Rechat AI Innovators: Engineer Ramin Mousavi

This week we have the pleasure of chatting with one of Rechat’s veteran engineers, Ramin Mousavi. Currently serving as Rechat’s lead web engineer, he began learning computer programming in 2006 and holds a BA in software engineering.

“Before I joined Rechat, in 2016, I worked for a startup that wanted to use AI to help people speak and understand English better. This was a very innovative way to do things at the time,” he explained. “And since then, artificial intelligence has been interesting to me. I’m still learning a lot and keeping up with the latest changes in the field. I’m glad that since ChatGPT came out last year, more people know about AI and see how it could help them.”

Living in Lisbon, Portugal, he calls programming his “main hobby and passion” and also works on open source projects in his free time. 

What brought you to Rechat and what intrigued you about your role here?

Ramin: When I joined Rechat in 2016, the company had just recently been founded, and there were only about five people on the team. I was impressed by Rechat’s ambitious and innovative concept, which aimed to create an amazing super app specifically for real estate brokerages. I believed in Rechat and knew it would grow into a rapidly expanding startup, and I was right!

I joined Rechat as a full stack developer, but my primary objective in the first year was building a strong foundation and architecture for the web application so that we could build the entire platform on top of it. Over the course of the last few years, I’ve developed numerous Rechat components, including Deals/Transactions, Open House, Calendar, Tasks, Marketing Center, and more. In addition, I have created numerous tools, including internal automation systems and many individual micro services.

What does your job look like on a day-to-day basis?

As the front end team lead since 2022, my responsibilities have included team building, hiring skilled engineers, improving development procedures, improving code infrastructure, and monitoring code quality, all while collaborating with other departments to ensure optimal performance for my team. Still, I work with my team to enhance existing code, add new features, and correct bugs.

What is the most challenging or exciting project you are working on right now, and why?

Currently, I’m working on a variety of projects, including improving our Marketing Center, Deals/Transactions, and People Center, but as team leader, the most difficult aspect for me is ensuring that the project is completed to the highest possible standard. In order to accomplish this, I attend numerous meetings with various teams, as well as numerous rounds of code review. As I previously stated, Rechat is a super app, which means it has a massive front end codebase on which tens of engineers have worked for years. For such a project, having a planned maintenance system is critical. Aside from developing new features, we must ensure that we maintain consistency and integrate various aspects of the project to provide our end users with the best possible experience while using our app. Our vision for this year is to continue developing, improving UI/UX, and making it more consistent. I see these projects as very challenging, but we are all very excited to do them.

What has been your role as it relates to the development/implementation of Lucy?

Lucy is one of the most exciting projects that I’ve had the opportunity to work on in Rechat. It is intended to be an interactive chatbot that visualizes plain text received from the server in an interactive manner while also deeply integrating into the overall system. For example, the agent requests some luxury listings in Highland Park, and we display the results as beautiful cards, allowing the user to click on them to view details or ask additional questions, such as creating a newsletter for one of those listings. This is an amazing experience that we are creating as a web team. Due to my other responsibilities, I am not deeply involved in the codes, but I am supervising the project and ensuring that we are creating a high-quality platform with a great infrastructure to build more capabilities on top of that in the future.

What is the most exciting part of working in AI?

As a senior engineer and front end team lead at Rechat, what I’m most excited about is AI’s potential to transform customer interactions. Imagine chatbots that can handle even the most complex inquiries with empathy and understanding, AI-powered recommendations that anticipate customer needs before they arise, and sentiment analysis that allows us to tailor our approach to each individual customer. This technology has the potential to increase sales and efficiency while also developing deeper, more meaningful relationships with our customers. It’s as if we gave our super app a nervous system, allowing it to truly understand and respond to the human factor at the heart of each interaction. That is a game changer, and I am excited to be at the forefront of exploring its potential with my team.

What is the most challenging part of working in AI?

I think the most challenging part of working with AI is bridging the gap between cutting-edge tech and real-world needs. It’s like trying to build a bridge across a vast canyon: on one side, you have these amazing AI tools with endless potential, but on the other, you have the realities of our super app, data limitations, and user needs. The challenge lies in finding the right balance, translating complex AI concepts into practical solutions that seamlessly integrate with our existing workflows and deliver tangible benefits for our customers. It’s like solving a giant puzzle, constantly adapting and learning as we go, but the potential rewards of a truly intelligent product make the challenge worthwhile!

Any final thoughts?

I’d like to thank everyone who has worked at Rechat over the last eight years, particularly the front end engineers. Rechat would not be where it is today without their contributions, and I will be eternally grateful to them, never forgetting their legacy, efforts, and what they brought to the company.