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The Hidden Potential of AI: Minimizing Resource Consumption in Software

The rise of AI in software engineering is generating a lot of excitement. One of the most hyped developments is the potential for non-technical users — those without deep coding expertise — to write requirements in AI-powered chatbots and have AI generate code in response. This is the ultimate vision of the No-code movement. Such an approach promises to make software development more accessible, reducing the need for specialized software engineers to handle every detail of the process. While this is an exciting evolution and some results are already visible, the idea of AI fully replacing software engineers remains a distant reality (although, with the current pace of innovation, it may come faster than we expect). The reason? Too many nuanced decisions are made by software engineers throughout development—decisions that functional users are often unaware of, but which deeply affect the quality, performance, and reliability of the code. However, what seems to be missing in the current ...
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Fintech on the Move: Payments, AI, and Regulation at DFS 2024

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend the Digital Finance Summit in Brussels, an annual fintech conference organized by Fintech Belgium. It was a packed day of networking, reconnecting with old acquaintances, and attending insightful keynotes and thought-provoking debates. Clearly, the Belgian fintech scene remains vibrant, delivering exciting new innovations. The dominant themes of the conference were the upcoming payment revolutions and the buzz around AI, which sparked significant discussions. Below are some key takeaways: Payment Revolutions Instant Payments : Domestic and cross-border real-time payments are gaining momentum, with over 70 real-time payment networks launched globally in the past decade. SEPA Request-to-Pay : This rollout offers exciting opportunities for Fintechs, banks, and merchants. PSD3/PSR Regulation : This upcoming regulation aims to address shortcomings in the current PSD2 directive. A2A (Account-to-Account) Payments : In 2023, A2A payments represented...

Designing User-Friendly Overview Screens: Best Practices and Key Features

In software development, we often find ourselves reinventing the wheel—particularly when dealing with higher-level abstractions. As I mentioned in my blog " Unlocking Business Value: Moving Beyond Low-Level Programming ", while open source has reduced redundancy at the technical level, user interfaces continue to see many foundational patterns being rebuilt repeatedly. A classic example is the   "Overview" screen , where users search for and interact with a set of data, performing actions like viewing or editing specific results. Each application tends to design this screen differently, often after much debate. To avoid reinventing the wheel every time, it is helpful to develop a reusable checklist of essential features. Although cost constraints may lead to the exclusion of some items, this list ensures conscious decisions are made for each feature. A typical overview screen is divided into   three main parts : Header Section : This includes navigation options (e.g...

From Days to Seconds: The Push for Instant Cross-Border Payments

Domestic payments have become increasingly   instant   in recent years, with countries like India (UPI) and Brazil (PIX) leading the way. Today, instant payments—24/7 transactions completed within seconds, often at little to no cost—are available in over 70 countries, with rapid adoption expected to continue. ACI Worldwide reported that real-time payments reached 266.2 billion transactions globally in 2023, reflecting a 42.2% year-over-year growth, with volume projected to reach $575.1 billion by 2028. This shift has raised expectations among consumers and businesses for   faster, more efficient, and transparent payments . However,   cross-border payments   — transactions where the sender and recipient are in different countries — still lag significantly. Unlike domestic transactions, international transfers can take days to complete, are costly (for example, a €100 cross-border payment might cost 8 to 11%), and often lack transparency and traceability. Given th...