Originally US - Mobile App Development Singapore

26/05/2026

𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗽. 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
When he started university, all he had was an old laptop that struggled to keep up with basic coursework, let alone anything more demanding.

Today, he's the CEO of his own startup, Originally US.
The gap between those two scenes isn't a story of luck. It isn't a talent story either. He breaks down what actually got him there.

▶️ Want the full episode? Scroll down 👇

19/12/2025

== YEAR END MESSAGE FROM OUR MANAGING DIRECTOR ==

“AI is writing code now. Won’t it make your company redundant?”

I get this question a lot.

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Only if you confuse tools with craftsmanship.

2025 has been a defining year for Originally US.

Originally US is a bespoke mobile app development studio serving MNCs, the financial sector, and government clients. While we started as a mobile first company, this year marked a clear shift in how we think about technology and value.

2025 FOR US IS A YEAR OF AI

Generative AI is powerful. It is excellent for rapid prototyping, smaller apps, and non mission critical use cases.

But in its current form, AI cannot replace what enterprise grade systems demand: security, scalability, compliance, defensive coding, and long term maintainability.

Especially when sensitive data and real world consequences are involved.

For us, AI is not a replacement for experience.

It is a multiplier.

◆ WHAT AI ENABLES FOR US - NEW SERVICES

Our investments in LLM, RAG, and GPT technologies led to our first non-mobile project this year: A WhatsApp chatbot for Singa the Courtesy Lion, trained almost entirely using existing SKM materials.

Through persona workshops and agentic workflows, the bot does more than answer questions. It engages, follows up, and reacts intelligently to users.

We are now in discussions with multiple clients to deploy similar solutions to increase productivity and reduce costs.

◆ WHAT AI ENABLES FOR US - IMPROVED EXISTING SERVICES

AI is also deeply embedded into the apps we build.

Search is no longer keyword based but intent aware. User generated content is moderated automatically. Users receive personalised experiences powered by AI profiling, all while meeting enterprise standards.

◆ WHAT AI ENABLES FOR US - HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY ACROSS THE BOARD

AI is tightly integrated into our internal workflows.

It helps us manage requirements, automate repetitive tasks, generate references, and speed up development.

At the same time, we draw firm lines.

We do not use AI to summarise meetings, create final design deliverables, or write essential business critical code. Quality, security, and accountability remain human responsibilities.

◆ LOOKING AHEAD

As we move forward, we will continue investing in AI across the company. Not to replace people, but to make great teams even more effective.

AI may be moving fast.

But building systems that last still requires experienced humans who care about getting things right.

- Calixto Tay
Managing Director, OUS Group Pte Ltd

27/10/2025

Our Managing Director, Calixto Tay was recently featured by Singapore Management University (SMU) in “How a frugal upbringing became a business asset” — a story that captures the mindset that continues to define both his leadership and our company’s DNA.

Growing up in a modest household, Calixto learned early to evaluate every purchase, stretch every dollar, and find creative ways to make things work. Those lessons of discipline and resourcefulness eventually became the foundation for how he built and led Originally US — a company that focuses on purposeful innovation, long-term value, and efficiency without compromise.

From building his first puzzle game The Wicked as a teenager to launching BookINBookOUT overnight, Calixto has always combined curiosity with ex*****on. Today, that same drive fuels how Originally US delivers impactful digital and AI solutions for clients like CPF Board, CIMB and AIA.

What stands out most about Calixto’s story — and what we’re proud to embody as a team — is his belief that technology should serve people, not the other way around. That thoughtful, human-first approach to building products has guided every project we take on, from national-scale platforms to everyday digital experiences.

We’re grateful to Singapore Management University for sharing Calixto’s story, and proud to continue supporting the next generation of tech leaders through the the study awards that we have established - Originally US Future IT Leader Award and the Originally US Award for Top Computing Student at SMU.

Frugal roots shaped Calixto Tay’s journey from SMU student to tech entrepreneur, driving innovation, mentorship, and impactful digital solutions for Singapore’s finance and government sectors.

29/08/2025

💥 These are not BOMBS!! 💥

If you’ve visited our office, you’ve probably seen these strange circuit boards mounted everywhere and wondered: what on earth are they?

