{"id":30227,"date":"2025-07-28T12:15:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T06:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/?p=30227"},"modified":"2025-07-28T12:16:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T06:46:05","slug":"engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/","title":{"rendered":"How Cashfree engineers use a weekly Idea Board to turn raw ideas into real-world impact"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a8f4d924e2f5\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #364250;color:#364250\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #364250;color:#364250\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a8f4d924e2f5\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#One_Config_Every_Gateway\" >One Config, Every Gateway<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#AI_in_the_IDE\" >AI in the IDE<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#Automating_the_Screenshot_Shuffle\" >Automating the Screenshot Shuffle<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#Small_Detail_Big_Impact\" >Small Detail, Big Impact<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#Where_Ideas_Turn_Into_Impact\" >Where Ideas Turn Into Impact<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Cashfree Payments, innovation sparks when curiosity meets code: from patterns spotted, workflows reimagined to ideas sparked by a simple \u201cwhat if?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every week, our engineering teams come together in a recurring ritual we call the <strong>Idea Board<\/strong>, a space to pitch, debate, and shape engineering-led innovations that improve internal systems, developer workflows, and even customer experience. What starts as a raw idea on the board often turns into scalable products and tools used across Cashfree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s how some of those ideas moved from whiteboard discussions to real-world impact driven entirely by engineers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"One_Config_Every_Gateway\"><\/span><strong>One Config, Every Gateway<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cashfree\u2019s hybrid API gateway serves over 95% of traffic. But configuring new APIs across all environments and gateways can be a repetitive process. \u201cWith multiple gateways (N) and multiple environments (M), onboarding a new API quickly becomes an N \u00d7 M effort,\u201d says Shubham Mishra, SDE 3. That\u2019s exactly the problem he set out to solve.<strong><br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inspired by an internal open-source tool, ESL, Shubham built <strong>GSL (Gateway and Environment-agnostic Configs)<\/strong>, a single YAML-based system to standardise and simplify API onboarding. \u201cNow, with GSL, all changes are made in a single file, ensuring no discrepancies across environments or gateways,\u201d Shubham explains. \u201cThis has led to faster onboarding, reduced PR review effort, and lower risk of config-related incidents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Idea Board helped sharpen his thinking. He says, \u201cThe feedback shared by peers brought in dimensions I hadn\u2019t considered initially. I\u2019ve come to realise that structured processes reduce chaos and deliver long-term benefits, especially when scaling solutions across teams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"AI_in_the_IDE\"><\/span><strong>AI in the IDE<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For developers integrating Cashfree, context-switching between docs, dashboards, and support was becoming a bottleneck. That\u2019s when Chadive Satish Chandra Reddy, SDE 2, envisioned a bold solution: \u201cAn AI assistant inside the IDE that feels like having a Cashfree engineer by your side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result was Cashien AI, a VS Code extension that delivers real-time, context-aware code suggestions and API help without leaving the editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCashien AI has drastically reduced integration time for developers by eliminating the need to hop between docs, dashboards, and support channels,\u201d says Satish. \u201cIt delivers stack-specific suggestions right where developers work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Idea Board gave structure and support to a big bet. Satish explains, \u201cIt helped gather feedback, align stakeholders, and maintain momentum through execution. It\u2019s a great space to explore bold ideas and turn them into tangible products.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Automating_the_Screenshot_Shuffle\"><\/span><strong>Automating the Screenshot Shuffle<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During merchant onboarding, Cashfree agents spent nearly a third of their time manually capturing and verifying website screenshots. \u201cThis process was repetitive and time-consuming, especially with a high screenshot rework rate (~40\u201350%),\u201d explains Raman Kumar Singh, SDE 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His resolution was simple. He decoupled screenshot capture from the agent workflow and turned it into an asynchronous process powered by queues and automation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By automating this workflow, the impact was immediate: \u201cThe feature significantly reduced agent time spent on the website validation section, by ~8 minutes per merchant, saving one full agent\u2019s time daily. It eliminated repetitive manual tasks, allowing agents to focus on higher-order validations and speeding up onboarding for merchants,\u201d says Raman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What helped him turn a manual bottleneck into a system-wide improvement? \u201cThe Idea Board gave structure to the proposal; it pushed me to frame the problem with measurable impact and explore scalable ways to solve it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt empowers us to step beyond just writing code and contribute to systemic improvements with tangible business impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Small_Detail_Big_Impact\"><\/span><strong>Small Detail, Big Impact<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes, a simple tweak can elevate the entire user experience. <strong>Prem Chand<\/strong>, SDE 2, realised that payment link\u2019s credibility can be improved when shared on WhatsApp or Telegram if they have rich previews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a small detail, but one that significantly improves user experience and brand perception,\u201d says Prem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prem\u2019s enhancement added titles, descriptions, and thumbnails to Cashfree\u2019s payment links. \u201cThis addressed the issue of unbranded links, which could lead to user distrust. With better previews, our links started appearing more credible and informative, likely improving click-through and completion rates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And it didn\u2019t go unnoticed. \u201cThe Idea Board gave visibility and momentum to the idea, helping align it with business priorities through structured feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_Ideas_Turn_Into_Impact\"><\/span><strong>Where Ideas Turn Into Impact<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What ties these interventions together more than strong engineering is the culture that supports it. At Cashfree Payments, <strong>the Idea Board isn\u2019t just a meeting. It\u2019s a mindset.