Michael is available for hire
Hire MichaelMichael Kowalski
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Toptal member since May 3, 2021
Expertise
Excel DevelopmentData AnalysisData ScienceData VisualizationIntegrationOpen Source DevelopmentCloud EngineeringBack-end DevelopersFintech DevelopmentFull-stackFront EndSoftware DevelopmentData EngineeringWeb DevelopmentMixpanelApache CordovaExcel MacrosVisual BasicIonicSSO EngineeringMeteorMustacheCloudflare
Bio
Michael has an exceptional background in finance, business, and software. He is a certified SuperForecaster and MBA with knowledge of machine learning. At Credit Suisse, he produced $24 million in profit using bespoke software tools to identify statistical arbitrage transactions in the sovereign bonds of 20 countries and built a yield curve-based pricing model for Australian Bank Hybrid Bonds. Michael has industry experience in finance, energy, telecommunications, and publishing.
Portfolio
Roaring Deep Pty Ltd
TypeScript, GraphQL, React, Vue, MongoDB, Test-driven Development (TDD)...
Cashwerkz Limited
JavaScript, Trading, Financial Markets, Finance, Fixed Income...
Bolder Group Pty, Ltd.
JavaScript, Node.js, Meteor, Cordova, iOS, Android, Xcode, App Store...
Experience
- Finance - 15 years
- Node.js - 14 years
- Python - 10 years
- Machine Learning - 9 years
- Git - 9 years
- TypeScript - 8 years
- React - 7 years
- Swift - 3 years
Work Experience
Freelance Developer
2021 - PRESENT
Roaring Deep Pty Ltd
- Developed multiple mobile apps and websites across different projects and clients.
- Wrote a business plan and a mobile app specification (including back-end stack and database schema) for a consumer fintech idea.
- Automated production of GraphQL API documentation for a large B2B commerce company.
- Architected games to gather research data for several major European Universities.
Technologies: TypeScript, GraphQL, React, Vue, MongoDB, Test-driven Development (TDD), Node.js, Workbox, Databases, CI/CD Pipelines, Pytest, Ionic, Full-stack Development, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), NoSQL, Responsive Design, Web & Mobile Applications, Back-end Development, Back-end Architecture, Software Architecture, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), OAuth, Single Sign-on (SSO), Docker, Kubernetes, Material UI, Tailwind CSS, Mongoose, Fastify, Zustand, Vite, AWS App Runner, Remix, Content Management Systems (CMS), API Integration, Integration, Swagger, OpenAPI, OAuth 2, Ubuntu, UI Testing, GraphQL API, Application State Management, Vuex, Progressive Web Applications (PWAs), Documentation, Figma, AI Integration, AI Agents, Python, Code Auditing, Code Review, Git Repo, IndexedDB, TypeScript 3, TypeScript 4, Event-driven Programming, Browser Automation, Web Scraping, Scraping, Performance Optimization, Technical Consulting, Scalability, Claude, Third-party Integration, Cloud, Event-driven Systems, AI Tools, Communication, LLM Integration, AI-assisted Development, Technical Leadership, Early-stage Startups
Portfolio Manager
2015 - 2018
Cashwerkz Limited
- Created algorithms to mimic the performance of popular actively-managed bond funds by analyzing historic fund and index returns.
- Developed a yield curve-based pricing model in JavaScript and Node.js for Australian Bank hybrid bonds.
- Built a budget reporting and forecasting tool to track business progress in weekly meetings.
Technologies: JavaScript, Trading, Financial Markets, Finance, Fixed Income, Derivative Pricing, Statistics, Research, Bloomberg API, APIs, Startups, Currencies, Data Analysis, Algorithms, Algorithmic Trading, Fintech, Financial Software, Banking & Finance, Agile, Writing & Editing, HTML5, Finance APIs, Quantitative Research, Software Development, Reverse Engineering, Data Analytics, Excel 2016, Data Engineering, Web Development, Databases, Google Sheets, Data, Data Processing, Investment Manager, Investments, Time Series Analysis, Content Management Systems (CMS), Excel Modeling, Financial Modeling, Google Apps Script, Google Sheets API, API Integration, Integration, FRED, Statistical Modeling, Backtesting, Market Microstructures, Real-time Processing, Stock Trading, Time Series Data, Volatility, Profit & Loss (P&L), Management Indicators, Equities, Futures & Options, Charting, Charts, Financial Data, Financial Calculations
Developer
2014 - 2015
Bolder Group Pty, Ltd.
