From a kosher phone to a multi-million empire: an interview with the former Haredi who conquered the AI world
Bar Shaltiel, who left the ultra-Orthodox community penniless, has become the manager of a massive AI community with half a million followers. In his first interview, he reveals his surprising path to the top and the common mistakes business owners make.
Imagine a person who, until the age of 30, had never touched a social network. A person who kept a "kosher phone" in his pocket with apps for his health fund, bank, and filtered YouTube, light-years away from the worlds of TikTok, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Today, that same person stands at the head of one of the largest technology communities in Israel, managing a content empire with 300,000 followers, a company employing eight people, and a brand that makes the AI revolution accessible to every home and business. This is the story of Bar Shaltiel, entrepreneur and founder of "Practical AI".
It all started by accident during the national and personal low following October 7. Shaltiel, who was looking for his way in the secular world after a series of difficulties, tried to help his partner with her university studies. "She had complex articles in English of 30–40 pages. I saw despair in her eyes and suggested using an AI tool to summarize them. She was skeptical, but after we worked through an article together, she was amazed at the accuracy. At that moment, I understood the magnitude of this shift, and my life changed."
Word spread quickly. The first WhatsApp group, opened in July 2024, filled up within a month. Soon, it grew into 50 groups, tens of thousands of mailing list subscribers, and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. Today, the "Practical AI" club serves as the most advanced platform in Hebrew for learning AI, including updated courses, personal agents, and active forums.
When asked how someone without a tech background bypassed Israel's tech elite, Shaltiel has a simple answer: the absence of limiting beliefs. "Precisely because I came without a background, I was naive. Many people gave up in advance, thinking you had to be a celebrity to succeed. I didn't have that mental block. At first, when prompt engineering was the main thing, people with strong communication and expression skills succeeded more than those who were technical by nature."
Shaltiel left the ultra-Orthodox community four years ago. "Leaving was very difficult at first; I was living off my savings. AI opened a door for me. This revolution is primarily mental: it takes courage to try and the willingness to give up the past for the sake of the future." Today, he identifies a gap among business owners. "Most people use AI like a sophisticated Google. The significant gap is making AI perform tasks and turning it into an actual agent. Our team of 8 produces output that previously required 20–30 employees, because every employee has AI agents performing work for them."
Despite fears, Shaltiel is optimistic. "I don't accept the view that AI will replace humans—that disregards human value. Throughout history, every technological revolution brought fears that jobs would disappear. Artificial intelligence will not eliminate people; it will simply erase mediocrity. Good people who adopt AI will simply succeed much more."
Bar's secret remains connected to a human, ego-free approach. "Stop thinking about what you want to say, and think more about what the audience wants to hear. In the end, an algorithm is people. My approach is that of a student. AI requires us to leave our comfort zone, to learn from scratch, and to change our perception of what we thought was possible."
