Tawanda Makunike is building a governed AI workforce for small business owners

Tawanda Makunike is a self-taught software engineer in Sandton with a background in Economics. To Tawanda, managing scarce resources is not just a textbook problem. As Tawanda puts it, "for a small business, it can be the difference between surviving and closing its doors."

Pairly is Tawanda's answer to that problem. Tawanda describes it as "a team of specialised AI employees that helps small business owners run their day-to-day operations, with legal compliance built into how they work." The owner stays in control, and the aim is more time for "building client relationships and shaping the future of their business."

Every job, one person

The idea came from Tawanda's own experience of building products. "Building the product is only part of the work. You also need to market it, support customers, manage finances and understand your legal responsibilities." In a small business, all of those jobs often land on the same person.

The Economics background shapes how Tawanda sees it: owners have limited time, money and capacity, and every trade-off matters. Pairly is meant to give them specialist help without needing the budget of a much larger company. Compliance sits at the centre of it, because that help "needs clear boundaries, human oversight and attention to legal obligations."

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"Pairly runs on Pairly, and so do CaseNotes, Wddng and Honde."

Tawanda is Pairly's first user, relying on it across those products while building it. Those businesses show what's useful and where things fall short. "The first version is being shaped by the day-to-day work it’s meant to help with."

Tawanda chose the Value ring. For the people who use Pairly, that means getting time back, spending less energy juggling roles, and having specialist support they couldn't otherwise afford, with help understanding their legal responsibilities as part of everyday work. "AI is how we help deliver it; those outcomes are what matter."

Since the beta opened, the hardest part has been balance: holding a vision for the project, making Pairly fulfil its promise, and acting on customer feedback. That means deciding what to pursue, what is worth a pivot, and "retaining those very first people who are taking a chance with my product."

Tawanda is primarily a backend engineer and likes Python because "it’s approachable yet powerful," with a big community to learn from. React and Next.js made the move into frontend work easier, letting Tawanda approach interfaces with an engineering mindset.

What Pairly needs now

Pairly is looking for South African owner-run businesses with teams of up to 10 to pilot it on real tasks and give honest feedback: what saves them time, what feels confusing, and what they need before they can rely on it. "At this stage, that practical feedback is more valuable to me than sign-ups alone."

For Tawanda, the belief in access is personal. The journey into engineering started "with curiosity and uncles willing to share what they knew." As Tawanda says, "I know how much a starting point and the right support can matter."