Islamic Tech | Dr Riasat Islam

AI in 2026: Agents, Coding Tools, and the Changing Software Landscape

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Since around November 2025, the pace of AI development has been absolutely relentless.

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems are evolving quickly. A few months ago the conversation was dominated by Model Context Protocols (MCPs). But after recent announcements from Perplexity AI and others, it seems AI tooling is moving closer to CLIs and APIs, integrating directly into developer workflows rather than relying heavily on new middleware layers.

Interestingly, I remember teaching in one of my modules a few years ago that Command Line Interfaces (CLIs) are among the most powerful interfaces ever created. Old really is gold. It is nice to see them getting the love again as AI tooling shifts toward developer-centric workflows. Hopefully accessibility will continue to improve so that CLI-centric tools become usable by an even wider audience.

We are also seeing consolidation around the AI agent ecosystem.

For example:

Clawdbot being acquired by OpenAI
Moltbook being acquired by Meta Platforms

These moves look largely like acqui-hire plays, but they signal something bigger: AI agents are quickly becoming one of the defining themes of 2026.

The investment momentum is equally remarkable. Replit has reportedly raised funding at around a $9 billion valuation, highlighting just how central AI-assisted development tools are becoming.

Meanwhile, renowned AI researcher Yann LeCun has been raising funding for a new venture focused on JEPA (Joint Embedding Predictive Architecture) world models, reportedly setting records with one of the largest seed rounds ever raised in Europe. This suggests growing belief that the next wave of AI may be driven by world-model approaches, not just large language models.

On the development side, tools such as Replit, OpenAI Codex, Qwen Coder, and Claude Code have made enormous progress in AI-assisted programming. Software engineers are increasingly reviewing, guiding, and orchestrating code rather than writing every line manually.

This shift is already influencing the industry. Reports of restructuring, including layoffs linked to automation initiatives at startups connected to Jack Dorsey, suggest companies are beginning to reorganise around AI-first development workflows.

Of course, there are trade-offs. As AI coding agents become more prevalent, we will likely hear more stories about failures and outages caused by automated code generation. For example, earlier this year an Amazon service outage sparked speculation that an internal agentic coding system might have been involved (something Amazon later denied publicly). Regardless of the specific cause, these incidents highlight the new risks that come with increasingly automated software pipelines.

What I am seeing in the Islamic tech ecosystem

From my vantage point working in Islamic software, something interesting is happening.

We are seeing many highly niche apps emerging almost daily. As development becomes dramatically cheaper and faster, building a small app or experimental product can now take hours instead of weekends for a developer.

This is exciting.

Lower barriers to entry mean more innovation and experimentation. But it also means many apps will struggle to survive.

AI-based products are expensive to run (inference costs, infrastructure, data pipelines). Without enough users or a clear revenue model, many projects will inevitably disappear.

So the old questions still matter:

Are we solving a real user need or pain point?
Is there a large enough user base to sustain the product?

As an academic and founder

As someone teaching AI and Software Engineering, I increasingly find myself going back to foundational concepts in the classroom.

The tooling landscape may change every few months, but the fundamentals, algorithms, systems thinking, evaluation, and user-centred design, remain stable.

As a co-founder building technology products, I am also watching closely to see which new entrants gain traction and which ones fade away.

The next few years will likely reshape how software is built.

It will be fascinating to watch.

On a personal note, as we enter the final days of Ramadan, I pray that everyone’s fasting and worship are accepted.

Advance Eid Mubarak.

Please keep me, my family, our team, and the wider Ummah in your prayers.

Designing Islamic Lifestyle Apps for Real Spiritual Needs

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

There are now several thousand Islamic apps in the market, with hundreds more launching every month. At the same time, many Muslim-majority countries are experiencing rapid demographic and technological growth, particularly among young people who are highly active on mobile devices.

But this raises some important questions:

Do app developers have clear, evidence-based design guidelines for young Muslim users?
What are the real user needs of this audience?
Are current apps, especially Islamic lifestyle apps, which are our primary focus, actually fulfilling users’ spiritual needs, or merely digitising religious content?

In our research, we set out to explore these questions from a psychological and user-experience (UX) perspective. Our goal was to develop a set of practical design guidelines that can benefit not only Islamic lifestyle app developers, but anyone building apps for Muslim-majority audiences.

One finding was unequivocal: no one likes intrusive ads. They consistently undermine user experience, erode trust, and detract from meaningful engagement, particularly in spiritually oriented applications.

At Greentech Apps Foundation, we actively incorporate these research insights into our own products, helping us build apps that are loved and used by millions of people worldwide. Likewise, through our commercial arm, Greentech Apps Limited, we apply the same evidence-based principles to deliver thoughtful, user-centred solutions for our clients.

If this space interests you, I warmly invite you to read our research paper, which is freely available as open access:

Read the open-access research paper

We are grateful to Queen Mary University of London for supporting this work through open-access funding. Heartfelt thanks also go to our co-authors, Mohsinul Kabir and Ridwan Kabir. Without their dedication and hard work, this research would not have been possible. We also sincerely thank the reviewers whose thoughtful feedback helped shape and strengthen the paper.

If you are interested in interning with us or collaborating on future research, feel free to reach out. I would be very happy to connect.

Why do so many Islamic apps feel useful, but not deeply helpful?

Our recent Greentech R&D research, along with collaborators Mohsinul Kabir and Ridwan Kabir, looked at 11 popular Islamic lifestyle apps and spoke directly with Muslim users.

The insight was eye-opening: most apps are packed with features, such as prayer times, Qur’an readers, and habit trackers, but users still feel spiritually unfulfilled. They are completing tasks but not deepening their faith. What users want is simple: understanding, confidence, and guidance that fits real life.

What users actually need

1. Go beyond basic features

Do not just provide prayer times, Qur’an text, or checklists. Apps should help users understand and reflect, not only complete tasks.

2. Support motivation, not guilt

Encourage users gently and positively, instead of making them feel bad for missing prayers or targets. Progress should feel supportive, not judgmental.

3. Give users more control and choice

Let people personalise how they learn and practice Islam, including pace, reminders, topics, and goals, rather than forcing one rigid structure on everyone.

4. Help users feel spiritually confident

Explain why things are done in Islam, not just what to do. This helps users feel more confident and sincere in their practice.

5. Make learning connected and meaningful

Link Qur’an verses, Hadith, Seerah, and daily life examples together, so users can see how Islamic teachings connect across topics.

6. Encourage a sense of community

Help users feel connected to other Muslims through shared learning, reflections, or collective goals, without becoming noisy or social-media-like.

7. Respect Islamic etiquette and trust

Authenticity matters. Users care deeply about credible sources, respectful tone, and alignment with Islamic values.

8. Design for real life, not ideal life

People are busy, tired, and at different stages of faith. Apps should fit naturally into daily routines.

What is one thing you wish your favourite Islamic app did differently?