A six-month embedded engagement that modernized a live platform without pausing product delivery.
Eddi is an AI-powered grant lifecycle platform serving school districts, state agencies, and nonprofits. To accelerate modernization of their MERN stack, and clear technical debt that was slowing feature work, Eddi partnered with SpireDesk for staff augmentation capacity. Two full-stack engineers and a project manager joined the team for six months, shipping architectural improvements alongside the existing roadmap.
The SpireDesk team operated as a true extension of our engineering org , same sprints, same standards, same outcomes.
Eddi powers the grant lifecycle with AI
Eddi is an AI-powered financial management and grant lifecycle platform helping school districts, state education agencies, and nonprofit organizations discover funding opportunities, manage budgets, monitor spending, and streamline reporting. The product spans the full lifecycle , from opportunity discovery through compliance and outcome measurement.
AI Grant Discovery
Intelligent matching of funding opportunities to organizational needs.
Grant Writing Assistance
AI-assisted drafting and compliance-ready proposal generation.
Budget Management
Real-time tracking of allocations, encumbrances, and spend.
Compliance Monitoring
Automated rule-checking against federal and state grant requirements.
AI Reporting
Narrative and financial reports generated from live data.
Outcome Measurement
KPI dashboards tied to grant objectives and deliverables.
Scaling a platform while modernizing its foundation
Eddi was at an inflection point common to growing SaaS companies, the product was working, customers were expanding, and the roadmap was full. But the underlying architecture needed structural work to support what was next, and hiring full-time engineers would have taken months the team didn't have.
Legacy MERN Architecture
Parts of the application required modernization to improve maintainability and scalability.
Database Migration
Migration activities were needed to support future growth and improve performance.
Limited Engineering Capacity
Additional development bandwidth was required without increasing permanent headcount.
Embedded team, integrated delivery
SpireDesk joined Eddi's sprints as an extension of their engineering team , modernizing the stack, clearing debt, and keeping the roadmap on track. The work was organized into three concurrent tracks:
Database Migration & Optimization
We led a structured migration effort with zero downtime to user-facing workflows. Schema refactors were paired with backfills and data validation so every downstream service kept its contract.
- Schema improvements
- Data validation
- Query optimization
- Migration support
Frontend Modernization
The React surface was incrementally refactored, component by component, to reduce technical debt without freezing the product roadmap. UX polish and bug fixes shipped alongside structural work.
- UI refinements
- Workflow enhancements
- Bug fixes
- Technical debt reduction
Embedded Delivery
Our engineers and PM joined Eddi's existing ceremonies as full members of the team, same standups, same sprints, same definition of done, so velocity compounded instead of fragmenting.
- Sprint planning
- Agile ceremonies
- Progress tracking
- Stakeholder communication
Numbers that tell the story
The tools that powered the build
A proven MERN stack with agile delivery practices that matched Eddi's existing environment, no retooling required.
Modernized platform, uninterrupted delivery
By the close of the engagement, Eddi had cleared significant technical debt, completed migration milestones, and continued shipping product improvements on schedule.
- Increased engineering capacity without permanent headcount
- Continued product delivery during modernization
- Improved maintainability across the codebase
- Accelerated architectural improvements
- Reduced technical debt in critical workflows