AI and automation are two terms we’ve all heard enough over the past few years. Tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and agentic automation platforms like OpenClaw are everywhere right now, but some of us prefer to self-host our own stack. I’ve been experimenting with different setups to build an AI automation stack, and the best combination I’ve landed on includes n8n, Dify, and Ollama. n8n is already my favorite automation tool, and when you throw it into the mix with the other two, you get an AI automation stack that can rival even the cloud.