Short-Term Job Platform
Built a gig economy platform that used algorithmic job matching—years before AI was mainstream—connecting job seekers with short-term roles that required physical presence.
The Challenge
Dubai's gig economy for events and hospitality had no central platform. Employers were relying on WhatsApp groups and word-of-mouth to find staff for events.
Job seekers needed to be matched to roles based on skills, availability, and location—a complex allocation problem that required algorithmic thinking before AI was accessible.
The platform had to verify that workers were physically at the job location—critical for roles like bar runners and party servers where trust and timeliness mattered.
We had just 90 days to build the MVP—a full hiring platform with complex matching and real-time tracking.
My Role
Senior developer on a lean team—responsible for building the matching algorithm, location tracking, app integration, and the overall platform architecture.
What I Did
- Designed and built a complex job allocation algorithm that matched job seekers to roles based on skills, availability, and proximity—mimicking AI decision-making years before ML was mainstream.
- Integrated location tracking to verify that workers were physically present at the job site—essential for event and hospitality roles.
- Built the timesheet system so workers could log time started on the job and employers could track hours worked.
- Delivered mobile app support alongside the web platform—critical for on-the-go workers.
- Designed the entire user flow: job seekers upload profiles → algorithm matches them → employers hire → workers clock in and log time.
- Built the platform in 90 days with a lean team, balancing speed with functional complexity.
The Result
- Delivered a fully functional MVP in 90 days despite the complex matching algorithm and location requirements.
- Created a system that matched workers to jobs using algorithmic decision-making—years before AI became mainstream in HR tech.
- Built a platform that solved a real problem in Dubai's event and hospitality ecosystem.
- Enabled job seekers to find short-term work and employers to staff events quickly and reliably.
Building a gig economy platform in 2018 meant solving problems that people wouldn't have a name for until years later. The matching algorithm wasn't 'AI'—there was no OpenAI, no accessible ML libraries. It was just smart rules, good data structures, and thinking deeply about what made a good match.
The Technology
My Takeaway
“You don't need AI to be smart. The matching algorithm worked because we deeply understood the problem—what made a good match, what workers needed, what employers wanted. Sometimes the best technology is the one you build because you understand the problem, not because it's trendy.”