About me
I learned this by running a business.
I’m Mike Hodgen. Founder & AI Systems Builder.
I co-founded a DTC fashion brand and helped build a microfactory in San Diego. I’ve had products to make, a team to support, and customers waiting for their orders. I know what it feels like when the work keeps finding its way back to you.
AI became useful to me when it started changing that work. Product creation. Inventory decisions. Content. Customer service. I built systems around the things the business actually needed, and learned their limits along the way.
That is how I work with other companies now. Understand the business, choose a useful place to start, and build something the team can rely on.
The work now spans production tracking, marketing approvals, and daily marketing briefs. That is also what I bring into corporate AI training: how to choose useful tasks, check the results, and keep decisions in the right hands.
My own business, 2024
The work had to earn its place.
These are historical results from the business I operated. They are the experience I bring, not a promise about yours.
Revenue per employee
Manual operations time
The path here
Operating experience comes first.
A business from the ground up
My co-founder and I started with $200 in fabric, hand-sewing in an apartment and selling on Etsy. I learned the business by doing the work.
Own the way the work gets done
We built a microfactory in San Diego. Making our own products meant we could respond to customers quickly. It also meant every operating decision was ours to make.
Learn to adapt under pressure
Live events stopped. A business built around festivals had to find its way through. That experience made me serious about understanding costs, making decisions from evidence, and finding better ways to work.
Put better tools inside the business
Inventory planning, product work, content, pricing, and customer service became a practical testing ground. I learned where AI helped, where it needed supervision, and where a simpler tool was the right answer.
Bring that experience to your business
I work with owners and teams who want useful AI in the business they already run. I help choose the work, build what is needed, and take responsibility for the result.
In print and in conversation
More of the story.
Interviews and coverage about the business, the work, and what I learned.