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[ARTICLE · art-33487] src=news.ycombinator.com ↗ pub= topic=artificial-intelligence verified=true sentiment=· neutral

Applied AI Engineer/ Product Builder/ Data Science

Alex Horton, an applied AI engineer and product builder based in Santa Cruz, CA, is seeking remote or hybrid work in SF/Socal, specializing in turning messy ideas and datasets into AI-assisted products using open-source, private AI agent platforms to avoid vendor lock-in.

read1 min views5 publishedJun 19, 2026

Location: Santa Cruz, CA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Remote Preferred. SF/Socal Hybrid ok

Applied AI / product builder (Full Stack). I’m strongest at turning messy ideas, workflows, datasets, and APIs into useful AI-assisted products and prototypes; especially where product judgment, user understanding, automation, and modern LLM/agent tooling matter.

In a world where AI is become exponentially more intelligent in general, a recurring challenge has become harnessing that intelligence for specific, personalized real world applications, not just generic generalized intelligence. This is what I do in addition to and in conjunction with Product Development, Data Science, and Bot Building.

I scope problems by optimizing for specific organizational or enterprise goals, and choose the tech stack that helps support the achievement of those goals in both the short and long term.

I work with a lot of open source, personalized, persistent AI agent harnesses and platforms; avoiding the lock in of major AI labs and vendors, keeping data private, and allowing the same system to swap in different LLMs.

Technologies and Tools: Claude Code, Hermes Agent Harness, Obsidian, Docker, Terminal (and many others)

Résumé/CV: https://alexhorton.dev Email: horton.alexander@gmail.com

Websites: https://Bitcoinmachinelearning.com https://EnergyScout.org https://Propfi.Live (beta demo)

Comments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48594452](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48594452)

Points: 1

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