The client is a global investment firm. Its relationship managers spend a lot of time getting ready for client meetings and following up after them. The Smart Action Hub puts that work in one web app: meeting prep, meeting follow-up, and more AI-assisted actions as the firm adds them.
The firm already had a headless backend serving a mobile app, plus an MCP gateway in front of its AI agents. My job was the web app on top of both.
Six weeks, one engineer
I joined as the only engineer, with six weeks to get access to the client's environment and deliver the MVP. Two offshore engineers and testers joined later. I was in the requirements meetings with the client's engineers from the start, and requirements kept arriving as the build went on, so the work ran in short loops: build, show, adjust.
How it's built
- A React and TypeScript app that renders MCP App views. The UI components come through the client's MCP gateway, so the web app shows the same AI-driven views the firm's design system is built around, instead of a separate copy of each screen.
- A lightweight backend-for-frontend in FastAPI. It handles SSO and the calls to the MCP gateway and the AI agents behind it. I wrote it spec-first so it was easy to hand over, and the offshore Python team now owns it.
- Spec-driven development throughout. Specs and acceptance criteria came before code, which kept a moving set of requirements from turning into rework.
Where it stands
The MVP is in progress. It's built so new actions can be added as the firm's AI features grow, without reworking the app around each one.