Akari Engine: From Prototype to Launch

I write a lot here about architecture, independence and the possibilities opened by good technology choices. Over the past year, I've had the chance to put some of that thinking into practice as an employee and product manager at Akari. The result is called Akari Engine, with Akari Hub bringing our website work together in one place. Now that we've launched, I want to share a little of the journey — because I'm genuinely proud of what we've built.

It started with a question

Last year, I built prototypes and services that helped the rest of our leadership team see what was possible. We had talented designers, great clients and plenty of ideas. Even so, the path from a good proposal to a published website could be needlessly heavy. Creativity wasn't the problem. Time and capacity were being spent on everything surrounding each delivery.

The prototypes made the conversation tangible. Instead of debating a distant vision, we could try things, learn and begin to see a different way of working. Over time, it became a shared project at Akari: How do we give every client a website with its own character while making production and ongoing improvement easier for the people who deliver it?

Finding one direction among many perspectives

Akari is full of people who see the world differently. Some are bursting with ideas and want to explore everything at once. Others see the possibilities but ask the essential questions about security, operations and architecture. Some are uncertain about what AI might mean for their jobs. Others light up when they achieve something they never thought they could. Our leadership team brings different responsibilities and levels of technical experience to the table; around us are colleagues who keep building and experimenting long after the working day ends.

It was rarely as simple as one direction being right and another wrong. We needed both the enthusiasm and the hard questions. When the pace became too fast, we had to pause and take technical warning signs seriously. When uncertainty made the next step difficult, we had to show what was already working. People wanted different things, often for good reasons, and someone had to turn those perspectives into decisions we could move forward with together.

That became a major part of my role as product manager: listening, translating between disciplines and responsibilities, saying yes to what we were ready for and not yet to the rest — then holding the course all the way to launch. It has been demanding. It has also been among the most rewarding work I've done.

A foundation that makes room for custom work

Akari Engine is the foundation we now use to create and run websites. The idea is simple: We should be able to put our energy into content, design and the experience people actually see, while the technology helps us move quickly and reliably from idea to publication.

For clients, that means a website can start taking shape early in the process, and we can refine it together along the way. A quick first draft is, of course, not the same as a finished site. What matters is having more time for good conversations, sound decisions and the details that make the result feel like theirs.

We use new tools, including AI, where they help us move faster and give us a stronger starting point. But people still listen to clients, shape the design, judge the quality and take responsibility for the outcome. That's the combination I find exciting: more room for craft because the technology gets out of the way.

Akari Hub keeps the work connected

Engine provides the foundation for the websites. Akari Hub is the workspace that gives us an overview of projects and makes publishing and changes easier to manage. The two belong together. What once felt like many small, separate processes becomes a more coherent and predictable way of working.

It also gives us greater range. A small business needs a strong digital presence just as much as a large organisation, even though their needs and budgets differ. When we can work more efficiently behind the scenes, we can devote more effort to what people notice: a clear, carefully made website built for the people who will use it.

From shared direction to launch

I took the initiative with the prototypes, brought the different perspectives together and was responsible for steering the product to launch. But Akari Engine is not a solo project. Colleagues across development, design, sales, production and companies challenged the ideas, improved them and made them into something we can actually deliver. I'm proud to have led that journey, and prouder still of what we achieved together.

About three months after the Engine project itself began, we had launched. Our first clients are delighted, and I see colleagues across disciplines and companies accomplishing things that once seemed out of reach. That is what stays with me most: We found a direction so many people could make their own, and we brought the product into the world.

If you're curious, you're welcome to get in touch with me here. Formal enquiries about Akari Engine go through Akari at kenneth@akari.no.