Experience

As CTO, I built rokka.io from the ground up—a SaaS platform for image storage and rendering that serves millions of images daily. I analyzed customer needs, conducted competitive research, and developed the initial prototype before architecting the production system.

I led a cross-functional team of up to 10 engineers, fostering a culture of education and innovation. Several features now in production—including AI-powered image descriptions, intelligent focus zones, and smart cropping—originated from team members I mentored.

Beyond engineering, I represented rokka at conferences, delivering talks on modern image handling that attracted new customers and sparked multiple open source contributions of client libraries from the community.

At Liip, one of Switzerland’s leading digital agencies, I progressed from Senior Developer to Software Architect, tackling complex technical challenges across diverse domains.

Key accomplishments include architecting Switzerland’s Self-Sovereign Identity system for the federal government (e-ID), developing AI assistants with tunable outputs and enhanced routing mechanisms for enterprise clients, and building large-scale product data REST APIs handling millions of products through sophisticated ETL pipelines.

I became known internally for bridging technical and organizational knowledge, delivering talks on topics ranging from emerging technologies to team structures and agile methodologies.

At Teleboy, Switzerland’s popular streaming service, I led a comprehensive technical transformation that modernized both architecture and development practices.

I spearheaded the planning and implementation of a Service Oriented Architecture, creating new revenue opportunities through data services while accelerating feature development. I also led the team’s agile transformation to Kanban, improving delivery predictability and team collaboration.

On the infrastructure side, I completely revamped the development environment with virtualized infrastructure, eliminating environment-related bugs. I introduced standardized tooling, coding standards, unit testing, dependency management, and continuous integration—practices that significantly improved code quality and team velocity.

A deliberate pause to recharge, reflect on career direction, and pursue personal interests before the next chapter.

Delivered end-to-end web solutions combining development expertise with operational responsibilities. Worked across the full stack while managing deployment pipelines and infrastructure.

Early adopter of fully remote work, combining software development with Linux system administration responsibilities across distributed teams.

Relocated to Canada to manage operations for Plantraco, a pioneering e-commerce company specializing in micro remote-controlled aircraft. Oversaw logistics, customer service, and technical operations, gaining valuable experience in international business and the intersection of technology and retail.

Combined technical expertise with customer-facing sales at one of Switzerland’s computer retailers. Beyond sales, I developed custom software to automate order processing—parsing email orders and generating barcoded documents that reduced order entry time by 10x for typical orders and exponentially more for large orders.

Launched my career as an independent consultant, taking on diverse projects from bug tracking software for the games industry to customer relationship systems for travel agencies.

The highlight was ShareReactor, a peer-to-peer information website that grew to over 2.5 million unique daily visitors. I handled everything: concept, design, development, and operations of a 25-server web cluster with its own internet line. I also built and administered a volunteer team of over 150 contributors. The project earned its own Wikipedia entry and shaped my understanding of scale, community, and what happens when technology meets passionate users.

My journey into technology began here, cycling through roles that built a broad foundation:

• Lime-Tec Retailsystems AG (1999): Software development
• Winterthur Versicherungen (1998-1999): First and second level PC support, rollout specialist
• ACOS Computerschule (1998): IT course teacher, database and web development
• Computer Doctors (1996-1998): PC support, development, and web design

These formative years taught me that understanding technology from multiple angles—support, training, and development—creates better engineers and communicators.