BENGALURU: Builder.ai, an AI-enabled platform that lets anyone build apps and software without knowing how to code, has launched Builder Now. It is an instant prototyping tool that enables businesses to bring app ideas to life within minutes. “This helps customers take their first step in designing an app and make their business idea a reality in less than 10 minutes. The tool also suggests a real-time cost estimate and timeline for the project-based features and customers’ requirements,” said Sachin Dev Duggal, CEO and co-founder, Builder.ai.
Its turnkey platform builds, runs and scales just about anything customers can think of. “Our human-assisted AI can build tailor-made software using the collective knowledge of what has been built before; an assembly line connects re-usable features with specialist creators,” he added. This does not require any technical knowledge to build a dream application. “Our platform has an interactive dashboard with preset templates that allows users to quickly enter their requirements for the app.
Once entered, a request is sent, Builder.ai’s crowd-sourced pool of developers build the app, which users can regularly keep a track of,” he said. The start-up, which raised $29.5 million in Series A funding, led by Lakestar and Jungle Ventures, with participation from SoftBank, has partnered with 142 companies or Dev shops around the world with almost 80,000 engineers. Talking about cost and productivity, he said, “We have this theory that 40-60 per cent of all software is built from code that could be easily replicated. It’s just the same thing that’s being used again and again.” For example, there is no secret in how one logs in Google, or gets notifications.
“About 80 per cent of software is no secret ingredient. We can reduce the cost of all such common-codes by 1/10th by splitting them across other customers. The company has fully paid for these libraries and built features from scratch. We empower customers with the freedom to build whatever they want — an app, an e-commerce platform, wearable tech, etc. and select particular add-on features from the library, which offers over 500 features to customise it.”An e-mail log in process follows the exact same steps in any application and doesn’t require exclusive coding. E-mail log-in, profile views can be easily replicated while developing apps, Duggal said.
“Costs and timelines vary depending on ideas, but when compared to traditional agencies, we do it in a third of time and almost half the price. Even if we’re building something for the first time without replicating any code, we are willing to take a hit as we know we’re going to use it 10 or 15 times for other customers, resulting in cost-sharing and providing economies of scale in pricing,” he said.