When someone asks me what I do, I usually say I'm an AI app developer Scotland-based, building custom tools for businesses that want something more useful than a chatbot bolted onto their website. But the question I get asked more often — especially by business owners who've never commissioned software before — is: what does that actually mean in practice? What am I building with, and why?
It's a fair question. So here's an honest look at the stack I use and the thinking behind it.
The Tools I Use (And Why I Chose Them)
Every app I build runs on four core technologies: React, Supabase, Netlify and the Claude API. That's not an accident — it's a setup I've landed on after building real projects for real businesses, and it handles almost everything a Scottish SME is likely to need.
- React gives me a fast, flexible front end. Whether I'm building an internal dashboard for a Ayrshire logistics firm or a client-facing tool for a hospitality business in Glasgow, it handles the interface cleanly.
- Supabase is the database and authentication layer. It means user data is structured, secure and queryable — not just floating in some API response.
- Netlify handles deployment and serverless functions. Builds go live quickly, and I can run backend logic without managing a full server.
- The Claude API is where the intelligence comes in. It's the reasoning engine — the part that reads documents, generates outputs, answers questions or processes information in ways that feel genuinely useful rather than gimmicky.
Together, these four tools let me move from brief to working prototype faster than most agencies can finish writing a proposal. That speed matters — especially for smaller businesses that don't have six months to wait for something useful.
What This Looks Like in the Real World
Right now I'm working on a project for a hospitality venue in North Ayrshire. The app pulls in live briefing data, syncs it to a Supabase database, and uses Claude to surface relevant information when staff need it — without anyone having to dig through emails or shared folders. It's not glamorous software. It's just practical, and it saves time every single day.
That's the pattern with most of the work I do as an AI app developer Scotland businesses actually hire. It's not about building something impressive to show off — it's about replacing a slow, manual process with something that runs quietly in the background and does its job.
I've also been building out CRM-style tools for businesses running outreach campaigns — tracking prospects, logging contacts, managing follow-ups — all connected to an AI layer that helps with drafting and prioritisation. The kind of thing a small team genuinely uses every day.
Why the Stack Matters to You
If you're a Scottish business thinking about getting a custom AI app built, the technology choices your developer makes will affect how fast you get something live, how much it costs to maintain, and whether it can grow with you. A sensible stack built by an experienced AI app developer Scotland-based means you're not locked into something fragile or overengineered.
I keep things lean, practical and deployable. No unnecessary complexity. Just tools that work, put together by someone who builds with them every week.
If you've got a process in your business that feels like it should be automated by now — get in touch and tell me about it. I'm always happy to have a straightforward conversation about what's actually possible.