We will be undergoing planned maintenance on January 16th, 2026 at 1:00pm UTC. Please make sure to save your work.

SonarBI

Unlock deep company insights instantly. Financials, regulatory risks, competitor benchmarks, news sentiment and macroeconomic impact —all structured, source-backed, and visualized for clarity.

Comment

SonarBI - Perplexity Hackathon Submission

Inspiration

The business world is drowning in data but starving for insights. Traditional business intelligence tools are powerful but require technical expertise and extensive training. We wanted to democratize access to business intelligence by creating a tool that anyone could use through natural language queries.

SonarBI was inspired by the vision of making complex business analysis as simple as having a conversation with an expert analyst. With the power of Perplexity's API, we saw an opportunity to transform how professionals access, analyze, and act on business information.

I experienced firsthand the frustration of sifting through multiple platforms and reports just to answer basic business questions. I built SonarBI to be the tool we wished we had.

What it does

SonarBI is an AI-powered business intelligence platform that provides comprehensive company analysis through natural language queries. Users simply enter a company name or ticker symbol, and the platform delivers:

Company Overview: Key business model, value proposition, and market positioning

  • Financial Analysis: Revenue trends, profitability metrics, and growth indicators
  • Competitive Benchmarking: Direct comparison with industry competitors on key performance metrics
  • News Analysis & Sentiment: Recent news coverage and overall sentiment analysis
  • Macroeconomic Impact Assessment: How broader economic factors affect the company
  • Regulatory Risk Analysis: Evaluation of current and potential regulatory challenges

The information is presented in an intuitive dashboard with visualizations that make complex data easy to understand.

How we built it

SonarBI combines a modern tech stack with the powerful Perplexity API:

  1. Frontend: We built a responsive React application with TypeScript, Vite, and React Router. The UI was designed to be intuitive and focused on data visualization using Recharts.

  2. Backend: We developed a FastAPI server in Python that handles requests from the frontend and communicates with the Perplexity API. Model used: sonar-deep-research

  3. Data Processing: We created a sophisticated prompt engineering system that:

    • Translates user queries into structured API requests
    • Processes and normalizes the data returned from Perplexity
    • Formats the information for easy consumption by the frontend

  4. Visualization Layer: We built custom chart components that transform raw data into meaningful visualizations.

  5. State Management: We implemented a React Context API solution to manage application state and data flow.

Challenges we ran into

Building SonarBI presented several significant challenges:

  1. Data Inconsistency: The most persistent challenge was handling inconsistent responses from the language model. Sometimes the data structure would vary between queries for the same company, making it difficult to reliably parse and display information. We solved this through advanced prompt engineering techniques that provided clear output format instructions and validation steps.

  2. Prompt Engineering: Crafting prompts that consistently returned structured, usable data was an art form. We went through dozens of iterations to find the right balance between specificity and flexibility.

  3. Performance Optimization: API calls to Perplexity could take several seconds, which affected the user experience. We implemented loading states and progressive rendering to make the application feel responsive even during data retrieval.

  4. Data Visualization: Transforming unstructured text into meaningful visualizations required careful parsing and normalization of the data returned by the API.

  5. Cross-Browser Compatibility: Ensuring a consistent experience across different browsers and screen sizes required extensive testing and CSS adjustments.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  1. Intuitive User Experience: We created a complex business intelligence tool that feels simple and intuitive to use, requiring zero training for new users.

  2. Robust Data Processing: Our system can handle a wide variety of companies, from tech giants to small startups, providing relevant insights regardless of industry or size.

  3. Clean Architecture: We built a maintainable codebase with clear separation of concerns between the frontend, backend, and data processing layers.

  4. Advanced Prompt Engineering: We developed sophisticated prompts that guide the AI to produce consistent, structured outputs that can be reliably parsed and displayed.

  5. Responsive Design: The application works seamlessly across desktop and mobile devices, making business intelligence accessible anywhere.

What we learned

This project provided invaluable learning experiences:

  1. Prompt Engineering Mastery: We gained deep insights into how to effectively structure prompts to get consistent, useful responses from large language models.

  2. API Integration Patterns: We developed robust patterns for handling asynchronous API calls and managing the lifecycle of data from request to display.

  3. User Experience Design: We learned how to present complex financial data in ways that are immediately understandable to non-expert users.

  4. Full-Stack Development: The project enhanced our skills in connecting frontend and backend systems while maintaining a clean architecture.

  5. Error Handling at Scale: We implemented comprehensive error handling strategies that gracefully manage everything from network failures to inconsistent API responses.

What's next for SonarBI

SonarBI is just getting started. Our roadmap includes:

  1. Custom Reports: Allow users to create and save customized reports focusing on specific aspects of business performance.

  2. Comparative Analysis: Enable side-by-side comparison of multiple companies with automated highlights of key differences.

  3. Industry Benchmarking: Provide industry-specific metrics and averages to contextualize company performance.

  4. Historical Analysis: Implement time-series tracking of key metrics to visualize company evolution over time.

  5. Predictive Insights: Leverage historical data to offer forecasts and trend predictions.

  6. PDF Export and Sharing: Enable users to export analyses as professional reports and share insights with colleagues.

  7. Portfolio Tracking: Allow users to create watchlists and receive updates on companies they're monitoring.

  8. Integration with Financial Data Sources: Connect with additional data sources to enrich the analysis with real-time market data.

We believe SonarBI has the potential to transform how professionals at all levels access and understand business intelligence, making sophisticated analysis accessible to everyone.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates