Curious about AI Agents and coding?

Whether you're brand new to AI, want to work smarter with it, or are building something with it, book a call and you'll leave with clear, practical next steps. I'll also share insights and keep you updated on the latest AI tools in the market.

I'll have your questions answered

Set up your personal AI agent

Pick 15, 30, or 60 minutes, whatever fits. No prep needed, no question too basic.

300+ people trained, from total beginners to founders

Melvin Vivas smiling at the boom mic in his studio

WHAT PEOPLE SAY AFTER A SESSION

“I had a very positive experience speaking with Mr. Melvin. He was nice, cheerful, and very encouraging throughout the conversation.”

300+

People trained

50+

Mentees, from students to founders

Personal AI Agent Setup

Personal AI Agent Setup Service

I set up Hermes, an open-source personal AI agent with its own memory that learns new skills and adapts to you, on the computer you already own. One agent set up directly, or several managed with GAIA, my setup tool. You choose.

Hermes is the agent: it works for you, not just answers questions
GAIA is optional: my tool for running multiple private agents on one computer
Your data stays on your machine, not on someone else's servers
Hands-on setup call, or a free 15-minute consultation first

See the Setup Service Free 15-Min Consultation

Optional GAIA dashboard managing multiple Hermes AI agents on one computer

Optional GAIA tool managing Hermes agentsLearn more

Wherever you are with AI, there's a call for you

Every session is 1-on-1 and tailored to you. Book 15, 30, or 60 minutes, whatever your question needs. No question is too small: if it's about AI, it's on the table.

Personal AI

New to AI? Perfect, start here. I'll help you set up your own AI agent for everyday life: notes, research, planning, right inside the chat apps you already use.

See the Setup Service

AI at Work

Learn to get real work done faster with AI: simple tools and workflows you can start using the same day, whatever your job is.

Talk about AI at work

Build & Integrate

Building a product? Get a second brain on what to build, how to add AI to it, and how to go from idea to something real.

Talk through your build

Updated August 7, 2026

Latest AI news for builders and leaders

Fresh artificial intelligence news, model releases, AI agent updates, research, and enterprise AI announcements curated from primary sources.

View all AI news

ResearchAug 6, 2026

Google DeepMind WeatherNext: open cyclone AI with a day of extra warning

In a Nature paper, Google DeepMind and Google Research showed WeatherNext achieves state-of-the-art accuracy on cyclone track, intensity, and wind structure—on average gaining more than a full day of lead time (three-day forecasts matching prior two-day skill), roughly a decade of meteorological progress. The team is open-sourcing WeatherNext Cyclones (used in the 2025 hurricane season, including NHC support on Hurricane Melissa), WeatherNext 2 (later operationalized update), and WeatherNext 2-mini (single-TPU Colab). Models use Functional Generative Networks for up to 1,000-member ensembles from ~28 km inputs, with forecasts exploreable on Weather Lab as part of Google Earth AI.

Source: Google DeepMindRead source

ModelsAug 6, 2026

GPT-5.6 Sol ChatGPT update expands Luna unlimited chats for free users

OpenAI updated ChatGPT’s everyday models: Plus and Pro get a refreshed GPT-5.6 Sol tuned for more reliable facts and focused answers, plus a new slider that controls how much thought the model puts into each reply (Chat experience only—Work and Codex Sol are unchanged). Free and Go users switch to GPT-5.6 Luna as the default this week, then gain unlimited text chats and a Think button for harder questions starting next week, with limits still applying to file uploads, images, and other tools. TechCrunch notes ChatGPT recently crossed 1 billion weekly users as OpenAI removes text-chat caps for free tiers.

Source: OpenAIRead source

ModelsAug 6, 2026

Alibaba Wan 3.0 public beta: native 30-second AI video from docs and media

Alibaba opened a public beta of Wan 3.0, doubling prior Wan 2.7 clip length to native 30-second videos with intelligent duration suggestions and extension tools for unbroken camera moves and narratives. Beyond text, image, audio, and video, Wan 3.0 accepts webpages and documents (PDF, PowerPoint, spreadsheets, Markdown) so creators can turn static briefs into video; Alibaba highlights high-precision visual continuity for faces, multilingual voice, UI/motion graphics, and strict character/product/layout fidelity from references. Beta access is via Model Studio, Qwen Cloud, and the Wan creation site, with API pricing reported at ¥0.3/¥0.6/¥1.2 per second for 480P/720P/1080P as full API access rolls out.

Source: AlizilaRead source

Meet Your Mentor

25+yrs

300+trained

Book an AI Q&A Call Connect on LinkedIn

Melvin Vivas

Engineer, mentor, and your friendly guide to AI

I help everyday people, professionals, and founders make sense of AI, and no question is too basic. Most of my mentees started exactly where you are now.

Behind that is 25 years of engineering across banking, fintech, and enterprise. These days it's hands-on work building AI apps and running my own daily life on a personal AI agent.

Whether you're a student, a working professional, a leader, or a founder, you'll get someone who's done the work and explains it in plain language.

Senior roles at Standard Chartered Bank & Ohmyhome (Nasdaq)

Built AI Dream Photo, an AI photo app used by real customers

Building aibackends.com, free open-source AI tools for developers

Building skillsbento.com, an AI Agent Skills marketplace

Speaker at NTU Singapore, PSIA, and DICT Philippines

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) Open Mentoring: Connecting Minds

Live & unscripted

Watch my past livestreams

The easiest way to get a feel for how I explain things: watch me build with AI, live. No edits, no script, mistakes and all.

Let's explore ChatGPT / OpenAI APIs

A relaxed walk through the OpenAI platform and APIs, explained from scratch.

Build a React Native ChatGPT app with Cursor, OpenAI, and Expo

A full app built live, from empty folder to working AI chat on a phone.

Enrich your Life and Work with AI

A talk on bringing AI into your everyday life and work, in plain language.

Watch my NTU Singapore workshop demo More livestreams on YouTube

My personal AI

What I actually ask my AI

These are real conversations with my personal AI agent lately:

“Every hour during trading hours, remind me about my stock investments”“Read these screenshots from my kids' school app and remind me of the deadlines”“What happened at the F1 British Grand Prix?”“Any Wimbledon updates?”“Find me a decent monitor to replace my old one”“What Korean drama should I watch next?”“Give me some non-software business ideas”“Summarize this video posted on X”“Make me a video”

Notice anything? None of it is about coding. My AI is a personal agent that helps me run everyday life. You can have one too. I'll set up Hermes on your computer (GAIA is optional if you want multiple agents), around your own routines.

Get your own personal agent Book a call

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