An AI assistant in the Grandiose app (UAE) that recommends recipes and adds all the ingredients to the cart, tailored to diet or allergies. Launch coverage in September 2025 says it is built with Microsoft, with its backend on Azure AI services.

Are prompts used to train models on Azure OpenAI?

Microsoft says prompts and completions are not used to train or improve the base models, and that stored data stays in your chosen Azure geography. Global and Data Zone deployments may process prompts in other regions.

What does a custom build need besides the model?

Catalog search that works in Arabic script and Arabizi, branch price and stock sync, dialect replies, WhatsApp and phone channels, a confirmation step before any order, content rules, an inbox for your team, and tests that run before every change.

Can we buy first and build later?

Yes. Hephon Commerce sends orders to your platform through its API and has a REST API with signed webhooks, so your team can build on top of it or replace parts later.

Hephon Commerce vs a custom build (2026)

Q: Can I try Hephon Commerce without leaving a custom build?

Yes. Start with Hephon Commerce on one channel and keep your team on the parts only you can build. Our REST API and webhooks let your own systems read every order. You can also talk to our demo store, Hephon Market, at commerce.hephon.ai/c/demo before booking a demo.

In short

Build your own if you have an AI and engineering team, want to own every part of the assistant, and can keep it tested as models change, as Grandiose did with GrandChef. Choose Hephon Commerce if you want Gulf Arabic, branch prices, recipes with pack sizes, WhatsApp checkout and phone orders already built and tested on your catalog. Some retailers do both: buy first, then build what is unique to them.

Updated 5 November 2026

Who should choose which

Choose a custom build if

You have an in-house AI team and a long roadmap for it.
Your contracts already run on Azure or OpenAI.
The assistant must use loyalty or diet profiles only you hold.
Owning the code matters more than time to launch.

Choose Hephon Commerce if

You want to launch on one channel in weeks, not build a team first.
You need app, WhatsApp and phone ordering in one basket.
You want dialect, search checks and confirmation rules already tested.

Feature by feature

Every row comes from Custom build's own pages, checked on the date above. "Not stated publicly" means we could not find it, not that it is missing.

Hephon Commerce and Custom build, compared on 15 points. Numbers in the last column refer to the sources below.
	Hephon Commerce	Custom build	Sources
Channels	Inside the retailer's iOS, Android and web apps (SDK, also React Native and Flutter) and website, its WhatsApp Business number, phone calls, and a hosted chat page.	Whatever you build. GrandChef runs inside the Grandiose iOS and Android apps.	[1] [2]
Languages	Arabic, English and French, and mixes of them, answered in the language and script of the question. By voice, more than 30 languages.	Depends on the model you pick and how you test it. GrandChef's languages are not stated publicly.	[3] [2]
Arabic dialects	Saudi and Gulf Arabic as people write and speak them, and Lebanese Arabic. Replies follow a phrasebook of approved phrases per dialect.	Your team builds and tests dialect handling and replies.	[4] [2]
Arabizi (Arabic in Latin letters)	Yes, for example "7aleeb" for milk, answered in the same script.	Your team builds and tests it, including search.	[3] [2]
Voice and phone ordering	Phone and WhatsApp calls: it builds the basket during the call, reads it back, and keypad 1 confirms. Replies in under a second; a caller can be handed to a person.	You add speech recognition, speech synthesis and telephony. Voice is not mentioned in GrandChef's launch coverage.	[5] [2]
WhatsApp ordering and checkout	On the retailer's own number: product cards, basket, and a checkout the shopper confirms with a tap. Voice notes and calls too.	You build the WhatsApp Business Platform integration, messages and checkout.	[6] [2]
Catalog search, branch prices and stock	Keyword and meaning search over the live catalog, each result checked against the shopper's message before it is shown. Each branch's own prices and stock.	You build search, ranking, and branch price and stock sync. GrandChef matches recipes to what is in store.	[7] [2]
Recipes to basket	Yes. "Kabsa for 10" becomes ingredient amounts, the cheapest pack that covers each line and how many, and "add all".	Possible: GrandChef adds all the ingredients of a recipe to the cart, tailored to diet or allergies.	[8] [2]
Checkout and shopper confirmation	Nothing is ordered without the shopper's explicit confirmation: a tap, a signed checkout page, or keypad 1 after the read-back. Orders go to the retailer's platform or team.	You design the confirmation step and connect it to your order system.	[7] [2]
Halal and content rules	Alcohol, pork and tobacco can be hidden by the server before the assistant sees the catalog; products not yet checked stay hidden. On WhatsApp, alcohol and tobacco are always excluded.	Azure guardrails filter harmful content; rules for products your store does not sell are yours to build.	[9] [10]
Handover to people	One live inbox for chats, voice notes and calls with transcripts; a person can take over any chat. Handover to your help desk by integration.	You build an inbox or connect your help desk.	[7] [2]
Integrations	Salla, Zid, Shopify, WooCommerce, product feeds, a REST API with signed webhooks, and custom connectors.	Anything you build. GrandChef is built with Microsoft, its backend on Azure AI services.	[11] [2]
Pricing	A proposal per retailer, based on stores and channels. No public price; access by invitation.	Model usage billed by your cloud provider, plus your team's time to build and maintain it.	[12] [10]
Hosting, data and certifications	Servers in the European Union today. No conversation is used to train an AI model. No ISO or SOC certification.	On Azure, prompts and completions are not used to train models, and stored data stays in your chosen geography; Global and Data Zone deployments may process elsewhere.	[9] [10]
Primary market	Saudi Arabia and the UAE first, and Lebanon.	Yours. GrandChef: UAE only at launch, free with a Grandiose account.	[13] [2]

Sources

Where a custom build is stronger

Full ownership of the code, the prompts and the roadmap.
Data stays in the Azure geography you choose, and prompts and completions are not used to train models.
Tailored to your own data: GrandChef tailors carts to diet and allergies from the shopper's account.
Launch press: GrandChef was covered by Arabian Business and tbreak.
No dependence on a smaller vendor.

Where Hephon Commerce is stronger

Already built: Gulf dialect phrasebook, search checked against the shopper's message, pack sizes, branch prices, server-side content rules, the call service and confirmation steps.
A test suite generated from your catalog runs before every change to the prompt, model or search.
App, WhatsApp and phone ordering on one basket.
Maintained as models change.

Hephon Commerce also has limits: access is by invitation, through a demo, and there is no public price, since each retailer gets a proposal based on its stores and channels.

Try it without switching

Start with Hephon Commerce on one channel and keep your team on the parts only you can build. Our REST API and webhooks let your own systems read every order.

Before any call, you can talk to our demo store, Hephon Market: about 15,000 products from a real quick-commerce catalog, priced in US dollars, that understands Gulf Arabic, Arabizi and English. Run the five tests from our buyer's guide on it, then run the same tests on Custom build.

Hephon Commerce or a custom build?

See it on your own catalog.

We set up a demo with your products, your branches and your shoppers' languages.

Book a demo Message us

Hephon Commerce vs a custom build