The AI in Engineer.ai’s platform, called the Builder, draws from a library of ‘Components’ to build the repetitive blocks in the app.
Conventional thinking says that one needs to know coding or be an engineer to create an application. Engineer.ai proves it otherwise, getting Artificial Intelligence (AI) to do the job, or at least most of it. Says Sachin Dev Duggal, CEO and founder of Engineer.ai, “I am an engineer and many like me don’t want to do repetitive codes like Facebook login. We have to utilise engineers to do the important things—like the logic and flow of an application and actually thinking through a customer’s problem,” he explains. Engineer.ai treats app creation as an assembly line production process. When an app needs to be designed, the majority of it is done in the first couple of hours by the AI on his platform. And then, software engineers (from a workforce of 26,000) work on the little parts remaining to complete the app (like how technicians fix a car’s chassis, engine and wheels in a car assembly line), thereby leaving the repetitive work to AI and focusing on the creative parts that actually need human attention. The AI in Engineer.ai’s platform, called the Builder, draws from a library of ‘Components’ to build the repetitive blocks which have already been built before. “Some 60% of software is ‘Components’ which need not be done again. This could be Facebook login or integration with an analytics provider,” says Duggal. The rest 40% is business logic and design. To do this, Engineer.ai partners with a number of software companies from whom developers are brought on board, depending on the complexity and features of the project/apps that need to be delivered. The developers’ time do not overlap with their original employers. This method also brings down the price that the end-customer has to pay when hiring a full-time developer and building his/her software from scratch. The algorithm also tracks the development of the software and prices it accordingly. Duggal says that 90% of his customers pay less than the maximum price that’s estimated at the time of getting an order. The company has customers starting from school children to enterprises. The company raised $29.5 million in Series A round in 2018 led by venture capital firms Lakestar and Jungle Ventures, with participation from Softbank’s DeepCore. Engineer.ai’s revenue stood at $ 23.1 million in FY18 and is expected to register $45 million in FY19. It aims to cross the $100-million revenue-mark before the end of 2020. “Initially, it was a little challenging to convince the companies to share their workforce with us . But actually, 20 % of their workforce is usually idle in-between their company projects,” says Duggal. Engineer.ai does the project management and resource allocation for its own projects. “So we pay for their people to work with us and avoid all the costs associated with a project for them. It’s a win-win situation for us both. With time, we got more partners providing their workforce,” he says. Currently, over 152 companies are in partnership with Engineer.ai to share their workforce. At the moment, as much as scaling looks like the primary task at hand as a startup, the company is also aiming to improve the quality of the apps developed. Duggal believes that he has a headstart in this space as this market is bound to expand exponentially with more and more people wanting to build applications on their own. He thinks that competition in this space should increase to spread the word about this model of app development.
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“Engineer.ai empowers anyone to create, operate and scale the lifecycle of digital projects”
Building a software application has become a child’s play now. Engineer.ai is one such platform, based on artificial intelligence, which allows people to build software without knowing how to code. The company’s core product, Builder, has hundreds of building blocks of frequently used code which can be cross utilised by different customers. Since the cost of the program is split across a large number of customers, it becomes possible to offer it at a more reasonable price point. Ramesh Kumar Raja caught up with Sachin Dev Duggal, Founder and CEO, Engineer.ai, to discuss more about the company, its services and the business model. Excerpts: Engineer.ai has brought a sort of revolution with Builder, a software/app building platform. How did the idea strike you to come up with this venture? The idea of Engineer. ai took shape in early 2012 after I was burned by a rogue contractor. Frustrated and hearing my friends’ accounts of the same kinds of problems happening globally, I went to work to create a solution to this problem. There is no regulation or credibility in this sphere. People with ideas just get overwhelmed by the whole prospect of developing a product. Hence, an overwhelming majority or services never see the light of the day. To top it off, timely deliveries, flawless product, fair pricing and safeguarding the idea are significant hurdles in this unorganized market. So, by deliberating on the issues faced by startups and enterprise, the idea of Engineer.ai was launched swiftly after. Who are your competitors and how is Engineer.ai’s Builder different from others engaged in the software/ app-building business? Competitors in our space include software development firms and online platforms developing software. However, we’re the leader in the space as a human-assisted AI software development platform. More specifically, below are the pointers which help us differentiate from others.
Starting a business has its own set of challenges in getting a product noticed. What were the pain points in dealing with the people to make them understand the whole concept of app building? Generally, customers don’t understand the value or the pricing involved with creating their own software. They have a deep understanding of their business, but not the labour that’s involved with creating, launching and scaling an application. That’s where we can come in and help through the process through our three products from Builder to BuilderCare to CloudOps. Who are your target customers/ subscribers and what have been their responses? We cater to the new generation of entrepreneurs. The dreamer. The founder. The non-profit. The celebrity. The brand manager. The small business owner. And everyone in between. We solve their following core problems:
We can proudly say 90% of our products are delivered within their timeline and under budget. Additionally, we continually hear reviews from customers who’ve been, “wowed” in every aspect of their products’ creation. What is your revenue model and what are the services you offer? Engineer.ai empowers anyone to create, operate and scale the lifecycle of digital projects. We do so with three products: Builder: Build your next software project using an assembly-line platform implemented with the assistance of AI and 75,000+ technical resources globally. Here, our revenue model is focused around software development. BuilderCare: BuilderCare guarantees your bespoke software stays up-to-date, and continues after third-party libraries such as Facebook APIs are updated. CloudOps: Leverage AI and machine learning to effortlessly maintain the scale of your cloud infrastructure. Here, our revenue model is focused around cloud storage and management. Source: https://www.mymobileindia.com/interviews/sachin-dev-duggal-founder-ceo-engineer-ai |