From Chef to Cyborg: How AI Taught Me to Think at Startup Speed and Operate with Impact

A human-centered journey from kitchens to algorithms, via the Perplexity AI Business Fellowship

Before the Perplexity AI Fellowship, I thought I understood AI. I was a chef working to reduce food waste with data-driven kitchen systems. I believed the problem was more efficient workflows, smarter analytics, maybe some automation.

I was wrong. The problem wasn’t the tools. It was the questions we were asking.

This is the story of how I went from spreadsheets to strategy engines, from imposter syndrome to industry transformation, and from food systems to the frontlines of the AI revolution without writing a single line of code.

Chapter 1: From Doubt to Data - Why I Said Yes to AI

It started with self-doubt and a LinkedIn notification.

"Perplexity AI Business Fellowship - Applications Open."

My first thought: Perplexity? Isn’t that what I feel every time I look at my python course?

My second: I probably don’t qualify. I’m not an engineer.

But in food tech, rejection is a growth stage.

So I went for it.

Less than two weeks later: "Congratulations! You've been selected."

Curiosity beats credentials.

Chapter 2: The Global Brain Trust That Changed Everything

The first Zoom call felt like sneaking into a Mensa meeting.

CTOs. CPOs.PhDs. Finance AI people… And me: "I reduce lettuce waste."

But everyone, literally everyone, was secretly unsure. The neural net guy didn’t get product strategy. The exec was overwhelmed by tokens. The founder was scared of not scaling fast enough.

We weren’t comparing backgrounds. We were calibrating curiosity.

Ask better questions > Stack tools.

Chapter 3: The Journey Is the Goal (Thanks, Jensen Huang)

Jensen Huang said, “I don’t have any goals. The journey is the goal.”

The same man who started as a dishwasher. Same as me.

It wasn’t just motivational, it was surgical.

Jensen helped me see that iteration beats perfection.

He didn’t just shift my mindset. He remodeled it. Open concept. Exposed beams. Natural light. 

Iteration is the new execution.

Chapter 4: Hands-On with the Tech That Changed My Business

We didn’t just hear about tools, we built with them.

I used Zapier to automate our onboarding flow in under an hour. Gamma turned scattered thoughts into a boardroom-ready pitch. Replit gave me real-time app testing. WisprFlow saved hours of typing.

But Perplexity changed everything. I stopped Googling and started prompting:

"What are the top 3 high-ROI interventions for produce waste in QSRs with 500+ locations?"

It answered. Clearly. With sources, implications, and action steps.

In minutes, I had a full strategy doc. What once took days became a sub-hour task—with better thinking baked in.

Takeaway: Tools aren’t just time-savers, they're thinking partners when used with purpose.** Tools aren’t just time-savers, they're thinking partners when used with purpose.** 

Tools are useless without system-level thinking.

Chapter 5: Compounding Leverage, People + Products

Around week 3, someone made a WhatsApp group. By week 6, we were running a 24/7 knowledge engine.

I posted a forecasting problem at 3:17 AM. Berlin: "Try this cleaning method." Sydney: "Here’s a script." London: "Go to sleep."

That group didn’t just support me. It scaled me.

Combine human brains + smart tools = force multiplier.

Chapter 6: The iPhone Moment of Research

Week 16: "Congrats, you have early access to Comet."

Comet isn’t a browser. It’s a PA that never sleeps and never judges your dumb questions.

I asked: "Compare AI cost-benefit across food segments and find B2B partnership prospects for a predictive waste platform."

Thirty seconds later: A report that would've taken me a week to build.

Chapter 7: From Insight to Income

Here’s what changed:

Before:

• Product dev: 6 months

• Client onboarding: 3 weeks

• Market research: Google + vibes

• Strategic planning: Quarterly panic sessions

  
  

After:

• Product dev: 6 weeks (Stack: Replit + rapid prototyping sprints)

• Onboarding: 3 days (automated) (Stack: Zapier + standard playbook)

• Research: 20 minutes with Perplexity (Stack: Perplexity Deep Research + checklist workflows)

• Strategy: Continuous via LLM-powered scenario simulations

  
  

Results:

• 5 new clients

• 3 new partnerships

• 35% reduction in ops costs

• 40% increase in client satisfaction

  
  

AI didn’t replace my work, it reframed how I approach every outcome.

Chapter 8: The Moment I Became "The AI Person"

I didn’t mean to become this person.

Client: "We need behavior analysis for 800 stores." Me: "Give me 20 minutes” (and Perplexity).

Team: "How do we prioritize features?" Me: "Let's build an mvp."

Panel: "What's the future of food tech?" Me: Gives 15-minute AI keynote.

I’m still not a coder. But I can prototype, prioritize, model, and strategize faster than I ever imagined. 

I became the AI person. The translator. The builder. The integrator.

Chapter 9: What the Fellowship Really Taught Me

Truth #1: Your competition isn’t another product (food or otherwise). It’s whoever moves faster with AI.

Truth #2: "I'm not technical" is the new "I don't use email."

Truth #3: AI won't replace you. But someone using AI will.

Truth #4: The curve never flattens. That’s the fun part.

Truth #5: Community is the multiplier. Share knowledge, grow 10x.

Chapter 10: You Don’t Graduate from Curiosity

Final session. Aravind Srinivas said:

"You only differentiate yourself by asking better questions."

Six months ago, I would’ve written that down as a cute quote. Now I realize: It’s the entire point.

We didn’t just learn AI. We learned to think with acceleration.

We didn’t graduate. We evolved.

Epilogue: Dancing with the Algorithm

A dear chef friend asked me last week: "Dude, are you a tech person now?"

I wouldn’t begin to call myself a tech person. But I can:

• Build business models in real time

• Forecast demand across markets

• Build tools for clients and co-workers in hours 

• Launch in weeks, not quarters

• Ask smarter, deeper questions than ever

So maybe I'm not a tech person. Maybe I'm something new: A human who learned to dance with AI.

To anyone thinking about applying: Do it. Not because you’re qualified. But because you’re curious.

To my fellow Fellows: You made me smarter, braver, and way more dangerous at dinner parties.

To the Perplexity team: You didn’t just create a program. You created a movement.

And to everyone else: The future isn’t coming. It’s here. And it’s surprisingly collaborative, if you ask it nicely.

About the Author: Rachel Aronow is a reformed spreadsheet addict. They build AI-powered, zero-waste systems for food ops and believes lettuce deserves better data.