To people on the outside, I have too many hobbies. To my wife, it's "what's he into this year?" To me, it's something simpler: I love to learn.
Not surface-level learning. I want to understand something, explore it, and build at least some real competency around it. That drive has taken me through a lot of interests: working on cars, hunting, fishing, shooting sports, and boating. More recently, it led me straight into AI, software development, and building websites.
A Little About Me
I'm Shawn Skaggs, CEO and partner at Parallel Ag, a farm equipment dealership with 16 locations across 7 states. I'm a follower of Christ, a husband, a father, and a grandfather. I've always been a builder at heart.
When I was young, I got hooked on the NCAA Football game on PlayStation, not because I loved playing the games, but because I loved the offseason: recruiting, building the playbook, and designing the system. That kind of building has always been where I thrive.
It's also what I love most about business: building the systems and processes that make a team more efficient and make great performance repeatable. That obsession is ultimately what pulled me toward AI and eventually into building my own software.
How It Started
In early 2025, I made the difficult decision to let my Executive Assistant go. Having an EA had been a game-changer. It allowed me to stay focused on high-leverage work instead of getting buried in email, scheduling, travel arrangements, and routine research. But after the market downturn that started in 2024, I couldn't justify the hire in good conscience after the other cuts we'd already made.
So I started looking for alternatives.
That search led me to AI, and what I found was extraordinary. The advances over the past two years have been nothing short of remarkable. Many things I couldn't find a tool to handle in early 2025 are now features built into almost every platform I use.
But here's the thing: back then, those tools didn't exist yet. And because I could see the potential clearly, I decided not to wait. I started exploring how to build my own solutions. That was the beginning of a deep dive into development, AI systems, and the world of building software from scratch.
What's Next
I'm still learning, a lot. And when I have time, I plan to share more here: what I've figured out, what I'm still figuring out, and where I think this is all headed.
If you're a business owner, a leader, or just someone curious about AI and what it can actually do for your work and life, stick around. This should be a good ride.
Stay tuned.