Beyond the Prompt
How Newcastle’s Tech Community is Building with AI (and Heart)
By Zara Crichton, CEO, Hunter iF
There is a world of difference between asking an AI to draft a polite email and using it to build something brilliant alongside people who genuinely care. At Hunter iF, we believe in the power of together. Today, we brought that belief to life. From balancing data risks to co-creating flippy horse games, our Innovators Lunch proved that when you create a judgment-free zone rooted in generosity, the Hunter tech community is build the future hand-in-hand.
Nick Stevens: AI Demo Showcase
The Pre-Lunch Appetiser: Balancing Risk and Velocity
Peter Hewett: AI Risk Workshop
Because we are all architects of a stronger community, we know you cannot build fast if your foundation is crumbling. We must build bridges, not walls, and forge bonds of support that ripple outwards.
To lay this groundwork, we brought in Peter Hewett (vCISO and GM APAC, Kobalt.io) for an Expert Spotlight workshop: The "AI Factor": Balancing Risk and Velocity. Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally changing how modern businesses gather, store, analyse, and use data, but it also introduces new vulnerabilities to your information security ecosystem.
Peter tackled the core challenge facing fast-moving businesses today: how to spot the blind spots and secure your data lifecycle without putting the brakes on your team's momentum. It was a pragmatic masterclass in mitigating risk while empowering teams to innovate safely.
Lightning Demos: Shipping Over Speculating
Led by Nick Stevens from I2N, we rapid-fired through three-minute demos from makers who are actually shipping. Importantly, we are an escape from the market. There were no price tags here. No pitches. This was a completely no-sales gathering. We traded purely in ideas, smiles, and skills.
Elsa & Ignatius Niekerk: AI Demo of Food Innovation Global
A massive shoutout to the brilliant minds who showed off everything from serious productivity tools to out-of-the-box applications:
Marnie Davey: Integrated AI
Sahil Harriram: Sahil Harriram Tech
Elsa & Ignatius Niekerk: Food Innovation Global
Kelvin Htat: Appaca
Matt Barry: Actified
Craig Browne: CCS Corporation
The Fireside Chat: Ground Truths from the Coalface
Baidy Barton & James MacDonald
For the main event, we hosted a deeply honest fireside chat with two people who are already rewriting the playbook:
Baidy Barton, who turned 15+ years of revenue leadership into Tailwind (an AI-powered sales assistant for founders).
James MacDonald, Managing Director of NTP Talent and host of the Building Tech Teams podcast.
Despite coming from two different vantage points, their conversation unmasked several raw realities about what it actually takes to deploy AI right now:
The Human Element is Your Only "Cut-Through": As AI makes it easier to flood the market with automated emails, the noise is becoming deafening. Baidy pointed out that because of this AI fatigue, authentic human connection is skyrocketing in value. If AI is handling the heavy administrative lifting, your actual job shifts: you must become wildly present, empathetic, and relationship-focused.
Surgical Integration Beats "Ground-Up" Overhauls: There is a misconception that traditional businesses need to tear down their existing models to become "AI-first." Both speakers agreed the smartest approach is surgical. Identify specific, time-starved bottlenecks, like regulatory unloading or admin workflows, and build targeted AI solutions for those isolated pockets.
The Definition of "Talent" Has Shifted: James highlighted a massive shift in tech recruitment. Now that AI can write the code, the most dangerous, highly valued professionals are problem-solvers and communicators with deep business acumen. As this shift happens, we stand for lifting others. We are committed to making this transition accessible and actively supporting our under-served neighbours as they navigate these new skill sets.
The Danger of Corporate Paralysis: With fears around data leaks making corporate entities hesitant, many choose to just say "no." But a blanket ban creates "Shadow AI," where employees secretly use public tools. Leaders must actively build secure quality assurance environments to give their teams the green light safely.
Action Beats the 90-Day Obsolescence Cycle: An excellent point was raised from the floor: if the tech I build today is obsolete in three months, why start now? The panel’s answer was definitive: you aren't just building software; you are building organisational muscle. Jump in, have a crack, and learn by doing.
The Controlled Collision: Getting Weird
Flippy Horse Game
I promised beforehand that things could get weird. We were counting on the audience participation to generate enough electricity to raise a Franken-Bot to life, and Newcastle did not disappoint.
During our "Controlled Collision" segment, we rolled up our sleeves and got incredibly hands-on. In the spirit of spontaneous creation, I ended up co-creating a flippy horse game right there with the community. It was chaotic, it was fun, and it perfectly encapsulated the energy of the day: do not overthink it, just start making things.
The Builder's Toolkit: No-Code AI Platforms
At Hunter iF, we champion a culture of giving. We ask, "What can I offer?" before "What can I get?" Generosity is our currency.
In that spirit, we want to leave you with something you can use today. It is totally understandable to want to skip the heavy coding and jump straight into building. The good news is that the "no-code" AI space has exploded, and you can now build everything from enterprise agents to custom web apps using nothing but plain English.
Here are the best no-code AI building platforms across the major ecosystems:
1. Anthropic (Claude)
Anthropic has fundamentally changed the no-code landscape by turning their chat interface into a live software workspace.
Claude Artifacts: (Claude.ai) This is arguably the most powerful visual no-code builder right now. When you ask Claude to create a dashboard, a playable game, a flowchart, or a landing page, it generates the code and immediately renders it as an interactive "Artifact" in a side panel. You can test it, tweak it just by chatting, and even publish it as a standalone web app.
Claude Projects: Also within Claude, this feature allows you to create dedicated workspaces where you upload hundreds of documents and set custom system instructions, keeping your AI hyper-focused on a specific long-term task.
2. Google Ecosystem
Google offers excellent tools ranging from simple personal assistants to business-grade data integrations.
Gemini Gems: (Found within Gemini Advanced) This is Google’s easiest no-code builder. You can create custom "Gems" by writing a set of instructions. For example, you can build a Gem that acts as your personal marketing copywriter, pre-loaded with your brand's voice and guidelines.
Vertex AI Agent Builder: (Google Cloud Vertex AI) A massive step up for businesses. This platform lets you build capable AI agents and conversational search tools by connecting Google's models directly to your own data (like websites or internal databases) using a visual, drag-and-drop interface.
3. Music & Audio Generation
If you want to build songs, beats, and audio tracks entirely through text prompts, these two are the industry leaders:
Suno AI: (suno.com) Suno is incredible at generating radio-quality, full-length songs complete with vocals, instrumentation, and lyrics. You simply type the vibe or genre you want, and it builds it instantly.
Udio: (udio.com) Similar to Suno, Udio offers phenomenal text-to-music capabilities. It is heavily praised for giving users granular control over extending tracks, adding specific intros/outros, and achieving incredibly crisp audio fidelity across complex genres.
4. General Automation & Workflows
If your goal is to connect AI to the apps you already use (like Gmail, Slack, or Notion) to automate your day:
Make.com: (make.com) A highly visual no-code automation platform. It lets you drag and drop modules to connect AI models to thousands of other apps, allowing you to build complex, hands-free workflows.
Zapier Central: (zapier.com/central) Zapier’s AI-first workspace where you can teach AI bots to handle tasks across your different software platforms simply by chatting with them and setting rules.
