After three decades in software engineering — from C++ and 3D modeling in the '90s to building AI-powered software today — I've learned that staying competitive isn't just about learning the next framework. It's about sustaining the energy and mental clarity to keep up. As an amateur runner who's crossed a marathon finish line, run trail races, and logged countless training kilometers, I know firsthand that what you eat directly affects how you perform, both at the track and at the keyboard.
I always thought I knew exactly what I was eating and how to avoid products that weren't suitable for my health. That changed one day when I grabbed a semi-prepared boxed meal from the pantry — the kind that looks "perfectly fine" on the shelf. Out of curiosity, I took a photo and asked AI if it was actually healthy. It was not. The verdict was blunt: it had too much sodium and refined flour, with no real nutritional benefit. I started scanning other meals and discovered that many products I'd been buying didn't match my lifestyle at all.
But as someone who works daily with AI, I also knew that just asking a simple question wasn't enough. To get real, personalized answers, you have to use carefully crafted prompts. Doing that manually — uploading photos and typing long, specific instructions every time — was far too tedious to stick with.
Through these experiments with different prompts and tailored lifestyle profiles, I noticed one amazing thing that wasn't obvious from the start: it wasn't just about "too much sodium" or "refined flour". It was about what these ingredients actually do to my body. Like an expert nutritionist, the AI taught me what excess sodium, sugar, or refined flour actually means for my health. The label told me the what. AI told me the so what!
So I built Lafai. I combined expert built-in prompts with a simple interface so anyone can use it with a few clicks and zero typing. Once the app was functional, family and friends started using it — and they had the exact same surprise about the food in their own kitchens. Since then, many products with no real nutritional benefit have quietly disappeared from our daily habits. I realized this wasn't just a personal tool anymore; it could help anyone who cares about what they eat but doesn't have the time to decode every label.