About

I'm Irsyad, and I build products that help people coordinate better to solve problems that matter. Climate change, social mobility, and loneliness are all coordination problems at scale—they require both individual capability and collective action.

I approach this through building technology that creates genuine human connection and running workshops that give people the skills they actually need. The two feed each other: testing products with farmers in Vietnam teaches me how to explain complex ideas simply, coaching negotiation helps me structure better partnerships.

I started this path because most solutions to big problems are either too academic or too shallow. You can't solve climate change without understanding how people actually make decisions about money and risk. You can't build better communities without tools that help people stay connected beyond surface-level interactions.

Building Things People Use

I got serious about product building at X0PA AI, where I learned to manage engineering teams and ship software that institutions actually deploy. The internship management system I led is now running at Republic Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic—not the sexiest product, but thousands of students and employers use it every day.

AgriG8 was where I really learned to build from scratch. As employee #1, I took the company from idea to market validation in 2 months, then spent two years testing with ~300 farmers across Southeast Asia. Sitting in rice fields in Vietnam, asking farmers about money decisions that could make or break their season—that's where you learn what user research actually means. We secured mid-6 figure funding and I led partnerships that grew revenue 50%.

At Hatch Technologies, I built a web development agency that employs youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. It's profitable, creates real economic opportunity, and I developed an AI tool that cut report creation from 4 hours to 15 minutes. Google gave us their AI Trailblazers Innovation Award, but honestly, the bigger win was proving you can build sustainable businesses that actually help people.

Now I'm building three products full-time: tools for contextual audio sharing, flexible testimonials, and friendship intelligence. I prototype with Streamlit to test ideas fast, then build with Next.js, Node.js, and PostgreSQL. But the tech stack matters way less than understanding when people actually need these tools and why current solutions fail them.

You can see what I'm building here.

Running Small Operations

The best part of building products is learning how small teams can punch above their weight. At YSI SEA, my co-founder and I incubated 24 environmental startups over four years, raised $250k+, and built a network of entrepreneurs who are still driving climate solutions across Southeast Asia. Six ventures from our program are still operational years later, serving 5,000+ people.

It worked because we didn't just fund projects—we built systems. We developed curriculum around stakeholder navigation and impact measurement, the messy human parts that determine whether environmental solutions actually scale. Our alumni are now running sustainability initiatives at companies and NGOs across the region.

Teaching What Actually Works

I teach because the gap between what people learn in courses and what they need in practice is enormous. Since 2014, I've been running workshops on negotiation, innovation methods, and sustainability—but always focused on tools you can use immediately.

I've trained 200+ participants for Singapore's National Youth Council, mentored 50+ graduate students at NUS, and delivered sessions across universities and companies in Southeast Asia. I was Master Trainer for Go Digital ASEAN, supported by Google.org and The Asia Foundation. The feedback averages around 4.3/5, but what matters more is that people email months later saying they're still using the frameworks.

I collaborate with an HR professional and psychology professor (both Tembusu alumni) to design workshop scenarios based on real situations: the partnership negotiation that saved a failing startup, the stakeholder conflict that nearly killed a sustainability project, the user interview that completely changed a product direction.

You can see the workshops I run here.

Why This Matters

Building products teaches you what actually works in practice. Teaching helps you understand how people learn and change behavior. Running small operations shows you how to coordinate teams and resources efficiently. Each makes you better at the others.

The goal isn't just to build successful products or run good workshops—it's to help people coordinate better on problems that matter. Climate change requires unprecedented collaboration. Social mobility needs inclusive innovation. Addressing loneliness means rebuilding how we connect and support each other.

These are all ultimately coordination challenges. Technology and education can help, but only if they're designed for how people actually think and work together.

"Sustainability takes forever. And that's the point." — William McDonough. Let's get building.