Waziri Garuba

AI Systems Architect. Founder of Harlem Labs.

Field notes from building things — for clients, for my kids, and for myself.

Ask me anything →

The Drive I Didn't Need →

My Mac hit 97% full. I deleted fifteen gigabytes and ended up with less room than I started with. Three systems lied to me, a USB stick from 1996 refused a file, and the question that freed 78 GB cost nothing at all. Comes with a playbook you can run.

5 min read AI Systems & Builds Craft & Obsession
The Purse →

A hundred-year-old money book, a voice line, and the Saturday message that caught me lying to my own ledger — installing The Richest Man in Babylon one cure at a time. Comes with a kit you can take.

12 min read AI Systems & Builds Money & Discipline
The Three Deaths of a Project →

Ninety-four open loops, one autopsy — why projects die at the start, in the middle, and at 90%, and the nine patterns that stopped mine from dying. Comes with a kit you can take.

8 min read AI Systems & Builds Craft & Obsession
The Interview →

A framework I watched a stranger use on a bankrupt CEO went into my CLAUDE.md the same afternoon — and it's been interviewing me ever since.

7 min read AI Systems & Builds
The Handoff: Build Your Own →

The Operator's Agent, Health Edition — the actual kit behind the garage story, four sessions to build on your own machine.

5 min read AI Systems & Builds Health & Body
Looping →

The week I stopped prompting my AI and taught the system to prompt itself — five loops, one review queue, and the hours that came back.

9 min read AI Systems & Builds
The Griot in the Garage →

How an AI accountability partner, a ten-dollar gym, and a cleared-out garage started my march back to health.

6 min read AI Systems & Builds Health & Body
Creators, Not Consumers →

Why I'm building my kids their own platforms instead of handing them someone else's feed.

6 min read Family & Kids
3,500 Songs. One Weekend. →

How I turned a decade of unsorted music into three perfect party playlists — the night before the party.

7 min read Craft & Obsession
Building a GRIOT Helmet →

Turning a persistent AI companion into a physical object — from concept to a wired ESP32 helmet on my desk.

7 min read AI Systems & Builds