🌍 OFTN: AgentOS – WhatsApp Identity Cards for the Underrepresented
🎯 Inspiration
I grew up in Sandakan, a small town in Sabah, Malaysia, where most people do whatever they can to survive. Many go abroad to find work. Those who stay hustle locally — taking up informal roles like makeup artists, photographers, car resellers, tailors, and delivery workers. But when it comes to promoting themselves online, especially on WhatsApp and Facebook, they’re lost in the noise.
Posts are messy. Portfolios are scattered. Scams are everywhere.
And yet, these are good people — just lacking a trustable digital presence.
That’s where OFTN: AgentOS comes in.
A WhatsApp-native chatbot that helps these workers, students, and small teams turn themselves into simple, verified identity cards they can share online.
It’s fast. It’s mobile-first. And it’s designed to restore dignity.
🤖 What It Does
OFTN: AgentOS is a lightweight identity generator that:
- Chats with users through WhatsApp (Twilio-based)
- Collects basic info: name, role, location, contact, availability, short bio, and up to 3 skills/services
- Optionally accepts up to 3 gallery images (e.g., photos of a car, a makeup portfolio)
- Produces:
- A WhatsApp-ready identity card (<500 characters, with emoji + markdown)
- A condensed version for social media bios
- A microsite-style card hosted on Netlify (optional)
- Localizes the chat in Malay, English, or Tagalog using Lingo
- Optionally upgrades users to Pro (via RevenueCat) for video intros (Tavus API)
In 3–5 minutes, anyone can go from anonymous to trusted — and share their identity in any chat group.
🛠️ How We Built It
- Frontend: Next.js + Tailwind CSS (optimized for mobile UX)
- Chatbot Layer: Twilio WhatsApp API (connected to Netlify functions)
- Backend: Netlify Functions for media handling, card generation, and routing
- Agent Orchestration: Pica API (for input validation, bio enhancement, and microsite setup)
- Localization: Lingo API (Malay, English, Tagalog support)
- Media/Gallery: Image compression, limited to 3 uploads
- Pro Features: RevenueCat + Tavus integration (for video intros)
- Hosting: Netlify for deployment and microsites
🧱 Challenges We Ran Into
- External Risks: Many users fear fraud, and it’s hard to stand out in WhatsApp. We designed the cards to be clear, branded, and screenshot-friendly — giving users instant credibility without needing a website.
- Unstable Traffic Sources: People live in chat apps. We chose WhatsApp as the first touchpoint because that’s where trust starts in Malaysia.
- Literacy and Access: Many users struggle with English or complex tools. We added localization (Malay/Tagalog), wrote short prompts, and used emoji for clarity.
- Competing Models: Unlike job boards or freelance platforms that are high-friction and resume-heavy, we focused on lightweight identity, not formal CVs.
🏅 Accomplishments That We're Proud Of
- Took a massive, invisible pain point and reduced it to a 5-minute flow
- Reimagined what "profile building" means for the unrepresented
- Designed for chat-first, not app-first — flipping traditional product logic
- Created a tool that feels native to WhatsApp, not foreign
- Built the foundation for a much larger trust ecosystem (OFTN)
📚 What We Learned
- People don’t need more platforms — they need ways to stand out inside the platforms they already use
- Trust is the currency of informal work — and visual clarity builds it fast
- Localization and visual communication are essential for inclusivity
- Users want ownership of their identity, not accounts or job listings
🔮 What's Next for OFTN: AgentOS
This is just the start.
Immediate Steps
- Expand gallery support and build card templates for different industries (e.g., makeup, auto, events)
- Run pilot campaigns in Facebook/WhatsApp groups across East Malaysia
- Refine onboarding for older or less tech-savvy users
- Collaborate with local youth centers and NGOs
Ecosystem Roadmap
- Launch OFTN Circles – small trusted hiring groups with built-in task flows
- Offer reputation signals like endorsements, ratings, and community badges
- Add payments, scheduling, and referral features
- Introduce OFTN Tools – resume builders, one-tap links, etc.
- Build for export: OFTN can be adapted for Philippines, Indonesia, or South Africa
Vision
To become the Stripe Atlas of informal identity — a platform that turns local, informal work into a global, trustable economy.
OFTN: AgentOS is not a job board.
It’s not a portfolio app.
It’s a trust engine — designed for the rest of us.
Built With
- bolt
- netlify
- vite
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.