- Refactored client code of the Two Fat Guys app so that user actions and screen transitions had immediate (less than 300ms) results.
- Designed and developed the Baby Name Game from the idea stage to an iOS and Android app for sale for several years in many countries. The app was a Single Page JavaScript app served to clients by Node.js using MongoDB for storage.
- Maintained apps following release with smooth database, server, and version migrations.
Technologies: JavaScript, Node.js, Meteor, Cordova, iOS, Android, Xcode, App Store, Google Analytics, Mixpanel, MongoDB, SQL, Front-end Development, React, APIs, Startups, Architecture, Algorithms, Server-side Rendering (SSR), Handlebars, Test-driven Development (TDD), GitHub, REST APIs, Unit Testing, Jest, CSS, Agile, Mobile Development, Mobile, HTML5, NPM, Software Development, Hybrid Apps, Mobile App Development, Express.js, UI Design, Back-end, Automated Testing, Integration Testing, UI Development, Lint, Web Development, Databases, Data, Ionic, Full-stack Development, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), JSON REST APIs, NoSQL, Responsive Design, Cross-platform App Development, Web & Mobile Applications, Cross-platform, Back-end Development, Back-end Architecture, Software Architecture, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), OAuth, Single Sign-on (SSO), Integration, OAuth 2, UI Testing, Progressive Web Applications (PWAs), Code Auditing, Code Review, Git Repo, Event-driven Programming, Charting, Charts, Technical Consulting, Cloud, Event-driven Systems, Early-stage Startups
Group Manager
2011 - 2012
Ecofund Queensland
- Achieved record carbon and renewable energy transactions revenue and profits by focusing on large, specialized transactions and customer acquisition.
- Automated public data gathering to produce daily reports on supply and demand with JavaScript and Node.js.
- Oversaw the launch of hedging products tailored to Australia's emissions trading scheme.
Technologies: JavaScript, Financial Analysis, Marketing, Trading, Financial Markets, Finance, Fixed Income, Derivative Pricing, Research, Web Applications, Currencies, Data Analysis, Algorithms, Commodities, Banking & Finance, Writing & Editing, Finance APIs, Quantitative Research, Data Analytics, Excel 2016, Google Sheets, Data, Microsoft Excel, Modeling, Investments, Time Series Analysis, Stakeholder Management, Excel Modeling, Financial Modeling, Google Apps Script, Google Sheets API, API Integration, Integration, Time Series Data, Volatility, Profit & Loss (P&L), Management Indicators, Futures & Options, Data Scraping, Web Scraping, Scraping, Charting, Charts, Financial Data, Financial Calculations
Senior Contract Trader
2010 - 2011
Stanwell
- Transacted electricity forwards and Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to meet hedging and risk management policies.
- Aggregated and profit tracking for Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) with an Excel front end that linked to an SQL transaction database.
- Executed the company's largest electricity transaction that year through negotiations with a key customer. The transaction required and received special board approval due to its size and complexity.
Technologies: Derivative Pricing, Fixed-income Derivatives, Trading, Financial Markets, Testing, Finance, Fixed Income, Statistics, Research, SQL, APIs, Data Analysis, Algorithms, Algorithmic Trading, Commodities, Banking & Finance, Writing & Editing, Finance APIs, Quantitative Research, Data Analytics, Data Modeling, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), Excel 2016, Data Engineering, Databases, Data, Microsoft Excel, Modeling, Investments, Time Series Analysis, Excel Modeling, Financial Modeling, Google Apps Script, Google Sheets API, API Integration, Integration, Statistical Modeling, Market Microstructures, Time Series Data, Volatility, Profit & Loss (P&L), Management Indicators, Futures & Options, Web Scraping, Scraping, Charting, Financial Data, Financial Calculations
Manager
2006 - 2009
Macquarie
- Enabled bespoke transaction booking for a new business through Python scripts representing details.
