As our Managing Director in Cefalo Bangladesh Ltd., Ferdous Mahmud Shaon, puts it:
For those who are not using AI, they are falling behind. It is like refusing to use a calculator for mathematics.
An AI-revolution in everyday work
For Shaon and the developers at Cefalo in Dhaka, AI is already deeply embedded in daily workflows. It supports everything from planning and coding to structuring complex tasks. But true value comes only when these tools are used correctly.
AI is not an autopilot, it is a valuable co-pilot.
– We look at AI as our junior assistant. When used correctly, it can deliver significant productivity gains. But if you hand everything over to AI like an autopilot, the results will not be good. You have to be competent enough to use AI smartly, says Shaon.
A full day of AI innovation
To raise AI competency across the entire organization, Cefalo recently hosted «Hack the Future: AI Edition 2025». A 24-hour hackathon culminating in a live final during the company’s 15-year anniversary celebration in late August.
More than 120 software engineers, across 35 teams, participated in the competition. Preparation began a week in advance, but the real action unfolded during 26 hours of continous problem-solving and coding. The event was scheduled over a weekend to ensure that client projects remained unaffected, and participation was completely voluntary.
– We wanted the learning process to be faster, more engaging, and hands-on, says Shaon.
From idea to prototype
– At least five or six of the projects were strong enough that, with some polishing, they could be launched to market, says Shaon.
After the Hackathon, three projects emerged as winners:
- Bird’s Eye - An AI-powered search engine for images and videos. Instead of relying on filenames, users can search based on the content inside media files. The team even demonstrated real-time video search.
- ByteBots - An AI assistant for developers that analyzes code, projects, and changes, providing instant summaries and improvement suggestions.
- DeepPatch - An AI-driven chatbot for small e-commerce businesses on Facebook and WhatsApp. It can categorize messages, answer common questions, and escalate complex queries to human agents.
AI needs structure and accountability
While the potential is enourmous, Shaon also emphasizes the challenges of using AI. Junior or less experienced software engineers, for example, may make critical mistakes if they rely too heavily on AI tools.
– If you are smart, AI will make you smarter. If you are inexperienced, AI may amplify your mistakes. That is why we are building processes and frameworks that ensure human oversight and quality control. AI is a co-pilot, and we still need our engineers who will need to discuss with our clients and truly understand their needs, Shaon explains.
AI IS NOT AN AUTOPILOT: At Cefalo we treat AI as a junior assistant. Having routines and processes to ensure a human touch and quality control is still crucial.
Client value at the core
The hackathon was more than just an internal competition. For Cefalo, it was a strategic investment in building AI capabilities that directly benefit our clients.
– Our clients expect us to increase productivity. To deliver on that, we must utilize AI effectively, not just talk about it. This hackathon demonstrated how we are building the knowledge, culture, and tools that enable us to ship better solutions, faster, says Shaon.
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Written by Jens Wahlberg
