AI Lab — a startup that enhances business efficiency with AI

Artem Panferov, Tashkent city, serial entrepreneur, senior business analyst, and AI expert, @laptyspuch
Pavel Panferov, Tashkent city, serial entrepreneur and business analyst, @pasha.pek
Anastasia Markova, Tashkent city, founder and creative director of EndCode and AI LAB, @anst.mark

About us

Artem. My experience is related to mobile app automation. I began my career at DNS, the largest electronics retail chain in Russia. I went from a sales assistant to deputy manager, and later became a product manager. I led the "Store of the Future" project, developed a mobile app for employees, and designed a cloud-based task system.

After DNS, I worked at Azbuka Vkusa and Ozon, optimizing business processes. In 2022, I moved to Tashkent and launched a mobile app development studio with a focus on AI.

Anastasia. Over the past six years, I have managed creative teams in marketing agencies, HoReCa, and startups. In our company, I am responsible for design, production, and marketing.

We are a family-run business: Artem and I are married. Pavel, Artem’s brother, previously headed the sales department at TTK, a major Russian internet provider. He had experience in internet communications and briefly worked as a business analyst at the startup "Locker Post." After moving to Tashkent, we launched a studio focused on low-code development using frameworks like FlutterFlow. We were among the first official experts in this field across the CIS and continue to develop it. Our family ties help us work efficiently and create high-quality products.

How it all started

Artem. We run two businesses: EndCode Studio, a mobile app development company, and AI LAB, a business process laboratory. The idea for EndCode Studio came after we moved to Tashkent and started exploring tools to bring our ideas to life. I discovered FlutterFlow, a low-code mobile app builder that greatly simplifies development. Realizing its potential, we began building the studio and training our team.

At first, we took on any projects to build a portfolio and gain experience. Collaborations with other teams helped us better understand client needs and accelerated our growth. Eventually, we began focusing on AI and neural networks, which became the foundation for AI LAB.

Team

Anastasia. Our team is not made up solely of employees from Uzbekistan. Some team members remain in Russia, and we also have relocated professionals from around the world. We have formed an international team and work with office residents from various companies in Uzbekistan.

Artem. In the beginning, our top hiring criteria were enthusiasm and eagerness. We started with a low-code builder when there were almost no courses or even useful videos on YouTube. The only source of knowledge was the platform’s own documentation, which was still under development. We believed — and still believe — that anyone can be taught visual programming. This idea has become central to our company, especially now that neural networks allow us to delegate code writing and functions.

At that early stage, when we lacked significant resources, we sought people who were eager to learn something new and willing to dedicate time to it. We valued the ability to learn quickly, immerse oneself in new environments, and adapt.

Challenges

Artem. Early on, it was difficult to find quality clients with appropriate budgets and a clear understanding of development costs. We accepted projects in unfamiliar fields, encountering unexpected challenges and solving problems on the go. We also faced classic issues like tense relationships with clients and non-payment, but we always kept moving forward, understanding that problems are inevitable and full of learning opportunities.

One of the most valuable lessons was when we invited a new person to join our startup as CEO without formalizing any agreements. The collaboration ended unilaterally. This taught me the importance of documenting agreements, regardless of verbal promises.

Looking back at three years of entrepreneurship, I would highlight one thing: do not be afraid. Fear drains your energy and provides little benefit. Go where it feels uncertain — and figure out your path once you're there.

Do not be afraid to start something new, keep learning, try different approaches, and experiment. Be persistent like a samurai and follow your path. If you stay brave and keep moving forward, you will definitely achieve something meaningful.

Anastasia. “Fear stops action” — these words have become our motto.

Target audience

Artem. The target audience of AI Lab is medium and large businesses. Implementing neural networks can significantly reduce employee time. For small businesses, such time savings may not always translate into actual revenue. In contrast, large companies can use this freed-up time to boost productivity or in other ways that directly convert into financial benefit.

