I built a voice AI to wake you up

Reading time: 5 min

Long time no see. I’ll count the silence last week as a simple data point in my newsletter experiment and use the “never miss twice” rule to get back on track. Because I gotta do what I preach. This is edition #9, so I’ll leave the review for later.

We have some self-awareness and an AI coach on the menu today, perfect for marking this edition’s little celebration.

Dec 1st is Romania's National Day. La mulți ani, România! La mulți ani, români! 💙💛❤️

Ce poftă îmi e de o mămăligă cu brânză și smântână… nu mai zic. (For my non-Romanian speakers, you’ll have to translate this and ask the AI to explain why something so simple can be so delicious.)

The “I am…” exercise

I’ve been thinking about the role identity plays when we talk about self-leadership.

A tiny exercise popped into my mind while doing laundry the other day (basic moments of inspiration).

It’s just a simple “I am…” game.

Just write down as many “I am…” statements as possible and as fast as possible (to avoid overthinking).

What I find most valuable is noticing the ones that give an ick feeling. Those usually point to something that bothers, either behavior or self-perception. And it’s a good start to do some work, or at least make some peace.

I like to go one step further and ask a few people I trust to describe me in the same way (“You are…”).

It’s fascinating how often I got “very well organized”. People don’t see that I’m actually quite clumsy with ideas in my head, and that staying organized is something I put real effort into. I didn’t use to include “organized” when describing myself, but once I saw it repeatedly, I realized how much I was beating myself up for the creative part of my mind. That reflection helped me accept “organized” as a positive trait (developed, not innate).

There’s a playful element to this exercise, but there’s also depth. 
We think we know who we are until something small shows us another angle.

Anne-Laure Le Cunff, who wrote Tiny Experiments (that I very much like), often says that identity is not something you discover, it’s something you practice. In her interviews, she explains that noticing micro-resistance (“this feels off”, “this doesn’t sound like me”) is actually a data point. It signals where a tiny experiment could help us update or soften an outdated identity.

The AI Coach to start the day

I’m preparing the final project for my Building Applications Using GenAI course, and I wanted to give a sneak peek of what I'm building:

An AI Voice Coach that doesn't just wake you up, but holds you accountable.

Setting goals at night is easy, but remembering them at 7 AM is hard.
So, we have KK, a high-energy voice AI, prompted to coach us in setting 3 objectives for the day, to become aware of the challenges and find ways to overcome them in a mindful way.

How it works (the Magic): It’s not just a recorded message. It’s a state-aware agent.

• It calls you at your specific wake-up time.

• It asks for your daily goals.

• It remembers. If you told it you were stressed yesterday, it checks on you today. If you set a goal yesterday, it asks if you crushed it.

Under the Hood: I wired this together using n8n (for the logic brain), Vapi.ai (for the voice), and Airtable (for the memory). For those curious, I’m happy to share the project.

I’ve set up a Test Mode, so you can experience a test call.

1. Fill out this form: https://tally.so/r/xXVQyk

2. Wait exactly 3 minutes.

3. Answer the phone and experience the coaching live.

Note: This is a rough MVP! Be nice to the AI if he gets too excited.

Credit where credit is due: A big shoutout to a close person who pushed me to try this idea months ago. It was fun to finally bring it to life!

Have a nice week and give the AI coach a try!

Silvia