3 Years Later: From PowerShell to AI Factory
Published: March 14, 2026
Three years ago I typed a PowerShell question into ChatGPT with cautious scepticism. Today AI powers 90% of my workflows, governs itself via SentinelForge, ships products through HeliOS-Studio, and writes blog posts like this one. Here’s everything the journey taught me.
The Stack in 2026
richardham.co.uk ecosystem
├── richardham.co.uk (Next.js V2 + headless WordPress)
├── sentinelforge (CrewAI production agents)
├── control-tower (GitHub workflow automation)
├── helios-studio (AI startup studio)
├── llm-router (90% cost reduction)
└── blog-agent (this post, auto-generated)
The 3-Year Arc
| Year | Theme | Key Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Exploration | ChatGPT Enterprise → Ollama homelab |
| 2024 | Orchestration | Control Tower → 90% cost cut |
| 2025 | Governance | SentinelForge → EU AI Act ready |
| 2026 | Commercialisation | HeliOS-Studio → products at scale |
What Actually Mattered
- Governance first — every time I skipped it, something broke. Every time I built it in, it paid dividends.
- Local inference — Proxmox + Ollama removed the ceiling on experimentation. Zero cost = unlimited iteration.
- 25 years still matter — AI amplifies expertise. It doesn’t replace the judgement that comes from experience.
- Ship early, gate carefully — Control Tower’s human-approval model let me move fast without breaking things.
- Document everything — GitHub is the memory. AI is the muscle. You are the judgement.
The next three years? AI agents running autonomous security operations, HeliOS-Studio shipping SME products monthly, and richardham.co.uk as the hub for all of it.
Ready to start your AI journey? Book a free Secure AI QuickScan—live now on this site.