I'm Alex Smith, founder of ai Smith pdx — Portland's practical AI shop. I help people and small businesses put AI to work through hands-on consulting, beginner & intermediate classes, and custom websites, apps, and platforms built with AI.
Pick what fits — learn it yourself, get expert help, or have it built for you.
Practical guidance to find where AI saves you time and money — then a plan to actually do it.
Beginner and intermediate classes that demystify AI with real, hands-on use cases. Online and in-person.
Need it done? I design and build websites, apps, and full platforms using AI — fast.
I’m building a full in-person and online training program right now — beginner and intermediate classes that skip the jargon and focus on what you can actually use the same day. Real lesson previews and signup pages drop here over the next couple of weeks. Want first access and a founding-student rate? Get on the early list.
Get comfortable and productive with everyday AI tools — what they are, how to talk to them, and what they’re great (and not great) at.
Go deeper: structure real work into tasks, use skills and connectors, manage context and tokens, and wire AI into the tools you already use.
The fastest way I learned AI was by shipping real products with it. Here's one.
Steady After 50 and Steady Move are both live on the Apple App Store and Google Play — designed, built, and shipped using AI tools.
You see a real, live preview before anything goes public — and your site, code, and Supabase zone stay isolated from every other client. I build with sample data only — real customer data never enters my studio.
Every project follows the same path — and you review a private preview link before launch.
Your own repo, Vercel project, and Supabase zone. I build with sample data only — your real data never lives in my studio.
After 30+ years engineering networks and infrastructure for large organizations, I went all-in on building with AI — and launched ai Smith pdx right here in Portland.
That experience taught me how real systems work under pressure — and AI taught me how fast a person can now turn an idea into something real. I bring both to the table: practical, no-hype help for people and small businesses who want to actually use these tools.
Whether you want to learn it, get advice, or have something built, I'd love to help. ai Smith pdx is based in Portland, OR — working with clients in person locally and everywhere over Zoom.
Let's talkTell me a little about what you're after and I'll get back to you within a day.
Quick question? Use Smithy (chat, bottom-right). Project or intro call? Use this form.