How I Used AI to Build CyberGuardia
I've worked with computers and technology for many years.
My background includes IT support, computer networks, cybersecurity, and broadcast engineering.
But building websites and web applications wasn't something I had much practical experience with.
That changed when I started developing the CyberGuardia website.
An idea I'd had for years
I registered cyberguardia.io on November 2, 2018.
The name came from combining my interest in cybersecurity with my surname, Dela Guardia.
I had ideas about what I wanted CyberGuardia to become, but I didn't know much about developing and operating a website for a business.
For years, the idea remained largely undeveloped.
In 2026, I began using AI tools to help me work on it.
That was when things started moving.
Learning while building
Initially, I needed a website that could explain my technology support services.
But as I worked on it, I started thinking about what else the website could do.
What if clients could schedule appointments online?
What if they could log in to their own accounts, submit support requests, or check their invoices?
Could I develop those functions without paying for a collection of third-party services and plugins?
I began exploring those questions with ChatGPT and other AI-assisted development tools.
I used AI to help plan features, understand the technical requirements, and develop the website.
Over time, CyberGuardia became more than a collection of informational pages.
It developed into a website with business functions including scheduling, client accounts, support-request tracking, invoicing, memberships, prepaid balances, and payment-related workflows.
I was surprised by how much I could accomplish.
But I also discovered that building something with AI doesn't automatically mean you understand everything behind it.
AI still makes mistakes
One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that AI-generated work needs to be checked.
There have been times when I asked for a change and the result wasn't what I expected.
Sometimes one correction affected another part of the website.
Other times, something worked during development but behaved differently after being deployed.
I had to learn to ask better questions.
Instead of simply telling AI that something wasn't working, I started trying to understand what had changed and why.
What files were involved? Could a change affect another feature? How could I test the result?
I'm still learning these things.
I don't consider myself an experienced web developer just because I've used AI to help build a website.
But I am gaining practical experience that I didn't have before.
Keeping the website manageable
One thing I wanted to avoid was building a website that depended on too many separate plugins and services.
I didn't want to end up with a collection of tools that were difficult to maintain or that required additional subscriptions for every new feature.
CyberGuardia uses WordPress, but I wanted the business functions to work together as part of a manageable system.
With AI assistance, I was able to develop and integrate functionality without relying entirely on a large collection of third-party plugins.
That doesn't mean the website has no operating costs.
Hosting, domain registration, payment processing, and maintenance still matter.
But I wanted to understand what I was building and avoid unnecessary complexity.
What CyberGuardia taught me
Building CyberGuardia has changed how I approach new projects.
Before, I might spend months thinking about an idea without knowing how to begin.
Now, I can use AI to explore the possibilities, organize the requirements, and work toward something I can actually test.
I still make mistakes, and I still have a lot to learn.
I also don't know whether every project I start will succeed as a business.
But I'm more willing to try.
CyberGuardia gave me practical experience with AI-assisted development. It also encouraged me to return to CyberYogi, the personal website I'd been thinking about since 2018.
What began as an effort to create a business website has become another way for me to keep learning about technology.
And I'm interested to see how much further I can take it.