Last year, Generative AI dominated every conversation, from small talk to business talk. Technology infiltrated nearly every corner of our lives, generating a range of emotions from doubt and skepticism to a mix of optimism and concern. As we look back on the past year, it becomes increasingly evident that Generative AI is reshaping our reality, marking a significant shift in the times we live in.
Amid this technological evolution, one burning question lingers: What does AI mean for our future?
From our position at Jalasoft, with a solid background in software development and education of over two decades, we recognize the critical importance of understanding Generative AI's impact, as well as its potential.
Over the past year (2023) we saw glimpses of the enormous potential that this technology brings to the software development process. We also experienced many pains and witnessed the frustration of trainers and students when the technology seemed to be turning against us.
One thing is certain: at Jalasoft we take great care in safeguarding the information security of our clients. Therefore, our developers do not use AI tools in their daily work unless authorized by the client and under the conditions specified by the client.
In this blog post, we share our Insights and initiatives regarding the responsible use of AI and how we are preparing for the future.
At the forefront of Innovation with Research and Development (R&D) Unit
The vertiginous advancements of Generative AI have posed a challenge for many to stay abreast and fully embrace the capabilities of this technology. At Jalasoft, we believe that in order to know the potential a tool has to offer, as well as the risks, it’s essential to study it and understand it from every possible angle.
This philosophy guides Jalasoft’s dedicated Research and Development Team, which is currently researching and testing ways to integrate AI into our tools. Their work mainly focuses on small-scale integrations or demonstrations of how AI tools can enhance the software development process, leveraging emerging software technologies to stay at the forefront of innovation.
This might include simple automation scripts for coding, testing, or deployment, which can later be expanded upon by other teams to improve their work process with our clients.
“We are a team that aims to be the catalyst for AI adoption within Jala”- affirmed Rolando Lora, who, together with Santiago Komadina, leads this team. “We are dedicated to developing and implementing practical, scalable, and future-proof AI solutions”, explained and added: “Our focus is on aligning these innovative technologies with our business objectives, driving progress, and fostering a culture of smart innovation.”
The team is currently working on creating initial prototypes (POCs) of AI integrations in existing products and services, such as basic AI support chatbots or data classification tools. However, their designs are always focused on demonstrating how AI tools can enhance processes or products: “These POCs are designed to illustrate potential benefits and serve as a blueprint for product teams to build upon”, stated Lora.
Generative AI Integration Real Case Study: Cosmic Latte
Cosmic Latte is one of Jalasoft’s R&D developments that handle, organize and centralize a wealth of survey, evaluation and questionary customizable data simplifying information analysis. This solution generates relevant metrics according to each company’s particular needs.
We have recently launched a new version of Cosmic Latte that has been integrated with OpenAI and is currently being tested out by selected users. This new version allows rapid, personalized workplan generation for 360 evaluations using an LLMS (Large Language Model Service) based on Open AI 3.5 and Open AI 4.0.
In our large team of engineers, this advancement benefits managers and team leads by automatically gathering work plans for 360 evaluations.
By automating the collection of work plans, managers can more effectively identify and understand the goals and objectives for their engineers, enabling them to provide targeted support and guidance.
Ultimately, this facilitates both personal and professional growth for engineers, fostering an environment conducive to their development and success within the organization.
Education and AI: The Case of Jala University
At Jala, we strongly believe that adapting to the AI era must begin at an educational level, as Jala University- an institution we support- has started to do with its students.
As we know, Generative AI is here to stay, and students must embrace it proactively. This means exposing our students to the technology as early as possible. Furthermore, as we walk (or run) towards a world where Generative AI complements our abilities daily, human-centric skills will be significantly more important.
AI also offers many different tools that can be leveraged towards the accomplishment of our student outcomes, such as personalized learning, real-time language translation, and feedback systems, to name a few.
Lastly, regularly revisit and reassess our educational strategies to ensure they remain aligned with the latest developments in Generative AI. This involves adapting our curriculum, teaching methodologies, and tools to stay at the forefront of AI-driven educational practices. Moreover, Jalasoft’s R&D team is currently supporting Jala University by exploring how to leverage Generative AI.
Among the POCs under progress, one of them consists of AI Tutors -who are aligned with the learning objectives of the University- and can interact with students in meaningful ways. This work takes as a reference the experience of Harvard University and the use of AI-based tools in CS50.
In addition, its objective is to deploy the tools based on open-source LLMs and open-source software therefore preventing vendor lock-in and enabling us to scale, understand, and iterate over this process.
“This way, we are introducing students to the possibilities that these Language Models have to offer, in a controlled and didactic way”, stated Lora, and doubled the offer: “It could even allow teachers to understand said interactions and have a closer look of the learning path and individual progress.”
(To explore how AI can transform your business operations and drive success, be sure to read our in-depth article on AI Business Integration)
Conclusion: Jalasoft's Stand on AI
Through this article, we have explored different ways in which Jalasoft is committing to staying at the forefront of innovation. Our journey with Generative AI is just beginning, and we anticipate further integrating these technologies to enhance the value we provide to our clients while maintaining the best information security practices. Our commitment to innovation, our partners, and to our region is stronger than ever.
In our ongoing projects, such as Cosmic Latte, our R&D team is also actively exploring AI applications. They are developing initial prototypes (POCs) of AI integrations. These initiatives are crucial for demonstrating how AI tools can enhance processes like angular project structure within our scalable products and high-quality services.
Together, we step into a new era and the challenges it brings at Jalasoft, ready to innovate responsibly and lead in an AI-augmented world.
