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 a startup founder need an employment lawyer for every EU hire?

Hiring across the EU triggers locale-specific employment contracts, payroll registration and benefits requirements that no SaaS handles end-to-end for 1-10 person teams.

Category: HR Tech & Recruiting · Trend: Agents · Opportunity score: 7.5 / 10

What is the “Why does a startup founder need an employment lawyer for every EU hire?” problem in 2026?

Hiring across the EU triggers locale-specific employment contracts, payroll registration and benefits requirements that no SaaS handles end-to-end for 1-10 person teams.

Who has this problem?

US and UK founders hiring their first 1-3 employees in Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Netherlands.

Evidence this problem is real

“First hire in Lisbon cost me 2,400 EUR in lawyer fees and 8 weeks. Remote quoted $700/month. Both feel wrong for one person.”

Sourced from Remote.com and Deel pricing pages, founder-to-founder threads on YC Bookface and IH 2026.

Existing players in this space

Remote.com — EOR, expensive at small headcount
Deel — Same
Local lawyer — $1,500-3,000 per contract

What existing players are missing

An AI-drafted, lawyer-reviewed EU employment contract generator priced per hire (not per month), with built-in payroll registration handoff and ongoing compliance prompts.

How Real Problem AI scores this opportunity

Aggregate score: 7.5 / 10. Four-axis rubric:

Problem severity: 7 / 10
AI feasibility today: 8 / 10
Market signal: 8 / 10
Competition gap: 6 / 10

How to build a solution: stack hints

EU jurisdiction template library
AI drafting + jurisdiction-licensed lawyer review queue
Payroll integration (Personio, Hibob)
Compliance calendar