19: How I Use Claude Code and Obsidian to Replace My CRM, My Intern, and My Memory - Will Schmidt and Sam Kamani

In this episode, I sit down with Will to dig into the practical, everyday ways we are using AI to get more done with less effort. We talk about how Will is using Claude Code with Obsidian to build a personal, local CRM that organises itself — no boring admin, no forgotten follow-ups. I share how my 12-year-old built a Google Chrome extension in an afternoon that automates filling out Luma event registration forms, a task I used to pay him to do manually. We also get into the bigger picture: why Meta is on track to overtake Google in ad revenue for the first time, why half the planned US data centres may never get built, and why Claude is quietly winning the enterprise AI race while everyone watches OpenAI. If you want real, no-hype examples of how AI is changing the way we work and build, this episode is for you.

Disclaimer

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--- KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS ---

• [00:00] Sam and Will open with the Allbirds AI pivot and the broader trend of companies rebranding as AI plays

• [01:15] Why half of the planned US data centres may never be built due to legal battles, neighbour complaints, and rising electricity costs

• [02:00] Will shares how he uses Claude Code for SEO keyword research and competitor analysis via a Node.js app

• [02:41] The problem with CRMs — you start using them, get busy, and suddenly the data is three months old

• [03:03] What Obsidian is, how it works with markdown files, and why its small team makes serious revenue

• [04:48] Using Obsidian as a local personal database — letting Claude Code handle all the organisation and linking

• [06:18] Live demo: setting up a brand new Obsidian vault and letting Claude Code populate and connect it

• [09:29] Sam's challenge — managing contacts across WhatsApp, Telegram, multiple emails, LinkedIn, and Twitter

• [10:33] Will's advice: start simple, paste in Zoom transcripts, and let Claude Code write the notes and to-dos

• [13:43] Sam's idea to upload transcripts from 500 podcast episodes and let AI find connections between guests and ideas

• [14:04] How Sam's 12-year-old built a Chrome extension to auto-fill Luma event registration forms using Claude

• [16:38] Why this kind of tool would have been a SaaS product a few years ago — and why it no longer needs to be

• [17:37] The real challenge today is not building, it is distribution, branding, and getting the name out

• [19:34] Live Perplexity search: Meta is on track to surpass Google in digital ad revenue for the first time

• [20:20] Why the old argument that search intent beats demographic data has flipped — Meta now knows what you want

• [21:27] Claude at 30 million users has higher revenue than OpenAI at 900 million — because enterprise and developers choose Claude

• [22:37] The AI model arms race: Gemini, Claude, OpenAI, and why competition is great for users

• [22:57] Why Google's image AI watermark is ending up in images generated by every other AI model