DEV.co
Raleigh, NC · Custom Software + AI

Custom software for Raleigh — built the AI-native way.

We pair senior engineers with an AI-accelerated delivery model to ship custom software for the Research Triangle's biotech, healthcare, and research-software operators — without the fragile output that gives AI a bad name.

Senior-only engineering · AI-accelerated delivery · you own 100% of the code

AI changed the economics of custom software. We rebuilt our process around it.

The Research Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) anchors one of the country's largest biotech, healthtech, and research-software markets — home to RTP-based pharma and CROs, Duke and UNC's research-software ecosystems, and a growing B2B SaaS and AI scene. Senior hires are six figures, months out, and picked over by pharma, hospital systems, and well-funded research-tech startups. AI changes the math, but only when senior people own the parts AI gets wrong.

On a Triangle biotech, healthtech, or research-tech build, AI cleanly handles the repetitive 70% — schemas, scaffolding, CRUD, dashboards, lab-data UI. The 30% AI gets wrong is the part GxP validators, IRBs, or HIPAA auditors will catch: missing audit trails on PHI, unsigned validated changes, chain-of-custody gaps on lab samples, and integration with bespoke research tools AI invents instead of reads. Raw AI output skips audit trails without telling you.

We build for Triangle operators — biotech and pharma companies digitizing trial and lab workflows, hospital systems rolling out clinician and patient tools, AI-first research-tech startups shipping production code on top of research prototypes, and EdTech and university-facing platforms. Our model: AI handles scaffolding and the repetitive 70%; a senior engineer owns architecture, security review, and signs off on every change.

Show, don't tell

AI writes the first draft. A senior engineer signs off.

Every change runs through review for security, tests, and architecture before it ships — that review is the product.

delivery.tstypescript
const draft = await ai.generate(spec)          // minutes, not daysreview(draft, { security: true, tests: true, architecture: true })// ✗ rejected: validated change shipped without e-signature (21 CFR Part 11 miss) → e-sig + reason + audit-logged// ✓ merged: chain-of-custody fields on lab record, IRB-mapped data-access policy on research dataset
Every change
AI velocity + human judgment
tests + security review built in
you own 100% of the result

On a Triangle biotech or research-tech build, the failure modes are missing e-signatures, chain-of-custody gaps, and IRB-policy misses. Senior review catches them before a validator, an IRB, or a sponsor does.

What we build for Raleigh companies.

Bio / Life Sci

Biotech & lab software

LIMS extensions, trial-management tools, and AI for research pipelines, validated for regulated environments.

Healthcare

Healthcare & HIPAA-ready apps

Patient-facing portals, clinician tools, and care-coordination platforms built to HIPAA from day one.

AI

AI applications

Copilots, RAG, search, and agents grounded in your data, with guardrails and evals.

Education

EdTech & learning platforms

Student-facing apps, LMS extensions, and institutional tools that work for districts and universities.

Product

SaaS platforms

Multi-tenant products with auth, billing, and dashboards — MVP to scale.

Internal

Internal tools & copilots

Operations tooling that replaces the spreadsheet-and-tribal-knowledge workflow.

Senior, on-shore, AI-accelerated

A senior team that moves at AI speed.

You work with senior engineers in Eastern Time who own architecture, compliance posture, and quality on regulated work — fitting into an RTP biotech rhythm, a Durham research-software team, or a Raleigh SaaS PR cycle — not a junior pool with raw AI output bolted on.

The Triangle's senior engineering pool is split between RTP pharma, the Duke and UNC research-software bench, and a growing venture-backed startup scene — three-to-six months to hire and constantly recruited by coastal remote roles. An AI-native team gets you shipping this week, flexes monthly, and doesn't need an RTP office lease.

Talk to an engineer

Traditional Raleigh dev shop vs. AI-native.

Traditional AgencyDEV.co (AI-native)
Time to working softwareMonthsDays to weeks
CostFull senior rates, all hoursLower — AI removes the rote work
Code qualityGood (if senior)Same bar — every change reviewed
AI riskContained by senior review + tests
You own the codeUsuallyAlways — full repo on day one
Scales with youSlow to staff upFlex up or down monthly
2–3×
faster than traditional development
1 wk
to a working prototype
100%
code ownership at handoff
30 days
post-launch support included

Common questions from Raleigh teams.

Do you work with Raleigh companies?
Yes — we serve Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, and Charlotte companies with senior, on-shore engineers in Eastern Time. Most collaboration is remote-first, with on-site available for kickoffs and key milestones.
Do you build for GxP, HIPAA, and IRB-scoped environments?
Yes. We architect for HIPAA from day one in clinical work, support GxP validation with IQ/OQ/PQ-friendly documentation and e-signatures, and respect IRB-approved data-access policies. We don't deliver validation or IRB approval; we build code your validators and IRBs can sign off on without rework.
Do you work with research code that needs to be productionized?
Yes — that's a sweet spot. We harden research-grade code: structure data flow, add observability, bound failure modes, write the tests that should have been there, and gate on real-world data instead of clean simulation. We work alongside your research team, not around them.
Is AI-built software production-ready?
Yes — when a senior engineer reviews every output, adds tests, and hardens it. The horror stories come from shipping raw AI code unsupervised. We don't, and we support what we ship.
Will we own the code?
100%, from day one. We deliver to a repository you control — no proprietary platform, no lock-in.
How fast can we start?
Usually within days. A short scoping call defines the build, the timeline, and a fixed quote.
Can you work with our existing team?
Yes — we augment in-house teams, review their work, and set standards, or run the build end to end. We flex to how you work.

Let's build it — Raleigh.

Tell us what you're shipping. We'll give you a senior engineer's read, an honest timeline, a fixed quote, and tell you whether AI-native is the right fit for your build.