- Designed and oversaw the customization of existing accounting, valuation, and risk management systems to accommodate environmental commodities.
- Valued the bank's first carbon credit forward transaction using a Monte Carlo simulation of electricity production from a newly built Chinese power plant.
Technologies: Python, Derivative Pricing, Fixed-income Derivatives, Financial Analysis, Trading, Financial Markets, Testing, Finance, Fixed Income, Statistics, Research, Bloomberg API, Architecture, Data Analysis, Algorithms, Fintech, Financial Software, Commodities, Banking & Finance, Writing & Editing, Finance APIs, Quantitative Research, Merchant Banking, Naive Bayes, Software Development, Reverse Engineering, Data Analytics, Data Modeling, Data Visualization, Excel 2016, Data Engineering, Databases, Data, Microsoft Excel, Modeling, Investment Manager, Investments, Time Series Analysis, Stakeholder Management, Excel Modeling, Financial Modeling, API Integration, Integration, FRED, Statistical Modeling, Backtesting Trading Strategies, Backtesting, Market Microstructures, FX, Real-time Processing, Stock Trading, Forex Trading, Time Series Data, Volatility, Profit & Loss (P&L), Management Indicators, Equities, Futures & Options, Web Scraping, Charting, Charts, Financial Data, Financial Calculations, Forex, Communication, Technical Leadership
Associate
2004 - 2004
Minyanville Publishing and Multimedia
- Provided real-time market commentary with several publishing tools.
- Reduced 90% of publishing platform costs by identifying external providers through a review of competitors and industry practices.
- Identified marketing opportunities through trackbacks and partnerships with prominent market and economic bloggers.
Technologies: Financial Analysis, Blogging, Marketing, Financial Markets, Finance, Fixed Income, Derivative Pricing, Bloomberg API, Web Applications, HTML, Startups, Currencies, Fintech, Financial Software, Investment Banking, CSS, Writing & Editing, HTML5, Merchant Banking, Web Development, Investments, Integration, FRED, Stock Trading, Forex Trading, Volatility, Profit & Loss (P&L), Futures & Options
Director of Business Development
2001 - 2003
CyberBazaar India
- Coordinated with the team in India to verify teleconference call quality. The data collected was used to identify fraudulent billing of Internet Protocol long-distance calls at voice calling rates.
- Developed business partnerships resulting in a competitive bidding process and acquisition by WebEx Communications for $4 million.
- Established dedicated international phone and data pipelines as a new product category through a new partnership.
Technologies: Contract, Business Development, Financial Markets, Startups
Associate
1994 - 1998
Credit Suisse
- Wrote C/C++ tools for time series analysis and position tracking.
- Produced $24 million in profit using bespoke software tools to identify statistical arbitrage transactions in the US sovereign bonds of 20 countries.
- Tested and approved new firm-wide fixed income software that streamlined data collection and reporting. The databases and calculation engines enabled further automation of transaction confirmations and position reporting.
