From Custom Software to Product: Carlos Méndez on Building Banana Script and viernes.ai

Updated: Sep 18

In this episode of The Nomu Hour we had the pleasure of speaking with Carlos Méndez, engineer, entrepreneur, and founder of Banana Script. His journey is one of resilience and reinvention: from opening a CrossFit gym at 23, to running large development teams in the U.S., to launching a tech company that now bets big on artificial intelligence.

Today, Carlos is leading viernes.ai, a platform designed to create AI-powered agents that go far beyond a simple chatbot.

From CrossFit to $1M in Custom Software

Carlos’ entrepreneurial path started young. While working at Siemens as a developer, he co-founded a CrossFit gym with friends. It was short-lived—closing just before the pandemic—but the lessons were invaluable. He calls it his “practical MBA”: learning to hire, fire, sell, manage customers, and deal with financial reality.

Later, he founded Banana Script, originally focused on custom software development. The first year they surpassed $1M in revenue, serving industries like banking, healthcare, and sports. But as AI began reshaping the software world—making development faster and cheaper—Carlos realized it was time to pivot.

The Birth of viernes.ai: Building AI Agents

Banana Script gathered its 75-person team for a massive brainstorming session. Out of it came viernes.ai, a platform for building AI agents that are more flexible and capable than traditional chatbots.

These agents can:

Handle chat, voice, or hybrid interactions.
Retain both short-term and long-term memory.
Connect to CRMs, ERPs, or any external API.
Use different agent architectures like Chain of Thought or Reflection Pattern.

Carlos explains it simply: “It’s like an LLM with legs.” These “legs” include personality, memory, tools, and reasoning capacity—allowing the agent to carry out tasks autonomously.

AI and the Future of Work

Carlos takes an optimistic view of the disruption AI brings to jobs. Just like the telegraph replaced the courier or the mechanical loom displaced manual weaving, AI will change how we work.

For him, the real opportunity is clear: “AI is just a tool. It frees us from repetitive, operational tasks and gives us time to focus on creativity, strategy, and the uniquely human side of business.”

Colombia’s Startup Ecosystem

Although Banana Script was incorporated in the U.S., the company later expanded to Colombia, where Carlos is deeply connected to the startup scene. Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali are emerging as hubs, with events like Colombia Tech Week drawing thousands of participants.

He highlights the energy of local founders: “Entrepreneurs in Colombia are said to have 40% more motivation than the global average. That passion is real—you live and breathe entrepreneurship here.”

Still, he believes the ecosystem needs more capital recycling from successful exits, stronger government incentives, and a commitment to building truly robust products, not just API wrappers.

Key Lessons for Founders

Throughout the conversation, several insights stood out for anyone building a startup:

Passion is non-negotiable: if the founder doesn’t believe, the project won’t survive.
Be flexible, not stubborn: persistence is good, but only if the data and market validate it.
Burnout is real: scaling a company demands sacrifices, and founders need resilience.
Prototype fast: use AI to experiment quickly and validate with users early.
Experience trumps theory: practical learning with clients often teaches more than an MBA.

What’s Next for Banana Script

Looking ahead, Carlos and his team are building a new generation of AI agents that integrate directly into websites, allowing users to navigate and shop entirely through voice. They’re also expanding across Europe, with clients in Spain and ongoing negotiations in Germany.

Their vision is clear: to make AI agents a game changer for user experience and business efficiency worldwide.

At The Nomu Hour, we continue to bring you the stories of entrepreneurs who are reshaping industries and ecosystems. Listen to the full episode to hear Carlos’ journey in his own words, and check out Banana Script and Carlos Méndez on LinkedIn for more.