Build an Internal Tool Without Bugging Engineering

Hosted by Aki Wijesundara and Manu Jayawardana

Sat, Jul 18, 2026

9:00 PM UTC (30 minutes)

Virtual (Zoom)

Free to join

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AI Engineering Bootcamp & Certificate
Aki Wijesundara, PhD and Manu Jayawardana
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What you'll learn

Build the tool without a ticket

Make a small internal tool yourself with AI, no developer time and no queue.

Know what is safe to ship alone

A clear line for the tools you can own versus the ones that still need engineering.

Save your engineering favors for the big asks

How handling the small stuff yourself keeps goodwill for the work that truly needs devs.

Why this topic matters

You need a small internal tool, but the favor ask to engineering will cost you goodwill you would rather save for the big stuff. This free 30 minute session shows how to build that internal tool yourself with AI, no developer time spent and no ticket filed. We pick a real internal need and build a working version live, so you see exactly where your part ends and what is safe to ship. You leave able to solve your own small tooling needs without spending a favor on engineering.

You'll learn from

Aki Wijesundara

AI Advisor | Educator | Google AI Accelerator Alum

Aki Wijesundara is an AI leader with a PhD in Machine Learning and extensive experience mentoring startups at Google’s AI Accelerator. With a career spanning both research and applied AI, Aki has taught 5,000+ students worldwide how to design and deploy production-ready AI systems.

He has worked across cutting-edge areas of applied AI, from LangChain and RAG pipelines to observability and large-scale deployment. As a researcher and educator, Aki bridges the gap between theory and practice, making complex systems approachable and actionable for engineers, founders, and product leaders.

Aki is also a frequent speaker and advisor to organizations adopting AI, helping them transition from experimentation to production at scale.

Manu Jayawardana

AI Founder | Co-Founder & CEO at Krybe | Co-Founder of Snapdrum

Manu Jayawardana is a serial entrepreneur with multiple AI startup successes.

He is also the Co-Founder of Snapdrum, an AI consultancy helping companies integrate and automate their businesses using AI. Through Snapdrum, Manu has worked with top startups and enterprises across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, advising on automation, product development, and AI strategy.

Currently, Manu is the Co-Founder & CEO of Krybe, an AI voice agent startup in London transforming how businesses automate customer interactions. His experience spans fundraising, scaling products, and leading teams to deliver production-grade AI solutions adopted globally.

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