At Originally US, we believe great mobile apps don’t just come from great ideas — they come from relentlessly optimising every single step of the development process.

Take something as “unsexy” as SMS OTP testing. For some of our high-sensitivity projects, testing requires logging in with very specific accounts tied to specific phone numbers, with real SMS OTPs.

At first, we did what most would do — pass phones around the team. But that became ridiculously hard because our team sits across different continents.

Then we dedicated test phones, automated SMS forwarding to Slack, and thought we’d cracked it. But soon, the cheap Android phones left plugged in 24/7 started bloating their batteries in just 3–6 months. Replacing them was costly and unsafe.

Instead of accepting it as “just part of the job,” our team went back to the drawing board. The result?

We now use re-programmable ESP32 boards with built-in 4G modems and SIM slots, running our own custom software to receive and forward OTPs.

✅ Fraction of the cost of phones
✅ No battery bloat, no fire hazard
✅ Same smooth Slack integration for the whole team

It’s why you’ll see some strange-looking circuit boards mounted around our office. They’re not gadgets for fun — they’re part of our philosophy: always optimise, always innovate.

Because in our line of work, even the smallest friction in the workflow can slow down creativity. And we’d much rather spend that energy on building amazing products for our clients.

💡 Curious to see what other “unseen” optimisations we do as a studio? Drop me a message — we’d be happy to share more!

23/05/2025

The cat (or should I say, Lion?) is out of the bag! 🦁

Introducing Singa, our beloved Kindness Lion, now brought to life as a WhatsApp chatbot — powered by the latest in-house advancements in Large Language Models (LLM), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and agentic bot technology, developed right here at Originally US - Mobile App Development Singapore!

Unlike typical NLP chatbots in Singapore that rely on fixed options or keywords, Singa supports full natural conversation and understands your queries just like a human would.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first public-facing LLM-powered chatbot embodying such an iconic local mascot in Singapore!

Behind the scenes, it’s been an incredible journey.

// Our Journey To Singa //

While most know us as a mobile experience consultancy, since late 2023, we’ve quietly built an internal LLM team dedicated to researching and developing cutting-edge AI solutions.

Our mission? To create a chatbot that truly meets real needs — answering real questions with the power of the latest AI innovations like RAG and agentic chatbots capable of performing actual tasks.

At the same time, our AI agent had to avoid common pitfalls of general LLMs — no hallucinations, no unauthorized information, and a deep sensitivity to Singapore’s unique context, local slang, and nuances.

It took over a year to develop.

When the opportunity arose to power the iconic Singa mascot with our LLM technology, we pounced!

Together with our consultancy partner, Brain Juice Collective, we carefully crafted Singa’s mantra, objectives, tone, and personality — shaped through focus group discussions with the public.

We meticulously designed conversation flows to help the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) achieve its goals.

The result? Singa in chatbot form. Singa chats with you, introduces the latest Kindness Day exhibit at Changi Airport, surveys your experience, sends timely reminders, answers your questions about SKM and grassroots movements, and even shares tips on spreading kindness.

We’re genuinely excited to see how users will engage with Singa — to chat, learn, and create new memories with Singapore’s most iconic mascot in an entirely new way.

This chatbot is more than technology; it’s a bridge connecting hearts through kindness, powered by innovation.

To check out the Singapore Kindness Day – Let Your Kindness Bloom exhibit and experience Singa the chatbot for yourself, visit:
📅 23 May – 22 June 2025
📍 Changi Airport Terminal 3, Arrival Hall Level 1
🕚 11am – 9pm daily

We can’t wait for you to meet Singa and join us in spreading kindness!

09/04/2025

We’re incredibly proud to share that our very own Calixto Tay, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Originally US, has been named in Prestige Magazine’s “40 Under 40 – Class of 2025”!

This well-deserved recognition highlights over a decade of Calixto’s dedication to reshaping digital experiences across MNCs, government bodies, and the financial sector — as well as his commitment to mentoring young entrepreneurs through SMU’s Business Innovations Generator, and giving back through education-focused volunteering and philanthropy.

