Software Engineering Insights

It’s a situation many tech leaders eventually encounter: a business-critical application is running, but the source code is either missing, broken beyond comprehension, or too outdated to be useful. You’re left with an interface that works, but a backend that no one fully understands. No documentation. No clean code. No clear path forward.

What if you could still rebuild the entire application, its interface, functionality, and structure using nothing more than a screenshot or a screen recording?

Noon’s dominance in the MENA region isn’t just a story of logistics or sleek UI; it’s about building a business that deeply understands and adapts to local consumers. Launched in 2017 by Mohamed Alabbar, Noon raised over $2 billion and became the Middle East's answer to Souq (now Amazon), proving that even markets with 23 years of dominance present opportunities for strategic regional champions.

Noon saw an opportunity in hyper-localization for the Middle Eastern market. The MENA (Middle East and North Africa) e-commerce market is expected to hit $80 billion by 2029, driven by high internet and smartphone penetration rates.

Deciding whether to build custom software or buy an off-the-shelf solution is a crucial decision that can impact your company’s growth, efficiency, and competitiveness. 

For businesses operating at a particular scale or launching from scratch, this decision goes beyond price - it’s about control, customization, and making sure the software can handle complexity as the company scales.

For tech leaders, building an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) isn’t just about getting a product to market quickly - it is about laying a foundation that can earn investor confidence. In the early stages of a product’s life, the MVP serves as both, a proof of concept and a strategic asset. It is the version of your product that must validate your assumptions, solve a real problem for a defined audience and demonstrate clear potential to scale.

Standing out in the e-commerce industry isn’t just about offering more products - it is about offering the right products to the right people. From personalized product recommendations to targeted email campaigns and dynamic website content, these efforts are all done to make the shopper feel understood and valued.

APIs - Application Programming Interfaces have always been the backbone of modern software. They are the bridges that let apps communicate with each other which makes everything from mobile payments to social media integrations possible. Over the years, APIs have evolved from simple REST designs to more flexible models like GraphQL. But as our need for instant communication and scalability grows, a new player has taken the spotlight: Event-driven APIs.

The rising implementation of AI into applications has increased the demand for robust and user-friendly AI APIs. These APIs act as the bridge between complex AI models such as LLMs and the developers building the next generation of applications. As AI continues to permeate multiple industries - the requirement for smooth AI integration is becoming important. AI APIs allow businesses to leverage the power of AI without the need for deep technical expertise, enabling a wide range of users to tap into advanced AI capabilities quickly and efficiently.

Legacy systems carry years of business value but maintaining them often feels like an uphill battle. Generative AI is changing how we approach these systems -  providing a smarter and faster way to modernize and reimagine their potential. By automating tedious processes, generating optimized code, and enhancing user experiences, Generative AI makes it possible to future-proof systems without starting from scratch. 

Augmented Reality (AR) is the buzzword of tech industry today. The idea of taking digital or computer generated information (audio, video, images, touch, or haptic sensation) and then overlaying them to the real environment has been accepted enthusiastically. While AR can augment all five senses, but its present use cases are mostly visual.

As we enter 2025, the role of restaurant apps has evolved far beyond basic ordering. Today, the best apps create an immersive and interactive experience, meeting diners' expectations for convenience, personalization, and innovation. These apps are reshaping how customers interact with their favorite restaurants from streamlined reservations to dynamic menus and AI-driven recommendations.