AI systems in production · automation, agents, onchain payments

🌏 Da Nang, Vietnam

paulburg.com · Substack · LinkedIn · X · Telegram

I take systems from idea to production and keep them running — architecture, build, tests, support. Rental platforms with AI intake agents, custom CRM and BI on top of them, outbound pipelines, machine-readable APIs with onchain payment rails.

The way I work: I architect the system and orchestrate AI tools to execute the build, owning delivery end to end. I have been refining this operating model for over a year.

Before that: sales and BD in my own projects, supply chain across Asia, media, day-to-day operations. Background in environmental science.

Rental & local platforms

• HelpRent Da Nang — rental platform with an AI assistant (Mai). Plain-language search in EN / VI / RU and search by map screenshot; aggregates the city's scattered listings into one normalized layer. Built solo. Agent layer: MCP server at /mcp/ (stateless JSON-RPC, four read-only tools) · REST API v1 with an OpenAPI spec, no key and no account · 600 calls/day free, then HTTP 402 with an x402 challenge, settled in USDC on Base via EIP-3009 · llms.txt and schema.org end to end. Deliberately read-only: no write tools, no contact data — the agent sends the human to the listing page.
• HelpRent Phangan — rental ecosystem for Koh Phangan: public search in 4 languages, AI intake agent (Anna) that qualifies inbound visitors, custom CRM, manager dashboard, BI. Co-founded; I owned the technical side.
• Guide Phangan — directory of information and service providers on Koh Phangan, reachable through bots. The services themselves are delivered by third-party providers; listing is free.

Impact & public goods (Web3)

• EcoSynthesisX — DAO building dMRV (digital measurement, reporting and verification) infrastructure for the regenerative economy.
• EcoThailand Foundation — tRWI (tokenized real-world impact) for mangrove restoration, coral frames, sea grass and community gardens, on Celo.
• DeCleanup Network — turns environmental cleanups into verifiable onchain capital. Base and Celo.
• Regen Bazaar — marketplace for tRWI.

Health tech

• VitaCrypt — Personal Health Intelligence: genetics, wearables, labs, microbiome, environment and self-reports in one queryable profile. Findings carry real PMIDs and a confidence indicator; anything clinical goes to a doctor. Encrypted at rest under the user's keys.

Other

• Degen Cure Center — satirical medical-themed Solana memecoin with an AI triage bot.

Backend & data — Python (Django, FastAPI, Celery, Channels) · PostgreSQL · Redis · Docker · nginx · Telegram Bot API Frontend — TypeScript · Next.js · Tailwind · Vercel Onchain — Solidity (Foundry, Hardhat) · Celo, Base, Optimism Agent & payment layer — MCP servers · REST + OpenAPI · x402 per-request payments settled in USDC on Base (EIP-3009) · llms.txt and schema.org

Models are picked per task, not per vendor: routed across providers by fit, cost and latency, and re-tested whenever a cheaper or stronger one ships.

• x402-paid-endpoint — an HTTP endpoint agents can pay: free allowance, then 402 with an x402 challenge, EIP-3009 in USDC on Base. Standard-library server, guard paths tested.
• fhe-blind-demo — blind-compute proof on Zama Concrete ML: the client holds the key, the server runs inference on ciphertext, measured numbers in the README.
• regenbazaar-beta — the Regen Bazaar beta dApp: tRWI on Celo, platform-signed EIP-712 vouchers, lazy mint, deterministic Impact-Value scoring.

• Devcon 7 SEA · Bangkok — Impact Products & Impact Marketplace, Regen Hub
• DevCon SEA 2024 — The Future of Impact Markets
• Crypto Altruism Podcast Ep. 138 — ReFi Phangan: Regenerative Finance
• Crypto Altruism Podcast Ep. 201 — Web3 Localism for Global Climate Action
• Super dApp Builders EP01 — Building DeCleanup Network

Co-building the local Web3 ecosystem on Koh Phangan:

• ReFi Phangan — regenerative local economy, connecting NGOs
• GreenPill Phangan — local chapter of GreenPill Network

Essays on AI, impact markets, health tech and building from Southeast Asia → Substack

Selected recent:

• The Feeling That Never Leaves — On Being 'Too Late' as a Founder
• AI Is the Greatest Productivity Tool in History — If You Can Afford It
• Vietnam Between the Village and the Megacity

Remote · async across time zones