At my previous company, I’ve seen what happens when you build things linearly. Serving 200,000+ people a day taught me one truth: your assistant can’t afford to be polite and wait her turn.

So I built Mili a queueing system.

Now she can multitask—just like a real assistant—helping dozens of passengers in parallel without breaking a sweat.

Next step: give her a brain.

I hooked her up to Gemini, Google’s GenAI model. It’s clean, fast, and as a Google Partner, I knew exactly how to push it. I didn’t go fancy—just enough to let her understand what people want and say something smart back.

And it worked.

Mili can now hold a conversation. A real one.

Next comes the hard part:

Flights. Hotels. Real-world chaos.

But today, she started thinking. And I couldn’t be prouder.

I decided to skip Twilio and go straight to Meta’s native WhatsApp API. Bold? Maybe. Painful? Absolutely. Their documentation felt like a maze designed by someone who almost understands how it works. Every screen looked like progress. Every screen was a lie.

But I kept going.

One screen. One failed webhook. One restart at a time.

And then—at the end of the day—Mili spoke.

Just one message. Simple. Robotic. Imperfect.

But it worked.

This was the very first WhatsApp conversation with Mili.

The moment she said:

“text-message-content.”

And somehow… it felt magical.

I did what every traveler does before a big journey: I booked the essentials. I bought a domain, set up a server, created a landing page, and registered the Flying with Mili newsletter you’re reading now.

Behind those clicks were dozens of little decisions. Which tools? Which name? Where to host? None of that matters to the traveler stuck at the airport gate—but they matter to Mili.

What mattered most to me? That feeling.

That electric moment when you know you’re building something real. Something that will actually help people—especially when they feel lost, delayed, and out of control.

This was Day 1. Mili had no code. No WhatsApp. No clever rebooking engine.

But she had a name, a mission—and a runway.

If you’ve ever had your flight canceled, delayed, or rerouted — you already know the feeling:

The airline sends a vague message.

The app freezes.

The line at the counter is, at least, 45 people long.

And you’re stuck, wondering what to do next.

That’s what happened to us.

And after the trip that, after the first flight was delayed, converts from 10 hours to three days, and after we slept on airport and had to book the last flight again ourselves, we decided: someone needs to fix this.

What we’re building

Mili is a travel assistant that acts when airlines don’t.

If your flight gets disrupted, Mili will:

• Rebook you on the best available flight

• Find and reserve a hotel

• Book an Uber to get you there

• Keep you informed — faster than the gate agent

And it all happens through a simple WhatsApp chat. No apps. No calling. No stress.

Why you’re here

You’re one of our early “Founding Flyers.”

That means:

• You’ll get first access when Mili launches

• You’ll see how we’re building it behind the scenes

• And you’ll help shape the assistant we all wish existed during travel hell

We’re not going to flood your inbox. Just short, clear updates as we get closer to launch.

Thanks for trusting us early — we’re building this for you.

– The Mili Team

https://milihelp.me