John Williams has spent 15+ years managing $350M+ in Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon spend. He built Buddy because he wanted his own agency to have an unfair advantage. Then he open-sourced it.
Senior Paid Media Specialist at Seer Interactive. 15+ years across Google Ads, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube — managing over $350M in total spend. Hero Conf 2025 + 2026 speaker on AI applications in advertising. Founder of It All Started With An Idea LLC and AHMEEGO. Creator of Buddy, the open-source AI Google Ads agent built on Claude.
Previously: NortonLifeLock, Gen Digital, Farmers Insurance. Substack writer at itallstartedwithaidea. Code on GitHub.
Across three continents: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Mumbai — covering APAC, EMEA, and the US.
15+ years managing $350M+ in Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon spend. Built Buddy — the open-source AI agent we use on every account. Hero Conf 2025 + 2026 speaker on AI applications in advertising. Previously at Seer Interactive, NortonLifeLock, Gen Digital, Farmers Insurance.
Two decades across small + mid-market revenue acceleration. Specializes in opportunity qualification, complex revenue problem-solving, and white-glove client services. Featured contributor for HubSpot ("28 Questions to Ask on a Discovery Call", "Sales Prospecting: 43 Skills"). 2026 focus: client services + onboarding, project oversight, partnerships.
12 years of enterprise digital marketing. MBA in Marketing/Marketing Management. Group Head at a global media holding, managing $50M+ annual spend across 100+ international accounts spanning fintech, retail, healthcare, SaaS, automotive, eCommerce, and financial services. Coverage across APAC, EMEA, US, and Middle East. Mumbai, India.
After 15 years inside agencies and brands, John saw the same pattern: account managers spending 80% of their time on data wrangling and 20% on actual strategy. So he built Buddy — an AI agent that can do the wrangling, ask the right clarifying questions, and label every change for rollback. The agency uses Buddy on every client account. The platform is open-source on GitHub.
It All Started With An Idea is the agency side of the business — done-for-you paid media. AHMEEGO is the platform side — DIY tools, free, open. Same founder. Same Buddy. Two faces of the same idea.
Tell us what you're working on. We'll come back with an honest assessment, a Buddy-powered audit if you're already running ads, and a recommended next step. No contract. No obligation. Usually back within 48 hours.
Prefer to talk first? (602) 563-6976 · me@itallstartedwithaidea.com · Full contact page →