DAVID COOPER
Systems that remove work.
AI · Automation · Databases · Writing — built into systems people actually use.
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What I do
Four disciplines. One pipeline.
AI
AI that does useful work
Multi-agent systems and practical LLM integrations — local and cloud — selected on cost, quality, and fit. Not demos. Working systems.
Workflow
Automation that eliminates the repetitive
I connect the tools you already have so information moves without anyone re-keying it, and the workflow survives the person who built it.
Databases
The operational backbone
Student systems, finance intelligence, operational dashboards — I design the data layer everything else depends on.
Writing
Words that make it usable
Architecture documents, security reviews, specifications, educational material. A system nobody understands is a system nobody uses.
Selected builds
Real systems, in production
ClassWatcher
- Problem
- Teachers in a large online school were spending hours a week pulling the same student data out of Brightspace by hand.
- Build
- A teacher workflow platform: browser automation, a MariaDB backing store, messaging, and reporting in one place.
- Result
- Routine monitoring that used to take an evening now runs on its own — teachers read a morning report instead.
Hermes
- Problem
- One person can't be a research team, a writing room, and an ops desk at once.
- Build
- A self-hosted multi-agent AI platform: specialized workers for research, writing, and operations, running on local and cloud models chosen per task.
- Result
- An always-on staff of assistants that hands off finished drafts, not chat transcripts.
Household Finance Intelligence
- Problem
- Years of transactions spread across accounts, and no way to get answers out of them.
- Build
- A database-backed analysis system: SQL schema, import pipeline, categorization, and reporting dashboards.
- Result
- Every dollar categorized and queryable — decisions made from reports, not guesses.
Teacher Operations Dashboard
- Problem
- Student, parent, and workflow information scattered across disconnected systems.
- Build
- A unified dashboard pulling it into one operational view.
- Result
- One screen replaces five tabs.
Self-Hosted Infrastructure
- Problem
- Advice about systems is cheap. Running them is proof.
- Build
- A Proxmox cluster, TrueNAS storage, Docker and LXC services, monitoring, and local AI servers — designed, documented, and operated end to end.
- Result
- The lab where everything above gets proven before it reaches a client.
How I work
Method over magic
Discover
Understand the people, the process, and where the friction actually is — not where the org chart says it is.
Map the system
Trace the data, the tools, and the handoffs. Most problems are connections, not components.
Build the smallest thing that works
Ship a working slice early. Expand what earns its keep.
Document it so it survives me
Architecture notes, runbooks, and plain-language docs. You own the system, not a dependency on me.
Stack
Tools I actually run
- Python
- PHP
- JavaScript
- SQL
- Bash
- MariaDB
- SQLite
- Docker
- LXC
- Proxmox
- Ubuntu
- TrueNAS
- Home Assistant
- MQTT
- Ollama
- Claude
- GPT
- Gemini
- OpenRouter
- Stripe
- Twilio
- GitHub
- REST APIs
- systemd
Self-hosted to cloud — including local AI, for when your data shouldn't leave the building.
Writing
Thinking in plain language
Practical AI for organizations that don't need a moonshot
Most businesses don't need AGI. They need one reliable assistant doing one tedious job. Here's how to find that job.
Your problem isn't missing software — it's disconnected software
You already own the tools. What you're paying for in hours is the glue between them.
Local AI: when your data shouldn't leave the building
Self-hosted models are good enough for real work now. What that changes for schools, clinics, and anyone with sensitive data.
The database decision underneath every workflow problem
Automation built on a bad data layer just makes the wrong answer arrive faster.
About
Systems thinker before technologist
I'm David Cooper, a Canadian systems builder and consultant. I've owned a company, led a non-profit, and served on charity boards — and I've spent years explaining hard things clearly, first as an educator and now for clients. I work across the whole pipeline: infrastructure, databases, automation, AI, and the documentation that makes it stick.
The best systems are the ones that quietly remove unnecessary work, organize information, and help people make better decisions. That's what I build.
Let's remove some work.
Tell me where the friction is. Twenty minutes, no deck, no pitch.
Book a 20-minute systems conversation david@davidcooper.info