Using an AI Agent to Turn Random Ideas Into Real Projects

I Used to Be an Idea Cemetery

I’ve lost count of the number of good ideas I’ve had in the shower, while driving, or in the middle of a meeting. They’d flash up, feel brilliant for a second, and then — poof — gone. Maybe I’d scribble a note on a napkin, or save a voice memo that I’d never listen to again. But mostly they just evaporated.

That was before I started using my local AI assistant, Hermes Agent. Now I treat ideas like they’re actually worth something. Because they are. And I’ve found that the difference between a random thought and a real project is just a few structured steps.

Here’s how Hermes helps me turn those scattered sparks into something I can actually act on.

Catch It Before It Fades

The first thing I did was set up a simple way to dump ideas into Hermes. I use voice commands on my phone, a quick text in a Slack channel, or even just an email to my agent’s inbox. The key is capturing the idea without worrying about how good it is.

For example, the other week I was walking the dog and thought, “We should run a series of blog posts about real payment failures — not theory, actual war stories.” That was the whole idea. Maybe ten words. But I said it to Hermes and it was saved.

At this stage, there’s no pressure. No need to judge. Just capture. Hermes holds it until I’m ready.

Ask the Right Questions

The magic happens when I come back to that idea later. Instead of just staring at a note that says “blog series on payment failures,” Hermes asks clarifying questions. Honestly, it’s like having a thoughtful colleague who doesn’t get annoyed.

Hermes might ask: “What’s the main objective of the series? Who’s the audience? How many posts are you thinking? Do you have any specific examples in mind? What’s the timeline?”

For the blog series idea, I answered those questions in five minutes. I said it’s for fintech founders, we want to publish once a week for eight weeks, and I’ve got three real case studies from my own work. Hermes took that conversation and turned it into a project outline.

From Outline to Action

Once I’ve answered a few questions, Hermes generates a structured project plan. It’s not a generic template. It’s tailored to what I actually said. For the blog series, it produced:

• A working title for each post
• A brief description of the angle for each
• A suggested publishing schedule
• A list of people I might interview for quotes
• Milestones: first draft, review, edit, publish

I didn’t have to think about the structure. Hermes just fitted the pieces together. It saved me at least an hour of staring at a blank page.

Breaking It Down Into Tasks

Here’s where most ideas die. You’ve got a great concept, but you don’t know where to start. Hermes solves that by breaking the outline into individual tasks. For the blog series, it created tasks like:

• Write draft for Post 1: “The $50,000 Typo”
• Send interview request to Sarah from Stripe
• Create social media promo graphics
• Set up landing page for email subscribers

Each task has a due date, a priority level, and a checkbox. I can assign tasks to myself or to others on my team. Suddenly the idea isn’t a fog — it’s a to-do list.

Monitor Progress Without Micromanaging

Once the project is running, Hermes helps me keep track. I get a weekly summary of what’s done, what’s overdue, and what’s blocked. I don’t have to chase people or open a dozen spreadsheets. The agent does the chasing for me — gentle nudges via email or Slack.

Last month, I was working on a website improvement project. We needed to update the checkout flow to reduce drop-offs. Hermes had tasks for wireframing, A/B testing, and code deployment. When one task got stuck because we were waiting on legal, Hermes flagged it and suggested I escalate. It kept the momentum going.

Real Examples, Different Shapes

Ideas come in all forms. Here are a few projects that started as a single thought and became real because Hermes helped organise them:

1. A new business process. I had a vague idea about automating client onboarding. Hermes asked about the current steps, pain points, and desired outcome. It produced a swimlane diagram and a list of tools we’d need. That process now saves us two hours per new client.

2. A marketing campaign. I thought, “We should do a small event for local fintech founders.” Hermes turned that into a project with venue options, an invite list, a run sheet, and a budget tracker. The event happened, we got ten leads, and one closed a deal.

3. An internal automation project. One of my team members mentioned that we spent too much time manually reconciling transactions. I told Hermes. It helped scope the project, identify the data sources, and set up a proof of concept. We built a script that now runs every night.

Each of these started with a few words. None of them would have gotten off the ground without a system to capture, clarify, and break down the work.

Why This Matters

Ideas are cheap. Execution is everything. But the step in between — organisation — is what makes execution possible. I used to think I was bad at finishing things. Truth is, I was just bad at turning ideas into actions.

An AI agent like Hermes doesn’t do the work for me. It just handles the structure. It asks questions I’d forget to ask. It keeps the plan visible. It takes the friction out of starting.

If you’ve got a notebook full of half-baked thoughts or a head full of “someday” projects, you don’t need more discipline. You just need a system. And a local AI agent is a bloody good one.

Need help setting up your own AI assistant? Feel free to contact me at [email protected].