Technologies: C++, Derivative Pricing, Trading, Financial Markets, Testing, Finance, Machine Learning, Statistics, Research, Bloomberg API, SQL, Linux, Front-end Development, APIs, Architecture, Currencies, Data Analysis, Algorithms, Algorithmic Trading, Fintech, Financial Software, Commodities, Investment Banking, Banking & Finance, Writing & Editing, Finance APIs, Quantitative Research, Merchant Banking, Naive Bayes, Software Development, Reverse Engineering, UI Design, Data Analytics, Data Modeling, Data Visualization, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), Excel 2016, Data Engineering, Databases, Data, Microsoft Excel, Modeling, Excel Macros, Data Processing, Investment Manager, Investments, Time Series Analysis, Visual Basic, Excel Modeling, Financial Modeling, API Integration, Excel VBA, FRED, Application State Management, Statistical Modeling, Backtesting Trading Strategies, Backtesting, Market Microstructures, FX, Real-time Processing, Documentation, Code Auditing, Code Review, Stock Trading, Forex Trading, Time Series Data, Trading Systems, Volatility, Profit & Loss (P&L), Management Indicators, Equities, Futures & Options, Data Scraping, Web Scraping, Charting, Charts, Performance Optimization, Scalability, Third-party Integration, Financial Data, Financial Calculations, Cloud, Event-driven Systems, Forex, Communication, Technical Leadership
Project History
Automated Documentation Generation from GraphQL Schema
https://d1f7kt971hq16q.cloudfront.net/api/graphql/index.htmlI developed a TypeScript/Node.js program for AppDirect to transform their Federated GraphQL schema into a static documentation website. The project involved compiling the site with Laravel Mix and generating HTML by exploring the GraphQL schema to feed React server-side templates.
PROBLEM
AppDirect moved to a GraphQL API, requiring a brand new documentation site for its customers.
MY CONTRIBUTIONS
I enhanced the project by adding automated testing, implementing interactive examples, and converting Mustache templates to React, modernizing the codebase. I also contributed by fixing bugs, adding new features, and optimizing the system using my TypeScript, Node.js, React, and GraphQL skills.
OUTCOMES
The site generation worked flawlessly, enabling the new API to be documented publicly to speed up customer adoption. With little change, the site will continue as the primary resource for API users in 2024.
PROBLEM
AppDirect moved to a GraphQL API, requiring a brand new documentation site for its customers.
MY CONTRIBUTIONS
I enhanced the project by adding automated testing, implementing interactive examples, and converting Mustache templates to React, modernizing the codebase. I also contributed by fixing bugs, adding new features, and optimizing the system using my TypeScript, Node.js, React, and GraphQL skills.
OUTCOMES
The site generation worked flawlessly, enabling the new API to be documented publicly to speed up customer adoption. With little change, the site will continue as the primary resource for API users in 2024.
Behavioural Research Web App
A game involving decisions about faces built to gather research data for a large team of academics in economics, psychology, and machine learning. The deliverables consisted of:
• React responsive web app allowing basic profile management and fast gameplay.
• Node.js back-end with WebSocket data synchronization to the client and a REST API to connect with an AI player microservice.
• Engineered the data persistence layer to be fully compliant with GDPR and stringent ethics committee requirements, including a robust implementation of the "right to be forgotten."
• Automated end-to-end tests using Playwright. Automated unit and integration tests using Mocha and Sinon.JS.
• GitLab CI/CD enables multiple separate instances of the site to run for data gathering and feature testing.
• MongoDB Atlas charts to visualize collected data.
• React responsive web app allowing basic profile management and fast gameplay.
• Node.js back-end with WebSocket data synchronization to the client and a REST API to connect with an AI player microservice.
• Engineered the data persistence layer to be fully compliant with GDPR and stringent ethics committee requirements, including a robust implementation of the "right to be forgotten."
• Automated end-to-end tests using Playwright. Automated unit and integration tests using Mocha and Sinon.JS.
• GitLab CI/CD enables multiple separate instances of the site to run for data gathering and feature testing.
• MongoDB Atlas charts to visualize collected data.
Product Management - Business Planning and Design for a Fintech Mobile App
The client was a fintech company with several successful services that wanted to launch a new mobile app for a new service idea. The deliverables were:
1) A business plan outlining competitors approaches, market segments, and a business model;
2) A specification for the app with front-end designs in Figma, a database schema, and back-end API documentation in OpenAPI;
3) Initial code for the app with TypeScript/React Native, AWS back-end APIs, and AWS CloudFormation scripts to run CI/CD.
1) A business plan outlining competitors approaches, market segments, and a business model;
2) A specification for the app with front-end designs in Figma, a database schema, and back-end API documentation in OpenAPI;
3) Initial code for the app with TypeScript/React Native, AWS back-end APIs, and AWS CloudFormation scripts to run CI/CD.
