Higher SelfSystems engineering Email David

For purpose-driven businesses

Systems you can check.

I build complex systems that feel simple to use: AI assistants that show their sources and wait for your yes, reports that say what’s actually happening, and fixes for tools that quietly disagree.

Tell me what’s slow or shaky See the work →

A sentence or two is enough. I reply within one working day, and I won’t chase you.

You work directly with David Bentley · Higher Self Forge Ltd, a UK company · No tracking on this site

Checking a draft

Illustration.

A brand’s post

Approved, word for word
  • Plastic-free packaging
The draft

Tap a sentence, or move to it with the keyboard, to see why it got its mark.

Nothing goes out until you approve this exact version.

Three records

What people ask me to build or fix.

You don’t need a specification. If it sounds like one of these, it’s worth a few sentences.

  • A report that says what’s actually happening

    Built from what customers do: what they search for, what they read, where they came from, what they open next.

    See an example →

  • Two systems that finally agree

    Integrations between your store, email platform and other tools, and fixes where they quietly disagree.

    See an example →

  • A tool that helps customers choose

    Finders, calculators and pages that help people pick the right thing, built from your own product information.

    See an example →

  • Someone to find out why

    An investigation of what’s broken between your systems, with each failure reproduced before it’s reported.

    See an example →

  • Something that drafts, and waits for me

    Assistants that draft from approved material, with every consequential action waiting for a named person’s approval.

    See an example →

  • The thing you’ve been describing for a year

    A first version of the tool you keep sketching, scoped tightly enough to test with real use.

Built with Python and TypeScript, on the platforms you already use, such as Shopify and Klaviyo.

How I work.

Four rules behind everything I build. Each has a short note that explains it.

  1. Nothing goes out without your yes.Note: Your inbox is the AI interface you’re not using →
  2. Let it learn how to write. Never let it learn what it’s allowed to do.Note: Learning should change guidance, never permissions →
  3. Check the joins, not just the parts.Note: Your store and your email platform disagree about your customers →
  4. If I can’t verify it, I don’t claim it.Note: Your mission is a claim →
How we start

A fixed-price first look: I find what’s slow or shaky, reproduce it, and give you a prioritised plan.

Recent work.

Short versions here; the fuller record, with dates and method, is on each project page. Most clients aren’t named, and I only give dates I can verify.

All work

Sofema Aviation, my family’s company

A Knowledge Hub with its own analytics dashboard.

I built a Knowledge Hub that explains aviation regulations in plain English, and gave it a dashboard of its own: what readers search for, which pages they read, and which courses they open next. Alongside it, a Course Finder and a Training ROI Calculator help visitors choose training.

The Sofema Knowledge Hub home page: a search box with example searches, and subjects to browse.The hub’s own dashboard, blurred.
Left: the public hub. Right: the hub’s own dashboard, blurred until Sofema’s permission to show it is recorded. Its 7-day view, captured on 28 October 2026, showed 502 visits, 560 page views, 30 searches and 15 course and package opens.

As it stood on 17 October 2026, the hub and both tools were public on Sofema’s site, and the dashboard was running. A click is not an enquiry, and effects on adoption, bookings and revenue haven’t been measured.

Read the Sofema case study →
Evidence record
For
People choosing aviation training, and Sofema’s team.
Built
A Knowledge Hub of plain-English regulation pages with its own analytics dashboard, which records searches, page views, arrivals and the clicks that follow, counted anonymously; a Course Finder; and a Training ROI Calculator.
Observed
The dashboard updates while it is open. Its 7-day view, captured on 28 October 2026, showed 502 visits, 560 page views, 30 searches and 15 course and package opens.
Not shown
Any effect on enquiries, bookings, adoption or revenue, which hasn’t been measured. A click is not an enquiry.
Status
Running on Sofema’s site, as it stood on 17 October 2026.

A founder-led wellness brand

Jessica: an email assistant with tools.

I built Jessica, an assistant that drafts social posts, emails and page changes from her approved product and health wording, on an unpublished copy of her Shopify site. It also turns requests into proposals and prepares short social videos in Buffer for her to review. She reads each draft, edits it if she wants, and approves or rejects that exact version. Only then is it sent, and recorded.

In use since September 2026. Every piece so far has been approved by her before it was sent. Time saved hasn’t been measured yet.

Jessica’s card for one email, blurred.The founder’s email beside Jessica’s reply as sent, blurred.
From the design for Jessica’s control panel, drawn from real records: one email’s card, and a reply as sent. Blurred until the founder’s permission to show them is recorded.
See the full record →
Evidence record
For
One founder.
Built
An assistant that drafts social posts, emails and page changes on an unpublished copy of her Shopify site, using only approved product and health wording. It also turns requests into proposals and prepares short social videos in Buffer for her to review. When she corrects a draft, it can propose a lesson, which applies only if she approves it.
Observed
Every piece approved by the founder before it was sent, with a record of each approval and send.
Not shown
Time saved, which hasn’t been measured yet.
Status
In use since September 2026.

Email recovery · A UK wellness brand

2,151 profiles recovered and verified.

I traced an account-wide email suppression event and recovered the affected profiles within the platform.

Platform status verified in July 2026. This is not a claim about contact permission, delivered messages or sales.

Read the investigation →
Evidence record
For
The brand’s team.
Did
Traced an account-wide suppression event dated 4 April 2025, then recovered and verified the affected profiles within the platform.
Observed
2,151 profiles recovered and verified within the platform, in July 2026.
Not shown
Permission to contact anyone, delivered messages or sales.
Status
Completed.

A private engagement

Six failures between a store, its email platform and connected tools.

I investigated the business’s store, email platform and connected tools, and reproduced each failure before reporting it. The largest: the store believed 5,490 customers could be emailed, while the email platform could reach about 150. Neither system flagged it.

Revenue impact wasn’t measured. The business isn’t named.

Read the findings →
Evidence record
For
The business’s owners.
Did
Investigated a store, an email platform and connected tools, reproducing each failure before reporting it.
Observed
Six failures, the largest a gap between 5,490 customers the store believed could be emailed and about 150 the platform could reach.
Not shown
Revenue impact.
Status
Completed.

Notes.

All notes →

Start hereTelling the truth2 min read

Your mission is a claim

For a purpose-driven brand, every sentence about the mission is a promise someone can check. That should change how AI is allowed to write.

Treat your mission the way you’d treat any other claim: written down, worded exactly, and checked.
Read the note →
Community work Field research on community-governed infrastructure in the Peruvian Andes →

What would you like to be easier?

Tell me one thing that’s slower or shakier than it should be. A sentence or two is enough. I reply within one working day, on New York time, and I won’t chase you. Please leave out passwords and customer records.

Email David Message on WhatsApp

david@higherself.aiWhatsApp +44 7749 776805David Bentley, near Cusco, Peru, working New York hours