What is Real Problem AI?

Real Problem AI is a curated directory of 200+ real problems worth building an AI startup around. Each problem is scored honestly on severity, AI feasibility, market signal, and competition gap. We're for builders looking for what to build, not for ethics debates about AI.

What is the difference between Real Problem AI and AI ethics or AI risks indexes?

Real Problem AI catalogues problems AI can solve — productive, commercial opportunities for builders. AI ethics indexes catalogue problems with AI itself (bias, environmental cost, copyright, consciousness). Different intent, different audience: founders and indie hackers vs researchers and policy folks.

What should I build with AI in 2026?

Look for problems with high severity (it costs people hours, sleep, or revenue every week), high AI feasibility (LLMs, vision or voice are great at this today), strong market signal (Reddit threads + willingness to pay), and a clear competition gap (incumbents miss the same obvious thing). Real Problem AI scores 200+ such problems for you on those four axes.

Where do Real Problem AI's startup ideas come from?

From three sources, scanned each cycle: 1) Reddit threads where people describe a real friction in their own words, 2) podcasts and talks of founders young builders trust (Nikhil Kamath, Aman Gupta, Ankur Warikoo, Raj Shamani, Andrej Karpathy, Greg Isenberg), and 3) a continuous 1,000+ source scan covering forums, app store reviews, regulator filings, and field interviews.

Is Real Problem AI free?

Yes. Browsing every problem, opening every score breakdown, raising your hand on a co-founder match, and the founder vault are all free. There is no paywall.

How is each problem scored?

Four axes, each 1-10, weighted: Problem Severity (30%), AI Feasibility (25%), Market Signal (25%), Competition Gap (20%). Weighted average is the Opportunity Score on each card. Only problems clearing 7.0+ make the live list.

Why does GDPR/CCPA compliance for a 10-person SaaS feel impossible?

Founders need DPA, ROPA, cookie banner, DSAR flow, sub-processor list and breach plan with no budget for outside counsel.

Category: LegalTech & Compliance · Trend: Agents · Opportunity score: 7.8 / 10

What is the “Why does GDPR/CCPA compliance for a 10-person SaaS feel impossible?” problem in 2026?

Founders need DPA, ROPA, cookie banner, DSAR flow, sub-processor list and breach plan with no budget for outside counsel.

Who has this problem?

Bootstrapped SaaS founders selling to EU/CA customers.

Evidence this problem is real

“Vanta is $7k/year. Iubenda is $60. Neither walks me through a real DSAR when one comes in.”

Sourced from IndieHackers, r/SaaS.

Existing players in this space

Vanta
Drata (SOC2 focus)
Iubenda
Termly
Privado

What existing players are missing

Operational agent that actually runs the DSAR (finds the user data across Stripe/Postgres/Intercom) and drafts the breach notification, not just policy templates.

How Real Problem AI scores this opportunity

Aggregate score: 7.8 / 10. Four-axis rubric:

Problem severity: 8 / 10
AI feasibility today: 8 / 10
Market signal: 8 / 10
Competition gap: 7 / 10

How to build a solution: stack hints

Policy templates per regulation
DSAR intake portal + agent w/ DB connectors
Sub-processor crawler from package.json/vendor list
Annual renewal scheduler

Why this problem is archived

Capped at 100 per editorial policy; lower-score entries rotate to archive.