RSS Reader
https://github.com/mikowals/simple-rss-nextAn RSS reader for browsing the news. I have used versions of it personally as a replacement for Google Reader since that service was discontinued in 2014. I am the only person involved in the project.
A current back end uses Cloudflare's serverless workers to provide a GraphQL API. All state is kept in a key value store. The total response time to a client is around 100ms for queries, while mutations that require polling RSS feeds are bottlenecked by the slowest feed response.
Front ends have been made in React and Next.js, React Native, and Swift UI. In each implementation, the UI is optimistic, with Apollo's client cache reflecting user actions across the entire app immediately. iOS implementations have features like pull-to-refetch latest articles on the 'News' page and slide-right to delete a subscribed feed on the 'Subscriptions' page.
The back end can be browsed at https://worker-rss.mikowals.workers.dev/__graphql with the code repository at https://github.com/mikowals/cloudflare-worker-rss.
The React Native front end for iOS is at exp://exp.host/@mikowals/rss-react-native.
The code repository for the React and Next.js is at https://github.com/mikowals/simple-rss-next. It is not currently running anywhere.
A current back end uses Cloudflare's serverless workers to provide a GraphQL API. All state is kept in a key value store. The total response time to a client is around 100ms for queries, while mutations that require polling RSS feeds are bottlenecked by the slowest feed response.
Front ends have been made in React and Next.js, React Native, and Swift UI. In each implementation, the UI is optimistic, with Apollo's client cache reflecting user actions across the entire app immediately. iOS implementations have features like pull-to-refetch latest articles on the 'News' page and slide-right to delete a subscribed feed on the 'Subscriptions' page.
The back end can be browsed at https://worker-rss.mikowals.workers.dev/__graphql with the code repository at https://github.com/mikowals/cloudflare-worker-rss.
The React Native front end for iOS is at exp://exp.host/@mikowals/rss-react-native.
The code repository for the React and Next.js is at https://github.com/mikowals/simple-rss-next. It is not currently running anywhere.
React and Node.js Neighborhood Network and Chat iOS App
The application was a locality-based social network that allowed people to connect and plan events. I joined the project already in progress and implemented features such as iOS notifications using Firebase and completing the build process to get the app into TestFlight for testing.
I also did several rounds of bug fixes for the app. For example, the chat features would lose messages, so I debugged the Websocket connection implemented in socket.io to eliminate the problem.
The app will be released in the App Store shortly.
I also did several rounds of bug fixes for the app. For example, the chat features would lose messages, so I debugged the Websocket connection implemented in socket.io to eliminate the problem.
The app will be released in the App Store shortly.
Cross-platform Mobile App
An iOS and Android game built to help expecting parents choose a name. Along with a partner, I designed, developed, and marketed the game from concept to launch. The game was available for download for several years. It had hundreds of people playing daily and attracted 100,000+ downloads.
REQUIREMENTS
• MongoDB database to host names, customer data, and game state
• A single-page application wrapped for iOS and Android store downloads
• Hosting with release and version migration scripts on the Meteor platform and DigitalOcean
GAME FEATURES
• Freemium model progressing from anonymous play to paid customer
• Joint play with a secure invite system, shared data between linked players
• Responsive UI for multiple phone and tablet sizes
• Fast game play with optimistic server interactions and user milestone updates
• Analytics and reporting interface to track usage and progress through an upgrade cycle
• Available in multiple countries with geographically appropriate names
REQUIREMENTS
• MongoDB database to host names, customer data, and game state
• A single-page application wrapped for iOS and Android store downloads
• Hosting with release and version migration scripts on the Meteor platform and DigitalOcean
GAME FEATURES
• Freemium model progressing from anonymous play to paid customer
• Joint play with a secure invite system, shared data between linked players
• Responsive UI for multiple phone and tablet sizes
• Fast game play with optimistic server interactions and user milestone updates
• Analytics and reporting interface to track usage and progress through an upgrade cycle
• Available in multiple countries with geographically appropriate names
Machine Learning Open Source Contributions
https://github.com/tensorflow/swift-apisI contributed pull requests and bug reports to TensorFlow, Swift for TensorFlow (S4TF), PyTorch, and other academic machine learning projects.
