Overview
- Industry: EdTech / Fintech
- Client: Jody Dahl, Founder & CEO
- Duration: 3-month MVP + ongoing support and improvements
- Key Services: RAG System UX/UI Design, AI Assistent with curated source
- Tech Stack: Python, FastAPI, OpenAI, Semantic Kernel, React, PostgreSQL, ComosDB
The Challenge
Alise was born from a bold vision: to democratize financial literacy for younger audiences through engaging, accessible technology. Jody Dahl identified acritical gap—most young people lacked the education and tools to build healthy financial habits, often falling into debt early in adulthood.
Turning this vision into a product, however, came with challenges:
- Difficulty finding a partner with true end-to-end expertise in AI, large-scale data aggregation, and predictive modeling.
- The need to define and design asolution that combined personalized AI insights with gamified learning experiences—all while remaining user-friendly for non-experts.
- A desire to translate an abstract idea into a tangible MVP, with no internal product or technical team in place to support it.
“I was struggling to find anyone who had knowledge in that space—from collecting data, aggregating it, making sense of it, and then turning that into an AI predictive tool.”
— Jody, Founder & CEO
The Solution
Celerik partnered with Jody to design and deliver an MVP that made the abstract actionable. Through a collaborative discovery process, we shaped Alise into a chat-based assistant that serves as a financial mentor—personalized, educational, and playful.
The application uses AI to provide insightful feedback, while leveraging UX best practices and gamification to increase retention and motivation.
- Delivered multiple UI/UX proposals to explore user interaction models.
- Translated vague product ideas into a working prototype with real use cases.
- Ensured a transparent, founder-friendly process with no pressure at any point.
- Created a scalable foundation for future development and monetization.
“You helped me take something abstract to something tangible... and there was never any pressure on any step along the way.”
— Jody, Founder & CEO
Results
| Metric |
Before |
After |
| Product vision |
Abstract and unstructured |
Clear direction and MVP delivered |
| Design direction |
No visual language or user journey |
Defined UI paths in Figma with user testing |
| User focus |
Broad and undefined |
Youth-centric platform with gamified learning flow |
| Technical foundation |
No infrastructure or stackin place |
Modular, scalable AI-basedarchitecture |
| Stakeholder confidence |
Uncertain (newrelationship) |
Strong partnership and trust established from day one |
Key Outcomes:
- Developmentof an assistant powered by validated and client-curated sources to provide accurate, relevant, and goal-oriented responses within Alise.
- A fully functional MVP ready for testing with early adopters
- A product framework designed to support long-term engagement
- A roadmap for future iterations, partnerships, and potential licensable modules
Client Feedback
“From the first meeting, I knew I wanted to work with you... You cared about the project like it was your own.”
“They’re professional, they care, andthey build like friends by your side.”
“Absolutely don’t look any further—this is the company you need to work with.”
— Jody,Founder & CEO
Team Achievement
The Alise MVP is the result of close, iterative collaboration. The Celerik team notonly brought strong technical execution but also acted as co-creators translating vision into structure, abstract goals into action, andearly doubts into long-term trust.
The client described the process as “building something meaningful, like with a friend”—an outcome we consider just as valuable as the product itself.
Looking to launch a purpose-driven MVP that combines education, AI, and human-centered design?
Partner with Celerik to bring your boldestideas to life.
📩 Contact us to get started
