The partner: Exceeds AI

Exceeds AI is a developer productivity platform. The app helps engineering leaders determine the ROI of AI investments. By analyzing signals across speed, code quality, and customer feedback, Exceeds gives companies a clearer picture of how AI is impacting engineering performance.

The problem: Building an AI-ready team without margin for error

As an early-stage startup, Exceeds AI didn't have the luxury of scaling through trial and error.

"We don’t have hundreds of engineers at our disposal," CEO Mark Hull says. "We need people who are very talented, agile, nimble, able to execute, and work autonomously."

At the same time, the nature of engineering work is changing.

AI tools are accelerating development while introducing new complexity. Engineers are learning to work alongside AI systems and adapt as tools evolve.

Exceeds AI kept running into the same challenge. Most external partners could provide talent, but not true ownership. For CTO Pradeepta Dash, who has evaluated hundreds of vendors, the pattern was familiar.

"Outsourced engineers typically think of themselves as guns for hire," Dash says. "They require a lot of detailed direction and stay within narrow boundaries."

Exceeds AI was looking for something different. The company needed engineers who could contribute ideas and evolve with the product.

The solution: A partner built for ownership, not outsourcing

Howdy provided an integrated extension of the Exceeds AI team.

"Howdy has been instrumental to our success," Hull says.

From the start, the focus was on embedding engineers directly into the company’s workflows and culture.

"They’re not coders. They’re part of our culture," Hull says. "They’re in meetings, contributing ideas, and helping build the product alongside us."

For Dash, the bar is high and Howdy clears it.

"I would place Howdy in the top 5% of vendors I’ve worked with."

A key differentiator is Howdy’s ongoing involvement beyond hiring. Howdy upskills its engineers and extends that same training to its partners' engineering teams.

"Howdy has played an active role in upskilling its engineers and our engineers as well," Dash says.

Why Latin America

Exceeds AI’s engineering team spans multiple countries across Latin America, including Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil.

Two factors stood out for Dash: time zone alignment and talent quality.

"The time zone makes a huge quality-of-life difference. And the quality of engineers we’ve seen has been very good."

The outcome: A team that owns the product

Today, Exceeds AI has built a distributed team of 18 engineers through Howdy. These developers take full ownership of their work.

"I can depend on these engineers to take responsibility, understand the product, and execute independently," Dash says.

That autonomy shows up in how the team works.

"It's hard to find examples of contractors who step out of their boundaries," Dash says. "But Howdy engineers suggest new ways of doing work and take on responsibility without thinking twice."

Hull appreciates how Howdy engineers show up in meetings, generate ideas, and care about the customers.

"What it means is that we have a diverse perspective building a complex product in a way that's suited for customers. That's the dream of a startup: to feel like what you're building is within reach."