Redevco: rapid control over international loans through AI-native development

As they grew as an organization, a new problem arose: an unclear collection of data, scattered across different Excel sheets. It was time to make their financial data source as professional as their organization itself. In collaboration with Blis Digital, Redevco transformed these “Excel Islands” into a central, AI-powered application for managing their loans. And we also did that in record time.

The ambition of a real estate icon: professionalization through diversification

As a real estate specialist, Redevco is constantly changing. The days when the organization only managed the property of one family office are behind them; they have now grown into a major international Investment Manager. But with the arrival of external capital, for example from large pension funds, the bar for internal data also changed.

Renout van Rijn, Business Excellence Manager at Redevco, explains: “Our growth as Investment Manager meant that we needed a better insight into our loan portfolio. On the one hand, we have loans from banks to finance our real estate, but we also recently started a “Debt Fund” where we provide loans to third parties ourselves. If you do that on a European scale, you are dealing with a forest of banks, various currencies and complex conditions. You also want to manage that in a professional way.”

The challenge of data in “Excel Islands”

The challenge was clear: how do we ensure that we keep the data organized, secure and accessible? Until recently, Excel was the ultimate source of all data. Renout says candidly that the overview left much to be desired: “The data was scattered across different 'Excel islands'. That often meant that each country had its own Excel sheet, with its own formulas and overviews.”

Christian Boer from Blis Digital recognized this immediately: “You often see that the core of the business lives in spreadsheets. The goal here was to capture that fragmented data in one robust system, so that you are no longer dependent on manual lists, but can rely on a 'single source of truth'.”

For an organization that works with professional investors, “searching for data in Excel” was no longer an option; there was a need for one place where all data is accurate, accessible and always up to date.

The search for the perfect solution with AI

However, the solution wasn't just on the shelves. Redevco was looking for a perfectly suitable solution: neither too simple nor too heavy. Renout: “On the one hand, you have small startups with a tool that is just too simple for our complexity. On the other hand, you have the giants with software that is fantastic, but also extremely expensive and often far too heavy for what we specifically need. We were looking for something in between.”

Instead of waiting for a lengthy selection process with all parties, Renout decided to take matters into his own hands. “In a day and a half, based on conversations with the business, I 'vibecode' a kind of first prototype,” he says. “Just to show the business: if we want something specific, why not make it ourselves?” The fact that Renout was able to do this is a sign of a wider shift. More and more business professionals are taking up AI tools to make ideas tangible themselves. Not as a developer, but as someone who knows the problem inside out and uses AI to translate that into something concrete. This combination of domain knowledge and AI skills means that discussions with a development party start at a much higher level.

That initiative was a hit; the business was immediately enthusiastic. With this prototype in his pocket, Renout came to us because we were already a familiar partner to him.

The question was clear: how can we maintain the rapid pace of prototype development, but with the robust foundation of enterprise software? And that's exactly where our AI-native approach really hit the accelerator.

The technological breakthrough: three weeks of work in an hour and a half

The unprecedented speed of this project started right at the first workshop. Where it normally takes weeks to write out all requirements and processes in a thick piece of paper, we now used a proven AI-native approach: all conversations were recorded and transcribed, and those transcripts were direct input for AI agents who convert the information on the spot into a so-called “breadboard” - a structured, machine-readable description of the entire application, including all screens, data relationships, flows and business logic.

Christian Boer, CTO at Blis Digital, remembers this well: “While we were having the conversations, AI agents translated that information directly into a complete application design. No weeks of traditional business analysis, no thick functional designs - but a living document that both the customer and our engineers could read and validate immediately.”

Renout adds: “Within an hour and a half, a complete diagram of what the application should look like, including all data fields and relationships, came out. When I saw that, I really thought: holy sh*t, the world has changed.”

AI changed business logic into code without a stop

This AI output was the immediate springboard for the next phase. Because the AI had already established the technical basis, Blis Digital Business Consultant Akhil Sukumaran didn't have to draw static pictures in Figma for weeks first. He was able to use that AI logic to design and build directly in the code.

Akhil explains why this gives quality and speed a huge boost: “In a design tool like Figma, you often draw the 'happy flows': the ideal situation where everything goes well. But a drawing doesn't protest when the logic behind it rattles. Because the AI start allowed us to work directly in the code, I immediately noticed if something was wrong. So it forced me to look at all exceptions and complex scenarios (edge cases) at a much earlier stage. I was able to skip the slow cycle of “drawing-testing-adjusting” and immediately build a foundation that was technically and substantively correct.”

Build fast, but enterprise-grade

A common objection to AI-driven development: if it's so fast, isn't it at the expense of quality? For a financial institution that works with capital from large pension funds, this is not a theoretical question.

Christian Boer emphasizes that speed and robustness are no contradiction at Blis Digital: “You can get off to a flying start with AI and design, but for a financial institution, the bottom edge must be secure and scalable. Our AI-native approach means that we already make the architecture choices in the design sprint, not afterwards as an afterthought.”

Concretely: the application runs in a protected network within Redevco's Azure environment. Employees log in with their existing company account, data is encrypted, and every change is traceable. In addition, automated security scans participate in the construction process, so that vulnerabilities are detected before anything comes into production. “That's not a nice-to-have,” says Christian, “that's the basis.”

Cooperation: a golden triangle without thick policy plans

In this project, we work with what we call the “golden triangle”: a product owner on the customer side, a business consultant as a translator between business and technology, and a lead engineer as technical director.

The click between Renout, Akhil and Christian was immediate. For Renout, the way in which Blis “was in the game” was decisive. “What I really love is how entrepreneurial they are. We really pulled the project together. It didn't feel like a customer-supplier relationship, but like two partners figuring out what it should look like together.” That “go-getter mentality” brought momentum. Renout: “We didn't wait for big policy plans, we just started doing it. Blis Digital thought along with you, asked the right questions and kept up the pace. That fits perfectly with how we, as Redevco, want to work now.”

Profit: grip and a foundation for the future

After a few weeks, the Excel islands were dismantled and made way for a sleek, digital cockpit. This provided Redevco immediate benefits:

• 100% Grip: all data about loans and the Debt Fund is in one central system. “So that we can unlock that data and also run our reports on it,” says Renout.
• Data reliability: Thanks to Akhil's' AI-native 'approach, the logic behind the data is quickly clear. Errors that used to sneak into flat designs are now prevented by the system.
• A scalable solution: Redevco can now continue to grow with confidence. New adjustments have also been made just as quickly, so that the application can quickly deliver new value.

The AI-native approach makes it immediately possible to jump from a conversation to working code

Redevco's case proves that building complex business software doesn't have to take months. By using AI smartly and working from a shared entrepreneurial spirit, you can achieve results in record time.

Renout looks back with great satisfaction: “Together with Blis Digital, we have quickly laid a foundation that we can build on in the coming years. The “just go ahead and do it” approach has paid off twice.”