<\/strong> One that gives a platform to engineers to bring their creative best to solving high-impact fintech problem statements.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re excited by the idea of turning problems into products, of shaping systems with real impact, then explore open roles at our teams here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/careers\/\">https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/careers\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Cashfree Payments, innovation sparks when curiosity meets code: from patterns spotted, workflows reimagined to ideas sparked by a simple \u201cwhat if? Every week, our engineering teams come together in a recurring ritual we call the Idea Board, a space to pitch, debate, and shape engineering-led innovations that improve internal systems, developer workflows, and even<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":30228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4757],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lifecashfree"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>From Whiteboard to Real-World Impact: Inside Cashfree&#039;s Idea Board<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how engineers at Cashfree Payments transform raw ideas into real-world innovations\u2014from automating workflows to building AI tools\u2014with the Idea Board at the heart of it all.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Whiteboard to Real-World Impact: Inside Cashfree&#039;s Idea Board\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover how engineers at Cashfree Payments transform raw ideas into real-world innovations\u2014from automating workflows to building AI tools\u2014with the Idea Board at the heart of it all.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cashfree Payments Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-28T06:45:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-28T06:46:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Idea-Board-feature.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deepthi Kalimili\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deepthi Kalimili\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From Whiteboard to Real-World Impact: Inside Cashfree's Idea Board","description":"Discover how engineers at Cashfree Payments transform raw ideas into real-world innovations\u2014from automating workflows to building AI tools\u2014with the Idea Board at the heart of it all.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From Whiteboard to Real-World Impact: Inside Cashfree's Idea Board","og_description":"Discover how engineers at Cashfree Payments transform raw ideas into real-world innovations\u2014from automating workflows to building AI tools\u2014with the Idea Board at the heart of it all.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/","og_site_name":"Cashfree Payments Blog","article_published_time":"2025-07-28T06:45:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-28T06:46:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Idea-Board-feature.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Deepthi Kalimili","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deepthi Kalimili","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/"},"author":{"name":"Deepthi Kalimili","@id":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35de1a46789b3a5297bb3241e3b02be9"},"headline":"How Cashfree engineers use a weekly Idea Board to turn raw ideas into real-world impact","datePublished":"2025-07-28T06:45:21+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-28T06:46:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/"},"wordCount":787,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Idea-Board-feature.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","articleSection":["Life At Cashfree"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/","url":"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/","name":"From Whiteboard to Real-World Impact: Inside Cashfree's Idea Board","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Idea-Board-feature.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-07-28T06:45:21+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-28T06:46:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35de1a46789b3a5297bb3241e3b02be9"},"description":"Discover how engineers at Cashfree Payments transform raw ideas into real-world innovations\u2014from automating workflows to building AI tools\u2014with the Idea Board at the heart of it all.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Idea-Board-feature.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Idea-Board-feature.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cashfree.com\/blog\/engineering-innovation-idea-board-cashfree\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Life At Cashfree","item":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/category\/lifecashfree\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How Cashfree engineers use a weekly Idea Board to turn raw ideas into real-world impact"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/","name":"Cashfree Payments Blog","description":"Cashfree Payments- Payment Gateway for India","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35de1a46789b3a5297bb3241e3b02be9","name":"Deepthi Kalimili","url":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/author\/deepthi-kalimili\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9MjXo-7Rx","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Idea-Board-feature.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30227"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30233,"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30227\/revisions\/30233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogrevamp.cashfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}