How to Build a Tech Side Hustle in 2026

In Today’s Cloudbites:

🛠️ How to Build a Tech Side Hustle in 2026

👩‍💻 Build With Me: Online Career Mentoring Business

☁️ Online AI & Cloud Events to Look Forward to

📬 PLUS: Google Labs Introduces a New AI Assistant

Read time: 5 minutes

Hi friends, welcome back to Cloudbites

In this newsletter, we look at how to build a tech side hustle going into 2026, using skills you already have.

I’ll walk through how to set up an online career mentoring business, end-to-end.

We’ll also take a quick look at Google’s new AI assistant that’s quietly reshaping daily productivity.

CLOUD COMPUTING ☁️

🛠️ How to Build a Tech Side Hustle in 2026

2026 is just around the corner.

Before the year begins, it’s worth asking one simple question:

Do I want to start it the same way as always, or with something new and intentional?

If you work in tech, one simple option is building a small online business around skills you already have.

When I worked at AWS, I did this by answering career questions through a Calendly link on weekends and after work.

In a year that brought in over $20,000, even without a proper website, most of it ran through DMs and links.

Today, I want to show how to build an end-to-end career mentoring business the right way, and what it takes to grow it to its first customers.

 👩‍💻 Build With Me: Online Career Mentoring Business

Curious about what this looks like in practice?

🎥 Check out my new video on How to Start a Tech Career Mentoring Business (Best side-hustle 2026), where I create an online career mentoring setup from scratch.

I show how to put together a clean website, handle bookings and payments, and add simple AI touches that make the whole flow smoother.

☁️ Online AI & Cloud Events to Look Forward to

#1 AWSome Day Online Conference (On-demand)

Free virtual cloud training for beginners and professionals alike, learn the essentials of AWS cloud services.

Click here to register.

#2 Best of AWS re:Invent 2025 (Jan 28-29, 2026)

Watch virtual highlights from AWS’s biggest cloud event, keynotes, innovation talks, and expert sessions accessible worldwide.

Click here to register.

#3 CSA AI Summit 2026 (Jan 28-29, 2026)

A global virtual summit hosted by the Cloud Security Alliance focused on responsible AI practices, secure deployments, cloud assurance, and next-gen AI trends

Click here to register.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) 🤖

📬 PLUS: Google Labs Introduces a New AI Assistant

Google has introduced an experimental AI called CC that gives users a daily personalized briefing by analyzing Gmail, Calendar, and Drive.

💡 Here’s what you should know:

• CC is designed to replace your morning scroll with a single, concise daily summary.

• It surfaces important emails, upcoming meetings, tasks, and reminders in one place.

• The assistant pulls context directly from your Google apps, instead of relying on manual prompts.

• CC is currently invite-only through Google Labs, signalling Google’s push toward AI-first productivity tools.

THAT’S A WRAP

Today’s Newsletter is brought to you by Levanta

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The data shows:

• Only 10% of shoppers buy through AI-recommended links

• 87% discover products through creators, blogs, or communities they trust

• Human sources like reviews and creators rank higher in trust than AI recommendations

The most effective brands are combining AI discovery with authentic human influence to drive measurable conversions.

Affiliate marketing isn’t being replaced by AI, it’s being amplified by it.

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Thanks for reading! 😊

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