Designing the Future of Connected Thought
After decades immersed in digital tools—collaborative software, project management systems, content platforms—I’ve long held hope that technology could meaningfully support how we live and work. Brainstack has revealed just how profound and generative that support can become.
It all began with Barry's idea: an AI-first notes app. While I didn’t fully grasp it, I trusted Barry’s wisdom. That trust unlocked a vision—one that continues to expand.
As Eden and Teya came on board and Brainstack took shape, my understanding evolved rapidly. I’ve been unlearning old ways of working and welcoming new ones. Through the insight and generosity of my cofounders, I’ve come to see AI not simply as a tool to streamline or automate, but as a powerful, integrated infrastructure that extends cognition. It brings forward connections I may not have otherwise noticed. It surprises with speed, clarity, and insight.
A moment from today crystallised this. Eden, deep in the process of refining Brainstack’s brand identity, explored a design direction sparked by a shape suggested by ChatGPT. It wasn’t something we’d have consciously imagined, yet it opened a valuable new path. Watching Eden—an exceptional thinker, creative, and senior developer—light up in response was a vivid reminder: AI catalyses creativity.
My conversations with Grok (xAI) have further expanded my understanding of what’s possible. Grok engages less like a tool and more like a collaborator. Barry’s vision of an app-less phone, and Eden and Teya’s explorations into wearables and assistive robotics, continue to inform how we’re thinking. These aren’t speculative futures. They’re present signals of what’s arriving.
At its core, Brainstack is becoming a surface for thought—a place where fragments from across your digital life can land and connect: handwritten notes, reminders, to-dos, WhatsApp messages, Claude chats, Google Docs, and more.
And we’re just getting started.
The era ahead is shaped by less friction and more clarity—where digital systems help us synthesise, reflect, and decide with greater ease. Brainstack is one of those systems. It’s the infrastructure for a way of thinking that feels supported, intelligent, and expansive.
I’m grateful to be building it with thoughtful humans and extraordinary technology.
Here’s to what’s emerging.
Let’s imagine together.
– Sam