Felix Rehsberg's $20 AI Companion: Automating Tedious Tasks to Free Creative Energy

May 25, 2026 · Lenny's Podcast
🎧 PodShort 59 min squeezed to 2 AI SprinklerAS Sales Tech
Episode artwork
Felix Rehsberg
Lead Product Manager at Anthropic
Lenny's Podcast
59 min squeezed to 2
Full episode from Lenny's Podcast
Quotable Moments

AI is used poorly if it just needs to move the mouse cursor for you. I want AI to do a bunch of annoying things in the background to free you up for your creative energy.

Felix RehsbergLead Product Manager at Anthropic
00:00

The biggest gap that I see, it's not the capabilities of the tools, it is literally people being able to understand that almost any problem can go into these tools.

Clara VellProduct Leader and AI Obsessive at Anthropic
00:09

I have built this little thing, which is just like a teeny tiny clod on a little stick... I want my little clod to live on this thing, and I want it to cheer me on every single time I do a good job, and also, every single time I need to approve something that clod is doing. I wanted to be on this big button that is out here.

Felix RehsbergLead Product Manager at Anthropic
00:19
Key Insights
  • AI is most effective when handling annoying, background tasks, freeing up human creative energy, rather than just basic cursor movements.
  • The primary obstacle to AI adoption is not the tools' capabilities, but users' inability to perceive that AI can solve nearly any problem.
  • Felix built a personalized hardware 'Clod buddy' for $20 to facilitate interaction with AI, acting as a physical button for approvals and encouragement.
  • Children demonstrate a 'truly magical' interaction with AI because they haven't learned to limit their requests, treating the computer as if it can do anything.
  • We are in a 'pre-convergence' period for AI tooling and experiences, meaning the industry is still exploring various forms (like different input methods or AI models) without a dominant standard.
  • Using your email as a 'source of truth' for personal inventory (e.g., furniture purchases, medical documents) allows AI to manage and organize complex personal data automatically.
  • A powerful strategy for leveraging AI is the 'anti-to-do list' principle: if a task is tedious, ask AI to do it, then figure out how to automate it to never do it again.
  • It is increasingly acceptable to consult AI even when one is not the ultimate authority on a subject (e.g., medical issues), as AI provides context and simplifies information without needing perfect understanding of its internal workings.
Metrics Mentioned
  • $20 (Cost to build your own hardware Claude buddy, including shipping.)
  • Hours vs. Weeks (Engineers ship features in hours that used to take weeks using Cursor and Claude code.)
  • 200 (Number of AI workflows listed on the How I AI website.)
  • $19 (Cost of a hardware stick with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to connect with AI.)

RevBots.ai View:

  • "AI Sprinkler teams waste $19 WiFi sticks on gimmicks while missing workflow automation opportunities"
  • "Tab Hoppers should adopt Felix's 'anti-to-do list': if it's tedious, automate it immediately"
  • "ARM maturity means replacing SaaS hoarder dashboards with live AI artifacts that self-update"
  • "Revenue leaders must identify repetitive tasks (like approval flows) for AI delegation first"
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