AI Agents Are Just Reading Glasses (And Why That Changes Everything)

Here’s what nobody tells you about AI agents: they’re not different programmes. They’re the same brain wearing different specs.

And once you understand that, the £50,000 I spent on platform education suddenly makes sense.

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In This Issue:

Why AI Agents Are Just Reading Glasses (Not Different Brains)
From 600 Scattered Files to 10 Strategic Documents
Atlantic Rubber: 8,595 Monthly Searches, 3 Different Lenses
The Swiss Army Knife Problem Costing You Thousands
How to Switch AI Perspectives Like Changing Glasses

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The Documentation Disaster That Started Everything

Three weeks ago, I had 600 documentation files scattered across my business repository. It was a proper shambles. Like my vinyl collection before I got ruthless and took out the wombles LP I’d had since aged 10.

Here’s the thing: I’d been organising those files the way humans have always organised files. Folders within folders. Categories and subcategories. README files pointing to other README files. The whole conventional wisdom package.

Then on August 16th, something clicked.

Claude Code kept suggesting I create more folder structures. Better hierarchies. Clearer categories. And I realised - it was only suggesting that because that’s what it was trained on. Hundreds of human-created repositories, all organised for human limitations. Folders within folders to make it easier for a human to find.

But AI doesn’t have human limitations.

The Mega Document Experiment (Or: How I Made Things Worse)

Time for some business physics. If AI can process 5,000 lines in milliseconds, why scatter information across 600 files? Why not consolidate everything into one file? I experimented and quadrupled the file size to 20MB - could Claude Code read it?

It could, in milliseconds.

So I did what I thought was clever. I consolidated everything into one massive document. Complete business context. Every detail. The lot.

The theory was sound: AI doesn’t care about file size. It reads everything instantly anyway. One big read at the start of each session instead of multiple scattered reads throughout.

The reality? As unwieldy as a Clash’s Sandinista! triple album nobody finishes. Yes, AI could handle it. But I couldn’t. Updating became a nightmare. Finding specific sections to modify took longer than having separate files.

I went from the frying pan into fire. Again.

The Ten Document Sweet Spot

Eventually, I found the sweet spot. Ten strategic documents. Not too much, not too little. Everything you need, nothing you don’t.

Perfection is reached when you can not take anything else away.

Here’s what I landed on:

• excalibur.md - Complete business intelligence
• project_brief.md - Strategic direction
• implementation_roadmap.md - What needs doing
• technical_architecture.md - How it all works
• platform_achievements.md - What’s been built
• product_details.md - Service portfolio
• CLAUDE.md - AI session context
• Client documents - Individual client intelligence
• AI Agents - Specialised perspectives
• Content strategies - Blog, newsletter, YouTube plans

AI reads them all in milliseconds anyway. But now I can maintain them without losing my mind.

The Glasses Revelation That Changed Everything

Last week, I’m working on Atlantic Rubber’s SEO (Lee’s been brilliant to work with, by the way). I’m looking at their search data through my SEO lens. 8,595 monthly impressions of opportunity. Keywords like “custom rubber gaskets” sitting at position 59.

Then I switch lenses. Look at it through my business lens. Those aren’t just keywords - they’re manufacturing leads. Each search represents a facilities manager or procurement officer with budget and urgency.

Switch lenses again. Technical lens. Their site architecture needs work. The crawl paths are inefficient. Core Web Vitals could be better.

Same data. Three different perspectives. Three different insights.

This is what you need to understand:

AI Agents Aren’t Different Programmes - They’re Different Lenses

Dr. Ford (my philosophical AI agent) isn’t a different AI. It’s Claude wearing philosophical specs. I keep Doctor Ford around because I like discussing the ethical and business implications of working with AI. The Westworld creator has a lot of original thought about this subject.

Sophie (SEO agent) Same Claude, wearing SEO specs.

Mike (developer agent) Same Claude, wearing coding specs.

They’re not separate tools. They’re focused perspectives. Lenses that filter the same intelligence through different contexts.

Most businesses think they need multiple AI tools. ChatGPT for writing. Claude for coding. Jasper for marketing. Perplexity for research.

This is where it gets expensive.

That’s like hiring five different consultants when you need one expert who can switch perspectives.

You don’t need five consultants. You need one expert who can see your business through five different lenses. SEO. Technical. Business strategy. Customer journey. Competitive positioning.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

Here’s what this means for your business.

You don’t need a cupboard full of AI subscriptions. You need one AI tool and the ability to create focused lenses.

Think about it. When I work with any client, I look through different lenses:

• Operations lens: How can their systems be more efficient?
• Marketing lens: What’s their customer acquisition cost?
• Financial lens: Where’s the profit margin opportunity?
• Technical lens: What automation would save them two hours a day?

Same Tony. Different perspectives. Different insights.

AI works exactly the same way. Give it a focused context (a lens) and the same AI that writes your emails becomes an expert financial analyst. Or a strategic advisor. Or a technical architect.

The Platform Journey Makes Sense Now

Remember I mentioned that £50,000 platform education? Started with Wix (limiting). Moved to WordPress (plugin hell). Tried various builders (all compromises).

Each platform was a different lens for viewing the same problem. But I was treating them as completely different solutions.

Now with Django, Astro and Claude Code, I’ve got one platform with multiple lenses. Same codebase. Different perspectives. SEO lens for rankings. Business lens for revenue. Technical lens for performance.

The irony? I spent years looking for the perfect platform when what I needed was the ability to change lenses. Now you have that ability.

Your Business Through Different Lenses

Let me ask you something.

What lens are you stuck looking through?

Are you viewing everything through accounts when you need marketing? Through marketing when you need operations? Through technical when you need strategy?

Most business owners I meet are wearing the same specs they put on five years ago. Sometimes ten. They’re solving today’s problems with yesterday’s perspective.

Here’s an exercise: Take your biggest business challenge right now. Write it down. Now look at it through three different lenses:

1. The Money Lens: What’s the revenue impact? What’s the cost of not solving it?
2. The Customer Lens: How does this affect customer experience? What do they really want?
3. The Time Lens: How many hours is this costing weekly? What could you do with that time?

Different lenses. Different insights. Different solutions.

The Real Revolution Nobody’s Talking About

Everyone’s talking about AI replacing jobs. Making things faster. Automating everything.

They’re missing the real revolution.

AI isn’t about replacement. It’s about perspective multiplication. One intelligence, infinite lenses. Like having a consultant who can instantly become an expert in whatever perspective you need.

But here’s the kicker - most people don’t know how to create or switch lenses. They use AI like a Swiss Army knife with only one blade extended.

What Happens Next?

I’m curious. What lens is your business missing?

Are you brilliant at operations but blind to marketing opportunities? Exceptional at customer service but struggling with systems? Technical genius but can’t see the money?

Reply and tell me. I’ve got 25 years of different specs in my drawer. Some scratched, some rose-tinted, but all tested in the real world of business.

Sometimes you don’t need a new tool. You just need to change your glasses.

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P.S. If you’re wondering about those ten strategic documents and how they work together, I’m happy to share the framework. Took me three weeks to figure out, could save you three months of document chaos.

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Tony Cooper
We Build Stores - Where 25 Years of Experience Delivers in One Hour What Twenty Hours of Not Knowing Cannot

tony.cooper@webuildstores.co.uk

01952 407599