Diving into Software Engineering: My Journey as an AI & ML Graduate at ONLYBEES

As a Bachelor of Technology student majoring in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, my academic path was centered around model training, datasets, and mathematical optimization. However, my journey took a dynamic turn when Chimmon Pakma, the Chairman and CEO of ONLYBEES Pvt. Ltd., hired me as a Software Engineering Intern. Along with the CEO's vision, our CTO, Gaurav Joshi, was a guiding torch to me throughout my journey. Pushing my limits month after month, they challenged me to step out of the AI environment and dive straight into backend development, full-stack architectures, and cloud deployments for multiple production platforms.

Stepping Into the Backend Engine

My software engineering work started with a backend project built on FastAPI. Writing scalable APIs and optimizing database queries served as my gateway into production software design. It challenged me to apply the clean logic of my ML background to structural backend paradigms, focusing on validation, routing, and low-latency API responses.

Moving to Full-Stack and Mobile

Soon after, I transitioned to a full-stack project called TheSportHour, a sports-tech turf booking mobile application. Here, I worked on the backend using Node.js, Express.js, and MongoDB, designing the logic for slot management. I integrated the Razorpay payment gateway to enable secure payment workflows for turf discovery in Shillong, and assisted with the React Native frontend layout to ensure a seamless mobile user experience.

Scaling for Public Events

My next milestone was working on the Shillong Literary Festival 2025 website. As a Next.js developer, I built and maintained the official festival portal, creating a custom content extraction API to manage schedules, speaker profiles, and festival events. To support the high volume of traffic during the festival, I managed the website's performance and deployment using PM2 and cPanel.

Enterprise Systems and Government Platforms

My latest and most complex contribution has been working on Prime DSPP (Digital Service Provider Platform), a government-backed digital service platform under PRIME Meghalaya. Serving as a backend developer, I utilized NestJS, PostgreSQL, and Prisma ORM to build authentication, secure booking flows, and payment workflows, alongside minor React.js frontend contributions. Deploying and maintaining these services on VPS nodes using PM2 has taught me how to manage server resources to ensure platform stability and high uptime.

Lessons from the Field

Working under the leadership of CEO Chimmon Pakma and the guidance of CTO Gaurav Joshi at ONLYBEES shifted my path from writing code inside notebooks to building, deploying, and maintaining high-scale, enterprise-ready software systems.