My AI Startup Journey: Lessons from Building CareerInsighter as a Solopreneur
The real behind-the-scenes story of launching and growing CareerInsighter, challenges faced, and key takeaways for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Alan Lai is the founder of CareerInsighter, an AI-driven platform transforming performance-based hiring and career upskilling through AI role-play and scenario simulations. With over 20 years of experience in high-tech and consulting at companies like Adobe, Amazon, and Wipro Consulting, Alan has mastered the art of negotiation, leadership, and career transitions—skills that he now helps others develop through AI-powered learning experiences.
Alan’s work focuses on helping startups and SMBs find the right talent through AI-driven hiring simulations while also empowering professionals to upskill, transition careers, and scale side hustles using AI. He has been featured in industry discussions on AI in hiring, soft skills development, and the future of work.
Many UX designers dream of turning their expertise into a profitable side hustle but struggle with where to start. In this session, I’ll break down practical, actionable strategies for monetizing UX skills beyond a traditional job, whether through mentoring, consulting, cohort-based courses, workshops, or digital products.
In this session I will share real-life insights from my journey of scaling MarziUXD into a thriving UX education business.
Most see innovation as generating ideas that can change the world. But few think of innovation as the practical implementation of ideas.
As a business, innovation is paramount if you want to thrive. But if you define innovation as simply having ideas, I’ve got bad news for you – ideas without execution are worthless.
So how do you know how to focus your energies and where?
If you want to build a business with the capacity to ideate great ideas and introduce new innovations into the market, here’s a helpful way to look at it.
Utilizing the theme of the conference, we will dive into capturing your idea, refining what problem you plan to solve with your idea, defining your customer base, discovering your niche in the market, and then developing simple pricing structures that are fair to you and your customers. All of this will be done by oversimplifying your ideas to then use as a framework for what will become your detailed business plans for investors, partners, or even just yourself! These principles are meant to be a guiding light for you to stay true to your goals, and how you can help the world be a better place to live.
Many creatives struggle with the balance between artistic passion and profitability. But what if your creative side project could become a thriving business? Dava Guthmiller shares her approach to launching A Dash Of, a brand born from a love of food, storytelling, and curation. Discover how to align your expertise into a niche, test market demand, and build something that brings profit to your passion.
