Case study · Currently building

Tribe helps people run business with less friction.

Tribe is an AI-powered platform bringing business tools, commerce, and payments into one connected experience, with Tia, an AI assistant, available through the web and WhatsApp.

Role
Founder / software developer
Status
Live, in active development
Site
usetribeapp.com
Screenshot of the usetribeapp.com homepage showing the Tribe logo, the headline 'Your AI companion for money, work, and business' and a phone screen with a Tia conversation.
Screenshot of usetribeapp.com, captured 11 October 2026.

The problem

Running a small business usually means running several disconnected systems at once. Payments arrive in one place, customer questions land in a chat, the stock count lives in a notebook, and the record of who still owes money lives in someone's head. Nothing is broken on its own, but the owner spends the day stitching it together.

What Tribe is

Tribe brings those pieces into one connected experience. Products and services, inventory, orders, payment links, invoices, receipts, and customer follow-ups sit together, so the state of the business is visible in one place instead of five.

Tia is the assistant layer on top. Instead of navigating menus, you ask: what needs my attention today? Tia can explain recorded activity, prepare documents and messages, set up reminders, and move a task along. It works on WhatsApp and on the web, so the conversation is available where the business already happens.

Alongside the business tools, Tribe covers everyday money — bills, reminders, and payments — and adds marketplace mechanics such as escrow-protected orders, where payment is released once delivery is confirmed. Affiliates can opt in to promote eligible products and earn commission on qualifying sales.

My role

I am Tribe's founder and software developer. That covers the shape of the product — what it does, what it deliberately does not do yet — as well as the design and implementation work behind the interfaces people use.

Where it is going

The longer direction is an AI layer across finance and commerce: making everyday transactions and business operations easier to manage.

  • Business tools, connected

    Products and services, inventory, orders, payment links, invoices, receipts, and customer follow-ups sit in one place instead of five.

  • An assistant that acts

    Tia works through conversation: ask what needs attention, draft an invoice or a customer message, and follow the task through from chat.

  • Commerce and money alongside

    Payments, escrow-protected marketplace orders, and opt-in affiliate commissions live next to the rest of the business rather than in a separate app.

Tribe mobile app interface design showing a vendor dashboard with total sales, orders, new customers, quick actions and recent orders.
Tribe app interface design. Product design work with placeholder figures — not a screenshot of a live build.
Emmanuel Cobbi standing beside a Tribe roll-up banner at a business exhibition.
Showing Tribe at an exhibition — where most of the useful product feedback comes from.

Try it, or ask me about it.