Custom software in Smilde
Smilde is a ribbon village that grew out of the peat cutting of the Smilder Venen, with agriculture, dairy and potato starch as its historic engine. We build custom software with AI that fits the farming and food processing along the canal.
Why custom software, and why here
The economy around Smilde and Hoogersmilde runs on agricultural businesses, food processing, transport and local services along the canal. Exactly the sectors with a lot of manual work in quotes, planning and admin.
Many of those companies get stuck on off-the-shelf packages that almost fit, or on loose Excel sheets with rates and trips. With AI we quickly build custom software that does fit, made secure and production-ready by our own developers.
What we build for you
Custom software
Software built with AI: a working product fast, made secure and production-ready.
Read more
Your own CRM or tool
A system that fits how you work, instead of forcing your process into an off-the-shelf package.
Read moreBuild together in Studio
In Empathree Studio we build in our developers' code style, with review on every line.
Read moreFrom practice
From a loose request to a quote app for the contracting firm
An agricultural contracting or transport firm gets requests by email, phone and WhatsApp all mixed up. We build an app around it: the AI summarises the request, sets up the details in a draft quote and links the right rates to it.
A working prototype fast, then made secure and scalable by our developers. The entrepreneur checks and sends it themselves: the human decides, the AI does the groundwork, and you add the final check.
This is an example of what we can build for you, not an existing product.
Software we built
Argo: from measuring up rooms to a signed quote in one app
Dictate the rooms on site, AI produces the room schedule and the calculation, and the client signs digitally. Without printing and scanning.
Close by, from Groningen
From our office in Groningen you reach Smilde via the A28 in about 35 minutes. We are happy to come and see how you work today, because good software starts with the real process.
Fixed prices, short lines, and an approach that fits how you work.
Leonard Springerlaan 35, Groningen
Frequently asked questions
Do you build on top of something we already have?
Yes. Sometimes we build new, sometimes we finish or secure what you started yourself or with AI.
So you are not vibe coders?
No. AI helps us build fast, but all code is checked by experienced developers we employ ourselves. Secure, scalable and production-ready.
What does custom software cost?
We work with fixed prices, no hourly billing. After a first conversation you know exactly what you get and what it costs.
Meet Empathree
Empathree is an AI agency from Groningen. We help SMEs use AI not as a toy, but as something that genuinely takes work off your plate. Always with a human checking the output.
What we believe
AI is fast, but speed alone delivers nothing. The value sits in the last 30 percent: judgement, nuance, knowing which question to ask. So we never start with a tool. First we map your process, then we look at where most time leaks away, and only then decide what AI handles and what stays human work.
How we work
We work at fixed prices, no billing by the hour. You know where you stand up front. We often start with a workshop to get your team on board, then build a working system step by step, and make bespoke software where it pays off. In our own Empathree Studio we build in our developers' coding style, so everything ships secure and production-ready.
Who you get
Behind Empathree are Marc Cornelius, Maarten Oostland and René Vrieling. Marc and Maarten handle strategy, workshops and implementation, René is the lead developer who makes the software watertight. All three of us live in Groningen, so you deal with local people who build with AI every day. We only teach what we use ourselves.
Why humans in the loop
The world is filling up with automated AI slop. Our answer is simple: the human stays in the loop. With us, and with you. That is how you keep control, quality and trust, even as the technology keeps getting faster.