Moreover, specific tool implementations often require significant investment. Small and medium businesses cannot always afford such expenses for process improvements, even though the cost of technology has decreased in recent years. Large enterprises, on the other hand, can implement targeted solutions that help them significantly reduce costs.

Anastasia. Artem is an active member of the PRO Business club, where he speaks about neural networks and business optimization. He trains entrepreneurs as part of his involvement in the club and maintains active communication with them. Through this, Artem gathers real-time feedback from our audience, which helps us shape and refine our service offerings based on real community needs in Tashkent and, to some extent, in Russia. We build our vision on actual cases and real user feedback.

At EndCode, we have completed over 50 projects in two years. AI Lab has been operating for about a year, with around 20 case studies. Our portfolio includes both small projects like chatbots and analytics tools, and large-scale projects for major companies.

Artem. In the first year of AI Lab, we did not look for specific clients — we looked for people open to experimentation. Our laboratory mindset reflects our desire to explore the potential of AI technologies to optimize business processes. We focused on creating unconventional products based on client expertise and our AI knowledge.

One example is a collaboration with a legal firm, for whom we developed a chatbot to interview employees and identify process issues. This led to 11 new projects, including an AI archivist for automated email sorting. Our solution sped up processes, saved resources, and gave management clearer oversight.

Anastasia. Artificial intelligence and neural networks are already part of everyday life, but their adoption in business is only beginning. Many entrepreneurs are held back by lack of knowledge or readiness.

We believe in the future of neural networks, seeing them not as competitors to humans, but as an exoskeleton for the brain — like JARVIS for Tony Stark — that enhances our capabilities. We aim to promote this vision among entrepreneurs. Over the next one to three years, we expect a surge of interest in neural networks and their widespread adoption in the market.

Incubation programs

Artem. We have not participated in any acceleration programs yet, but we applied to a startup program for Central Asia with a project based on Nyro, which is being developed within AI Lab. The program is expected to begin in early November, and we have a good chance of being accepted.

We are also submitting another project for acceleration, where we serve as developers for a team of entrepreneurs from various ventures.

Anastasia. Over the past two and a half years, we have focused on building a foundation. Within the Nyro project, we became finalists in a competition held during ICTWEEK. Out of 73 applicants, we ranked in the top four. One jury member during Speed Dating shared that we missed third place by just half a point. However, the top three spots were well deserved. We are confident that many more victories lie ahead, and we will get there.

Artem. We invested everything we earned from EndCode over a year and a half into launching AI Lab. Currently, AI Lab operates on self-generated funds and continues growing by serving clients.

After relocating from Russia, we did not have significant capital, so we started all our businesses with personal funds. Each business had to break even from the first month. We see this as a positive experience — the ability to build a profitable business from the start is an important skill that can only be developed through such conditions. At first, we considered seeking investments and growing in the traditional way, but ultimately chose a more demanding path. We realized that managing someone else’s money efficiently is not always useful. It is much more valuable to learn how to build a profitable company from scratch — and we have placed ourselves in a position that forces us to keep learning and refining that skill.

Achievements

Artem. We actively collaborate with one of the leading IT universities — ZeroCoder. They recently invited our co-founder Pavel to create a course on FlutterFlow.

We have also participated in several hackathons, where we won prizes. In addition, we earned FlutterFlow Expert status, becoming one of the first teams in the CIS to receive this distinction.

Plans

Anastasia. We are actively working with three major projects that will become our core focus. We also collaborate with IT Park Uzbekistan, with whom we have completed many projects over the past two years. In 2022, we co-organized an event on investment in Uzbekistan that was originally planned for 50 people but attracted nearly 200 attendees. We are now discussing new optimization opportunities and are confident in the continued growth of our partnership.

Artem. We are currently seeking angel investment for our Nyro project. In July, we concentrated on this product but later realized that launching a startup requires more resources, so we temporarily paused development and returned to servicing clients. Now we have a working MVP, a concept, and financial calculations. After securing investment, we will allocate a team within AI Lab to continue developing Nyro.