My contributions focused on implementing high-level machine learning algorithms; however, given the newness of the software, this often led to resolving framework bugs. For example, I had pull requests accepted for TensorFlow and Swift for TensorFlow to fix their respective implementations of batch normalization. The fix in TensorFlow corrected the application of different averages for training versus inference, while the fix in S4TF corrected the automatic derivative calculation for a square root.
For LLM's I was an active contributor improving the llama.mojo project. I implemented a k-quants version of Llama 3 in Mojo.
My contributions focused on implementing high-level machine learning algorithms; however, given the newness of the software, this often led to resolving framework bugs. For example, I had pull requests accepted for TensorFlow and Swift for TensorFlow to fix their respective implementations of batch normalization. The fix in TensorFlow corrected the application of different averages for training versus inference, while the fix in S4TF corrected the automatic derivative calculation for a square root.
For LLM's I was an active contributor improving the llama.mojo project. I implemented a k-quants version of Llama 3 in Mojo.
Batch Insert—Meteor Package
https://github.com/mikowals/batch-insertA package for the Meteor JavaScript framework that makes inserting a large number of documents into MongoDB more efficient (100x improvement). The package maintains Meteor database security rules and enables Meteors' optimistic UI features for batch inserts from the client.
The package has been used by 5,000+ developers and has been maintained since 2015.
The package has been used by 5,000+ developers and has been maintained since 2015.
Hedge Improvement with Bucket Duration - Bank Research Project
The project asked whether carefully allocating a bond's duration risk across multiple buckets would improve hedging efficiency. Hedge efficiency means how accurately the price change of a portfolio matches the estimated change based on duration and yield change.
Working in C and C++, I built a back-testing harness and point-in-time model to produce the historic ratios for trades hedged with standard and bucket durations. Backtesting could report the daily standard deviation of realized profit from expected profit.
The project discovered that the firm's treasury curve model had a computational quirk where minor price changes could cause the curve to "pop" between curling up and curling down. The effect of this quirk on hedge efficiency was three times larger than the duration effects originally studied.
This inefficiency was fixed by adding an extra step to the treasury model that forced the curve to pass through the on-the-run (most liquid) bond yields.
Working in C and C++, I built a back-testing harness and point-in-time model to produce the historic ratios for trades hedged with standard and bucket durations. Backtesting could report the daily standard deviation of realized profit from expected profit.
The project discovered that the firm's treasury curve model had a computational quirk where minor price changes could cause the curve to "pop" between curling up and curling down. The effect of this quirk on hedge efficiency was three times larger than the duration effects originally studied.
This inefficiency was fixed by adding an extra step to the treasury model that forced the curve to pass through the on-the-run (most liquid) bond yields.
Two Fat Guys
An iOS app that helps users tracks fitness goals. The app was available for a number of years in several countries through the App Store. A nice technical feature of the app was its animated page transitions while users were looking through graphs of their progress.
Reusable Research Website Framework
http://last-haven.netI was the sole developer for a green field project architecting and building the framework.
I collaborated with the University of Oxford and its partners to design and develop two websites intended for preference research. These sites include introductory pages, consent forms, interactive game pages for data collection, surveys, and result summaries.
Problem
The challenge was to create a flexible and reusable web platform that facilitates quick deployment of research projects, accommodating tight timelines and budget constraints.
My Contributions
I contributed by developing the websites using React, UnoCSS, Vite, Fastify, and MongoDB. The continuous deployment pipeline used GitHub Actions, Docker, AWS Elastic Container Registry, and AWS App Runner. Development versions used Docker Compose for hot reloads of frontend and backend changes.
Outcomes
The project successfully adhered to tight deadlines, with the second website developed in just 5 days, showcasing the efficiency of the template-based approach.
I collaborated with the University of Oxford and its partners to design and develop two websites intended for preference research. These sites include introductory pages, consent forms, interactive game pages for data collection, surveys, and result summaries.