At Originally US, this honour is a reminder of why we do what we do — to create meaningful impact through technology, mentorship, and community.

Congratulations, Calixto! 🎉

See Calixto's feature here: https://www.prestigeonline.com/sg/people/40-under-40/calixto-tay-prestige-40-under-40-2025/

26/01/2025

Is China winning the AI war with DeepSeek?

Yesterday, I shared that we built a CNY chatbot in under 12 hours.

This morning, we have decided to give DeepSeek, the talk of the town in AI space a spin.

Swapping OpenAI for DeepSeek Chat took us less than an hour.

DeepSeek is also much cheaper than OpenAI GPT-4o and GPT-4o Mini.

The responses given by DeepSeek is almost indistinguishable from GPT-4o Mini. There’s no problem with Singlish, and the exact prompts and defense mechanisms that works with GPT-4o seems to work with DeepSeek Chat too.

The response by our “Dev” bot in the screenshot below is from DeepSeek. The non-dev bot is still on GPT-4o Mini.

What are you thoughts about China potentially winning USA in the AI race?

Which response do you prefer?

25/01/2025

🎊 Kaypo Relatives, Beware! We’ve Got a New Bot in Town! 🎊

Chinese New Year is here, and we all know what that means…
Relatives armed with the most kaypo questions ever:

❓ “When are you getting married?”
❓ “When are you having kids?”
❓ “Buy house already?”

😩 Don’t worry, we feel you. The awkward silences, the forced smiles—ugh.

That’s why we created "You Don't Kaypo"!

Powered by GenAI, this bot is here to help you fight back (politely, or not-so-politely 😉).

Just type in those nosy questions, and we’ll give you witty, savage, or overly polite replies to keep the peace—and your sanity.

👩‍💻 In just 12 hours, our team turned this treadmill idea into reality! Big shoutout to the tech ninja who did all the heavy lifting, and the branding mastermind who made the bot’s tone and style on point.

📲 Try it out now on Telegram: https://t.me/anti_kaypo_bot

✨ Have some fun, share it with your friends, and save yourself from the CNY interrogation squad. Let the bot do the talking while you enjoy your pineapple tarts and ang baos. Happy Chinese New Year! 🧧🐇

28/10/2024

Have you heard about the Safe App Standard (SAS) 2.0 from Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency?

SAS 2.0 is shaping a safer digital landscape by setting benchmarks and guidelines for mobile app security in Singapore.

If you operate a mobile app, you should consult with your mobile app vendor to ensure that it is up to SAS standards.

We’re proud to share that we are recognised as a contributor to SAS 2.0, standing alongside industry giants like Microsoft, Acronis, and AWS.

As the only local boutique mobile app consultancy involved, we’re honoured to bring our 10 years of expertise building mobile apps for Financial Institutions, Government agencies, and MNCs to strengthen cybersecurity in Singapore.

Find out more about SAS 2.0: https://www.csa.gov.sg/Tips-Resource/publications/2024/safe-app-standard

22/07/2024

We are thrilled to announce that Originally US has been honored with two prestigious awards at the 12th annual Mob-Ex Awards, held on July 18, 2024.

Our CPFV 2.0 mobile app, co-created with the Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB), earned us the Gold award for Best Launch/Relaunch and the Silver award for Best Use of Mobile Customer Engagement.

These accolades mark a significant milestone in our journey. Ten years ago, we never imagined that our small business would grow to collaborate with major government bodies and achieve such recognition.

Our CPFV 2.0 app, designed and developed from the ground up by our dedicated team, showcases the culmination of a decade of innovation, concepts, and engineering excellence.

We extend our deepest gratitude to our clients for their trust and partnership. A special thank you goes to our exceptional design, project management, development, and QA teams for their relentless dedication and hard work.

This achievement would not have been possible without your commitment and expertise.

The Mob-Ex Awards honor mobile excellence by recognizing the most effective, creative, and innovative mobile marketing campaigns that make complex interactivity accessible and drive business growth across Asia and Oceania.

We are proud to be part of this esteemed group and look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of mobile technology.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us on this journey. Here’s to many more years of success and innovation!