curious about Mimir, my accidental personal OS, I introduce it on my Substack, link below:

https://t.co/YYZV52ONyq

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

The first addition I made to Mimir, back when I thought I was just building a multi-LLM chatbot, was a sassy little "robot companion" that lived next to the text box and reacted to what I was doing on the app.

That first ASCII-style prototype was modelled on my soul dog, Jamun, who'd passed away a few weeks before I began the build.

Last week, OpenAI released /pets — a little animated companion that “lives” in Codex and reacts to the things you do on the app.

So I took a page from their book and updated my old “robot”. Now, a little Jamun lives in Mimir — reacting to what I'm doing, being playful sometimes, and promptly falling asleep when left alone for too long. Just like my OG.

Consider this my tribute to the kindest dog that ever lived.

[Shekhar Gupta @ShekharGupta]

'Mario Miranda belongs in India’s art galleries, not just Goa. He was more than a cartoonist'

Karanjeet Kaur @Kaju_Katri writes

#ThePrintOpinion

[ThePrintIndia @ThePrintIndia]

Gautam Khattar row: People of Goa continue to defy polarisation tactics. But it no longer feels easy—Karanjeet Kaur @Kaju_Katri discusses in this week's column for ThePrint.

https://t.co/oloxf0oOlZ

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

Follow my Substack for weekly posts about how I'm using AI to do the things I hate, so I have more time and space to do the things I love:

https://t.co/NNGznCZ4GN

[Vikram Bhalla @vikram_2dsgn]

For years, every new app or platform I onboarded began the same way. I had to introduce myself, add my work context, connect the dots, and hope that somewhere along that convoluted process, my life actually got easier.

Now, I no longer add my context to the tools.

I can finally build the tools on top of my context.

If that very specific but very tiresome friction resonates, and you're curious to know how I solved it, the details are in my latest Substack article, linked below:

https://t.co/E1V3zKG0zQ