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Michael Daigler

Basic Info​

  • Location: Austin, TX
  • Role/Occupation: Co-founder and Organizer of AITX; incoming Dev Rel at Apify
  • Contact: @michaeldaigler_ on X, michaeldaigler.com
  • Met: Through Austin AI community/AITX events
  • Relationship Status: Professional collaborator and community partner

Professional Background​

  • Co-founder and lead organizer of AITX, the largest in-person AI community in Texas
  • Runs monthly meetups in Austin and expanding to Houston and Dallas
  • Has organized multiple hackathons including two with Nvidia
  • 8VC Fellow
  • Incoming Dev Rel role at Apify.com (web scraping and automation platform)
  • Focus on empowering human creativity through future tech
  • Active content creator on YouTube (@heymichaeldaigler)

Key Projects & Interests​

  • AITX: Monthly meetups, hackathons, and community building for AI engineers, entrepreneurs, and operators in Texas
  • Houston Chapter: Building out Houston presence in collaboration with Houston AI Club
  • Dallas Expansion: Planning to expand AITX presence to Dallas in 2026
  • South By 2025: Planning condensed one-day summit around South By Southwest
  • Million Dollar Weekend Hackathon: Concept based on Noah Kagan's book for revenue-generating hackathons
  • Conference Vision: Long-term goal of hosting major AI conference during South By 2027 or Austin Tech Week

2026 Goals (from conversation)​

  1. Solidify Houston chapter to run independently
  2. Expand into Dallas
  3. Four hackathons (one per quarter)
  4. Structured event calendar with consistent monthly meetups
  5. Hire part-time help to focus on bigger picture
  6. More ancillary events beyond monthly meetups (workshop dinners, breakfasts)

Interaction History​

2025-12-16: 2026 Collaboration Planning Call​

  • Deep dive on AITX 2026 goals and Applied AI Society partnership
  • Michael shared AITX expansion plans: Houston solidification, Dallas entry, quarterly hackathons
  • Discussed South By 2025 planning challenges (venue sponsorship for two-day summit, likely condensing to one-day event)
  • Explored partnership on Applied AI Society events targeting practical business applications
  • Tentatively scheduled first joint event for January 15, 2025 at Antler office
  • Michael proposed "Million Dollar Weekend" hackathon concept based on Noah Kagan's book
  • Discussed synergy: AITX provides community reach, Applied AI Society fills "practical business application" niche they're not currently serving
  • Michael offered to introduce Gary to Jordan from Organized AI (focused on vibe coding for non-technical business owners)

Strategic Value & Collaboration Areas​

  • Community Access: AITX has substantial Austin AI community reach and email list
  • Event Infrastructure: Established relationships with venues (Antler, Capital Factory, DAI space)
  • Hackathon Experience: Proven track record with Nvidia-sponsored hackathons
  • Complementary Focus: AITX does broad AI community; Applied AI Society fills practical business application niche
  • Houston/Dallas Network: Access to emerging AI communities in other Texas cities
  • Sponsor Relationships: Connections with Nvidia and other potential sponsors

Connections & Network​

  • Jake (AITX co-founder, works at Antler)
  • Reid and Bryce (hackathon organizers)
  • Jordan from Organized AI (vibe coding focus)
  • Houston AI Club organizers
  • Noah Kagan (Austin-based, Million Dollar Weekend author)
  • Tom Babs (discussed hackathon ideas)
  • Antler Austin team

Notes & Observations​

  • Very operational and organized; maintains detailed event calendar
  • Prefers demos showing real-world problem solving over sales pitches
  • Values "the but" - answering how things actually help, make money, or matter
  • Collaborative mindset: "We can't do it all"
  • Entrepreneurial approach: focused on practical value and iteration
  • Currently growing out his hair (wearing beanies during awkward phases)
  • Lives on a flexible schedule (woke up at 11:30am on call day)

Potential Collaboration Areas​

  1. January 15 Workshop: First Applied AI Society event at Antler, co-hosted with AITX
  2. South By 2025: Potential collaboration on one-day summit
  3. Million Dollar Weekend Hackathon: Revenue-generating hackathon concept
  4. Gauntlet-style Problem Solving: Companies bring real problems for hackers to solve
  5. Applied AI Speaker Series: Case studies from practitioners like Rostam
  6. Houston/Dallas Expansion: Applied AI programming in other Texas cities

Key Quotes & Insights​

  • "It's like if money Twitter and AI tech Twitter had a baby... that's the dangerous combo"
  • "I always prefer a demo where it's going towards a real world problem and it's not just a sales pitch about the tool itself"
  • "When you tell me that you use this to either A, make money or B, solve a real problem, I'm like, okay, I'll pay attention"
  • "We aren't serving something. We can't do it all."
  • On first events: "That'll be the most valuable part... you'll just see what you didn't like, what you did like, and then you just take that back and iterate"

Future Plans​

  • Hire part-time help to focus on bigger picture strategy
  • Build AITX into "well-run machine" with consistent programming
  • Potential conference at South By 2027 or Austin Tech Week
  • Dallas chapter launch in 2026
  • Four hackathons in 2026 (quarterly cadence)

Transcripts​

Transcript IDDateSummary
2025-12-16-gary-michael-daigler-2026-collab2025-12-162026 Collaboration Planning between Applied AI Society and AITX, discussing partnership structure, South By plans, and Million Dollar Weekend hackathon concept