1819 startup builds AI engineer to help developers code
Tembo’s agentic AI technology transforms engineering team operations
It’s been a busy year at Tembo, a rapidly growing tech startup that helps software developers deliver products more effectively.
From its home base at the University of Cincinnati’s 1819 Innovation Hub, Tembo’s team has focused on developing an AI agent that provides quality pull requests for software development.
The significance of Tembo’s new technology is likely clear to most software developers and other collaborators with technical expertise. Its latest tool acts as an AI teammate by monitoring systems, hunting bugs, optimizing databases and shipping features while freeing engineers to focus on higher-value, more creative projects.
Tembo’s journey toward today
Tembo was founded in 2022 as a Postgres developer platform and soon began to draw attention as one of Cincinnati’s hottest startups. The company moved into an office at the 1819 Innovation Hub to tap into the building’s entrepreneurial energy.
Sylvie O'Connor, Tembo's head of customer success. Photo/Sylvie O'Connor
“Being at 1819 means we’re surrounded by people who are innovative and share the dream of creating,” says Sylvie O’Connor, Tembo’s head of customer success. “It’s an environment that is lively and welcoming … there’s a strong sense of momentum at 1819.”
In the heart of the Cincinnati Innovation District, Tembo’s team began shaping their next big idea: an AI agent designed to clean up inefficient code, enhance new features and squash bugs all at once. What’s more, they envisioned it working seamlessly across all types of technology stacks.
After months of design, coding and testing, Tembo’s developers brought their vision to life. The AI engineering teammate is now being rolled out. “The new Tembo is an AI-powered engineer that monitors your tech stack and generates pull requests to fix issues proactively,” O’Connor says. “It’s not just telling you what’s wrong; it’s fixing it. It’s also taking care of whatever task you assign it.”
Unlocking engineering capacity
The recent upgrade from Tembo solves one of software developers’ biggest headaches: wasting valuable time debugging instead of creating innovative new features.
“Every engineering team experiences the challenge of finding time to fix bugs while managing a dynamic, never-ending backlog,” O’Connor says. “The issue is costly and interrupts deep product work. Tembo solves this by executing the grunt work of software upkeep, or any engineering task, with quality code.”
In other words, Tembo aims to be an AI teammate that takes on the tasks developers rarely have bandwidth for. By offloading routine, time-consuming work, it empowers engineers to focus their energy on high-impact innovation.
[Tembo] is the first product we've seen that can truly act as an AI teammate for software development.
Sylvie O'Connor Head of customer success, Tembo
Tembo is breaking boundaries with the rollout of its new, agentic tool. “We’ve seen humans prompt AI to generate code before,” O’Connor says. “But Tembo closes the loop: it takes care of tasks end-to-end — from assignment to execution — directly in your source control system. It’s the first product we’ve seen that can truly act as an AI teammate for software development.”
Tembo clearly stands on the leading edge of Cincinnati’s innovation ecosystem from its office at 1819. With its new AI agent, the company continues to rank alongside building partners like Procter & Gamble, Fifth Third Bank and Microsoft as a business that’s boldly crafting the future.
Featured image at top: View into Tembo's office at the 1819 Innovation Hub. Photo/Stephen Kenney
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
New approach could treat cancer by rearranging tumor cell structures
November 10, 2025
The University of Cincinnati’s Jiajie Diao, PhD, and colleagues have published new research showing a proof of concept that rearranging the location of lipid droplets within cells can increase the effectiveness of cell starvation, making it a potential cancer treatment. The research was published as the November cover story in the journal Trends in Biotechnology.
Silicon Valley is closely watching UC’s NEXT Innovation Scholars
November 7, 2025
The University of Cincinnati’s NEXT Innovation Scholars program has built a network of elite Silicon Valley talent that’s seeking out undergraduate Bearcats and sharing insights with them.
How AI might help nonprofits
November 7, 2025
University of Cincinnati Professor Victoria LaPoe examined whether people respond differently to AI-created messaging in nonprofit advertising.