Problem
The challenge was to create a flexible and reusable web platform that facilitates quick deployment of research projects, accommodating tight timelines and budget constraints.
My Contributions
I contributed by developing the websites using React, UnoCSS, Vite, Fastify, and MongoDB. The continuous deployment pipeline used GitHub Actions, Docker, AWS Elastic Container Registry, and AWS App Runner. Development versions used Docker Compose for hot reloads of frontend and backend changes.
Outcomes
The project successfully adhered to tight deadlines, with the second website developed in just 5 days, showcasing the efficiency of the template-based approach.
Multi-agent System for Legal Analysis
I architected a multi-agent legal system using a Planner-executor-critique workflow to autonomously decompose complex queries into structured research plans based on details of uploaded documents.
PROBLEM
Standard AI tools struggle with complex legal reasoning, often producing unreliable outputs with high rates of hallucination.
MY CONTRIBUTIONS
I built an orchestration engine where specialized sub-agents (e.g., Judge) weigh evidence. Using React, TypeScript, and Gemini Vision, I developed a pipeline to parse scanned documents into a vector database and implemented JSON self-healing mechanisms to ensure system stability.
OUTCOMES
Achieved an estimated 40% reduction in hallucinations via the critique loop and ensured 100% recovery from malformed large language model (LLM) outputs, creating a reliable tool for high-stakes analysis.
PROBLEM
Standard AI tools struggle with complex legal reasoning, often producing unreliable outputs with high rates of hallucination.
MY CONTRIBUTIONS
I built an orchestration engine where specialized sub-agents (e.g., Judge) weigh evidence. Using React, TypeScript, and Gemini Vision, I developed a pipeline to parse scanned documents into a vector database and implemented JSON self-healing mechanisms to ensure system stability.
OUTCOMES
Achieved an estimated 40% reduction in hallucinations via the critique loop and ensured 100% recovery from malformed large language model (LLM) outputs, creating a reliable tool for high-stakes analysis.
Education
2005 - 2006
Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA)
Oxford University - Oxford, UK
1990 - 1994
Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Certifications
SEPTEMBER 2026 - SEPTEMBER 2027
Claude Certified Architect - Foundations
Anthropic
NOVEMBER 2025 - PRESENT
AI Agents and Agentic AI with Python & Generative AI
Coursera / Vanderbilt University
NOVEMBER 2021 - NOVEMBER 2023
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
FEBRUARY 2017 - PRESENT
Neural Networks for Machine Learning
Coursera/University of Toronto
JULY 2015 - PRESENT
Certified SuperForecaster
Good Judgment, Inc.
JULY 2014 - PRESENT
Practical Machine Learning
Coursera/Johns Hopkins University
JANUARY 2014 - PRESENT
Machine Learning
Coursera/Stanford University
DECEMBER 2012 - PRESENT
Web Intelligence and Big Data
Coursera/Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Skills
Libraries/APIs
React, Node.js, Bloomberg API, Handlebars, REST APIs, Mustache, OpenAPI, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Playwright, Sinon.JS, Vue, Vuex, Google Sheets API, Pandas, GraphQL API, CocoaPods, Puppeteer, Chart.js, Socket.IO, AWS Amplify, React Router
Tools
Xcode, NPM, GitHub, GitLab, GitLab CI/CD, Excel 2016, Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, Mongoose, AI Prompts, Claude, Claude Code, Git, Webpack, MATLAB, Figma, MongoDB Atlas, Workbox, Cucumber, Google Analytics, CodeMirror, AWS CloudFormation, AWS CodeCommit, AWS CodeBuild, Mocha, Pytest, MongoDB Compass, Docker Compose
Languages
Python, JavaScript, Excel VBA, GraphQL, SQL, CSS, TypeScript, Python 3, Python 2, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), ECMAScript (ES6), Visual Basic, Google Apps Script, TypeScript 3, TypeScript 5, TypeScript 4, Swift, Octave, C++, HTML, SCSS, HTML5, R, Swift 5
Frameworks
Jest, Swagger, Tailwind CSS, Fastify, OAuth 2, Express.js, Ionic, Next.js, Remix, Material UI, Framework7, React Native, Laravel Mix, SwiftUI
Paradigms
