Braden Stohlton: Building Practical AI for the Real World

I build custom AI tools that solve actual problems—from streamlining school district workflows to creating interactive community experiences.

My Approach: Practical, Not Over-Engineered

Problem-First

I don't build AI for the sake of AI. I build it to save a teacher hours of paperwork, help a non-profit manage data, or streamline a local business.

Privacy-Focused

Data security is non-negotiable. I prioritize secure, closed-loop systems, which is especially critical for educational and municipal workflows.

Accessible Tech

I leverage modern development tools to deliver high-end, bespoke results without the bloated enterprise price tag.

The Lab

Real-world projects demonstrating practical AI solutions

Education

WIN Time Phonics

The Challenge:

K-12 educators spend countless unpaid hours manually drafting varied, phonics-aligned reading materials for different student reading levels.

The AI Solution:

Built a custom LLM pipeline (Gemini 2.5 Flash) that instantly generates secure, pedagogically sound student packets (decodable stories, drills) tailored to a teacher's specific classroom needs, bypassing the need for expensive enterprise platforms.

Education TechLLM PipelineGenerative AI

Road2Wild

The Challenge:

Standard navigation apps prioritize urban pavement, leaving backcountry explorers guessing about private land boundaries, forest service gates, and cell dead zones.

The AI Solution:

Developed an "agentic trail guide" that integrates complex GIS data to prioritize "green zones." It calculates a "Wilderness Ratio" to ensure explorers spend 70%+ of their trip in nature rather than on asphalt.

Agentic AIGIS IntegrationGeo-Spatial Data
Education

Prompt Playground

The Challenge:

Schools face an "AI Cheating vs. AI Literacy" crisis, struggling to safely teach prompt engineering without data-privacy hurdles or subscription costs.

The AI Solution:

Developed a scaffolded, zero-login environment using the A.C.E.S. framework. It gamifies the engineering process with an instant "Vibe Check" feedback loop and built-in safety filters, turning AI into a safe critical thinking partner.

AI LiteracySecondary EducationZero-Login Architecture

Basis Badger

The Challenge:

Small business owners lack the time and industry expertise to uncover predatory "junk fees" deliberately buried inside complex credit card processor PDFs.

The AI Solution:

Engineered an AI "Merchant Statement Auditor" using advanced LLM Vision capabilities to instantly scan uploaded PDFs, extract hidden fee data, and generate actionable counter-strike negotiation scripts to lower monthly overhead.

LLM VisionPDF Data ExtractionFintech

Canary Perks

The Challenge:

Local shops bleed revenue during "dead hours," but traditional public coupons overwhelm staff and cheapen the brand.

The AI Solution:

Created a "Precision Faucet" model utilizing a private digital key to stagger digital wallet notifications. It drips traffic into shops during slow hours, secured by a frictionless "2-Second Check" visual redemption system for busy baristas.

Local CommerceHyper-Local MarketingPredictive Logic

Letters From The Wild

The Challenge:

A hyper-connected generation suffers from nature-deficit disorder, disconnected from their physical surroundings by static screens.

The AI Solution:

Built a narrative-driven web platform that generates personalized, educational correspondence from the perspective of wilderness areas, transforming dry scientific data into immersive, first-person storytelling to encourage physical exploration.

Narrative TechEnvironmental EducationGenerative Storytelling

A Note on How I Built This Site

To demonstrate that high-end tech doesn't require massive budgets, I personally engineered this entire portfolio using AI-assisted workflows (v0 and Cursor) and deployed it on a modern, zero-cost static hosting stack. I treat local organizations' time and resources with this exact same efficiency.

Let's Talk

Ready to build practical AI solutions for your organization?