Test-driven Development (TDD), Unit Testing, Mobile Development, Quantitative Research, UI Design, Automated Testing, Event-driven Programming, Testing, Agile, Serverless Architecture, Acceptance Testing, Continuous Deployment, Continuous Integration (CI), Cross-platform, Back-end Architecture, MapReduce, REST, Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Platforms
Linux, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Meteor, Mobile, Docker, Ubuntu, Firebase, iOS, Android, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Mailgun, DigitalOcean, Amazon EC2, Mixpanel, AWS ALB, Kubernetes
Industry Expertise
Accounting, Banking & Finance, Trading Systems, Marketing
Storage
MongoDB, NoSQL, JSON, Databases, IndexedDB, MySQL, Amazon S3 (AWS S3)
Other
Finance, Strategy, Financial Analysis, Statistics, Research, Derivative Pricing, Fixed-income Derivatives, Fixed Income, Blogging, Full-stack, Web Applications, Back-end, Front-end, Trading, Financial Markets, Front-end Development, Startups, Currencies, Data Analysis, Fintech, Financial Software, Merchant Banking, Investment Banking, Commodities, Writing & Editing, RSS Feeds, Finance APIs, Software Development, Mobile App Development, UI Development, Artificial Intelligence (AI), i18n, Data Analytics, Data Modeling, Data Visualization, Data Engineering, Web Development, Data, Modeling, Full-stack Development, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), JSON REST APIs, Responsive Design, Excel Macros, Cross-platform App Development, Web & Mobile Applications, Back-end Development, Software Architecture, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), OAuth, Single Sign-on (SSO), Investment Manager, Investments, Time Series Analysis, Zustand, Stakeholder Management, Excel Modeling, Financial Modeling, API Integration, Integration, AI-generated Code, Large Language Models (LLMs), Image Processing, Text Processing, RESTFul APIs, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), FRED, UI Testing, Application State Management, Agentic AI, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Generative Systems, Prompt Engineering, Cloud Applications, Open-source LLMs, Statistical Modeling, Backtesting Trading Strategies, Backtesting, Market Microstructures, FX, Progressive Web Applications (PWAs), AI Agents, Code Auditing, Code Review, Stock Trading, Forex Trading, Git Repo, Time Series Data, Volatility, Profit & Loss (P&L), Management Indicators, Equities, Futures & Options, Browser Automation, Data Scraping, Web Scraping, Scraping, Charting, Charts, Performance Optimization, Technical Consulting, Scalability, System Architecture, Third-party Integration, Agentic Coding, Open Source, Financial Data, Financial Calculations, Cloud, Event-driven Systems, Forex, AI Tools, Communication, LLM Integration, AI-assisted Development, Technical Leadership, Early-stage Startups, Venture Capital, Organizational Design, Machine Learning, Contract, APIs, Cloudflare, Responsive UI, App Store, Mobile Apps, Architecture, Algorithms, Algorithmic Trading, Server-side Rendering (SSR), Lint, Serverless, Mobile UI, Apollo, Apollo Server, Logistic Regression, Linear Regression, Classification Algorithms, Predictive Modeling, Data Science, Naive Bayes, Hybrid Apps, Reverse Engineering, Linear Algebra, Product Management, Database Schema Design, Integration Testing, Service Workers, CI/CD Pipelines, Project Consultancy, Data Processing, AWS App Runner, Vite, Content Management Systems (CMS), Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), Gemini API, Real-time Processing, Documentation, AI Integration, Business Development, Optimistic UI, WebSockets, Cordova, Random Forests, GPU Computing, Image Recognition, UnoCSS, PNPM, GitHub Actions, CORS, ChatGPT API, AI Systems, System Design, Multiagent Generative Systems (MAGs), AI Agent Orchestration
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Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
1
Share your needs
Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2
Choose your talent
Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3
Start your risk-free talent trial
Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring