Software Architect · AI Builder
Ibrahim Šuta
Building for the web since 2005, when I was just starting high school, and shipping dependable software professionally since 2013. Also, yes, I am older than I look.
Most engineers want to either architect or code. I used to do both — sketching the system on a whiteboard, then building it until it's running in production. Now coding agents cover most of the building, and I steer them: choosing the right architecture, keeping a human in the loop, and judging what's actually good.
And I'm still the one asking the business the uncomfortable scope questions nobody wants to answer.
I work across the whole stack — backend, frontend, and the cloud it runs on. Lately a lot of that work has been AI features: search over a company's own documents, answers that link back to their sources, and models that run locally so sensitive data stays on their network. I especially love building fresh platforms with founders and product teams, while still enjoying the occasional legacy system untangle.
With AI agents, the language matters a lot less than it used to. I'll use whatever fits the job, but I still reach for C# and .NET when I want to read through everything and check it properly before it ships.
Product engagements
12+ teams
I've been the go-to engineer for a dozen product teams.
Launches delivered
50+ releases
From first commit to production, across SaaS and internal tools.
Launch velocity
6-10 weeks
From "okay, we know what we're building" to live.
I care about the code I ship
I help founders and engineering leaders turn ambitious roadmaps into maintainable software. That means digging into the architecture, writing the critical code, and keeping releases predictable. I have worked across backend, frontend, data, and cloud, and I pick whatever stack fits the project. .NET is just where I have spent the most time.
Snapshot
Two decades of building software, and the lesson that stuck: move fast, but do not break what is already working. I have done greenfield builds, full platform rebuilds, and a few rescues across SaaS, marketplaces, finance, and field services.
I stay hands-on with architecture, code, and devops because handoff chains lose context. One person who understands the whole picture just works better.
Over the years I have built up a library of templates and starter packages that give new projects a real head start without cutting corners.
What I build with AI
Lately I have been building AI features into the products themselves, not just using AI to help me write code. One app I built recently answers questions from a company's own documents. It is built with .NET 10 and Blazor Server, and it runs entirely on the company's own machines through Ollama, so nothing sensitive is sent to an outside service. It pulls the text out of PDFs and other files, splits and indexes it, and searches it with PostgreSQL and pgvector.
The answers only use what the app actually found in the documents, and the citations are built in code from the real source records, so it cannot quietly make up a source or a policy. When the documents do not cover a question, it says so rather than guessing. I check how well retrieval is working against a set of test questions. Underneath, it talks to the model through Microsoft.Extensions.AI, with the Microsoft Agent Framework (MAF) layered on top to handle the agent side — the instructions, the tools, and the conversation.
I have used AI tools daily for about four years — ChatGPT, Codex, Claude, GitHub Copilot. I still read through everything they produce before it goes anywhere near production, and I test it the same way I would my own code.
Toolkit
Highlights of the stack I reach for daily
AI & LLM
Backend & APIs
Cloud & Data
Front-ends
Operations
Technical setup
Collapsed by default so only the curious need to peek under the hood.
Operating systems and shells
Daily driver: Arch Linux with Hyprland, Ghostty, and a tailored zsh toolkit.
Secondary: Windows 11 for deep Visual Studio sessions, diagnostics, and cross-environment QA.
macOS steps in whenever native builds, iOS checks, or polished media exports are in order.
Favorite tools and IDEs
Visual Studio and JetBrains Rider for the heavy lifting, VS Code for quick iterations, and Azure Data Studio alongside DataGrip for data work.
Extras I reach for daily: PowerToys, Oh My Posh, and observability dashboards that keep releases boring.
Hardware and workspace
Primary workstation: high-end desktop with 128 GB RAM, NVMe storage, and calibrated dual 4K panels.
Mobile kit: M-series MacBook Pro plus a travel-ready Windows machine, all encrypted end-to-end.
Connectivity and failover
Low-latency fiber handles the day-to-day, backed by LTE failover.
Mesh Wi-Fi and remote power control keep infrastructure reachable mid-travel or during outages.
Shipping web software since 2005; 13+ years in C#, .NET, and JavaScript
A snapshot of the roles where I partnered with teams to design architecture, write the hard pieces, and take responsibility for production outcomes.
Software Architect & Consultant
FreelanceDec 2015 - Present
Hands-on partner for 12+ MVPs and platform rebuilds across SaaS, marketplaces, and enterprise.
Software Architect & Consultant
FreelanceDec 2015 - Present
Hands-on partner for 12+ MVPs and platform rebuilds across SaaS, marketplaces, and enterprise.
- Built MVPs from scratch and made existing MVPs usable, stable, and production-ready in short timeframes.
- Planned architecture at a high level, designed systems, and selected the right technical direction for each project.
- Migrated projects from legacy .NET Framework 4.x to .NET Core and .NET 6.
- Configured CI/CD from scratch across Azure, DigitalOcean, Heroku, and private Linux servers.
- Consulted, guided, and mentored teammates and clients through technical decisions and delivery planning.
- Developed software and custom solutions based on business needs and production constraints.
- Designed architecture and implemented ASP.NET Core and Web API applications.
- Led a five-person team, reviewed other developers' code, and worked directly with clients on requirements and specs.
Senior Software Engineer
ToptalMar 2018 - Present
Worked with Toptal clients across insurance, telecom, identity, SaaS, and enterprise software.
Senior Software Engineer
ToptalMar 2018 - Present
Worked with Toptal clients across insurance, telecom, identity, SaaS, and enterprise software.
- Delivered software for Toptal clients across insurance, telecom, identity, SaaS, and enterprise systems.
- Built and maintained partner API integrations, authentication flows, and back-end services used in production.
- Worked across distributed teams and client stakeholders to clarify requirements, unblock delivery, and keep releases moving.
- Improved existing systems through refactoring, integration testing, architecture cleanup, and production-focused code reviews.
Senior Software Engineer
Insurance company2020 - 2022
Worked on partner API integrations for insurance workflows and production systems.
Senior Software Engineer
Insurance company2020 - 2022
Worked on partner API integrations for insurance workflows and production systems.
- Implemented and maintained carrier and partner API integrations for policy onboarding workflows.
- Coordinated new integrations from requirements and technical discovery through testing and production release.
- Added automated validation and integration checks to reduce manual verification before release.
- Refactored legacy onboarding code paths to make the flow easier to maintain and support.
Software Architect & Senior Engineer
T-Systems International · Deutsche Telekom2019 - 2020
Led a T-Systems / Deutsche Telekom migration from .NET Framework 4.7 to .NET Core.
Software Architect & Senior Engineer
T-Systems International · Deutsche Telekom2019 - 2020
Led a T-Systems / Deutsche Telekom migration from .NET Framework 4.7 to .NET Core.
- Migrated a production enterprise application from ASP.NET on .NET Framework 4.7 to .NET Core 2.2, 3.0, and 3.1.
- Architected Azure environments, pipelines, and monitoring for every stage of delivery.
- Implemented IdentityServer-based SSO wired into Angular front-ends and corporate identity providers.
- Partnered with distributed teams to keep a global release plan aligned.
Software Engineer
Symphony.isSep 2016 - Dec 2017
Built startup web applications, payment flows, and desktop automation tooling.
Software Engineer
Symphony.isSep 2016 - Dec 2017
Built startup web applications, payment flows, and desktop automation tooling.
- Delivered configurable web applications and automation tooling end-to-end.
- Worked across React, AngularJS, TypeScript, and Meteor on startup web applications.
- Mentored engineers while implementing payment flows and CI/CD automation.
- Built a cross-platform Electron automation tool for repetitive design workflows.
Software Engineer
Maestral SolutionsMay 2015 - Sep 2016
Led a six-person ASP.NET MVC team serving global clients.
Software Engineer
Maestral SolutionsMay 2015 - Sep 2016
Led a six-person ASP.NET MVC team serving global clients.
- Delivered enterprise ASP.NET MVC platforms with a team of six engineers.
- Mentored developers, performed code reviews, and worked directly with the client on requirements.
- Implemented Azure-hosted CI/CD pipelines via TeamCity and Octopus Deploy.
- Improved performance for multi-million record datasets while hardening production monitoring.
Earlier roles
2005 - 2015Authority Partners, Various Clients, and self-directed ventures.
Earlier roles
2005 - 2015Authority Partners, Various Clients, and self-directed ventures.
Authority Partners · Software Developer
2013 - 2015
- Worked as a full-stack developer on distributed enterprise fintech applications across the full SDLC.
- Helped rebuild a legacy loan-processing application with AngularJS, TypeScript, ASP.NET MVC, Web API, and SQL Server.
- Integrated SOAP, XML, REST, and post-page services with 15+ external systems for credit, appraisal, pricing, underwriting, SMS, and email workflows.
- Deployed and maintained production web applications for online loan-processing workflows.
Independent consultant & administrator
2011 - 2015
- Delivered bespoke desktop and web software in C#, JavaScript, and PHP.
- Maintained a legacy gaming platform and administered websites, systems, and servers.
- Handled hosting, updates, backups, and support for small business and community websites.
Founder · Mobile web portal
2005 - 2008
- Bootstrapped a community portal reaching 100k+ monthly visits.
- Implemented chat, forums, leaderboards, ads, referrals, and premium downloads.
- Handled UX, engineering, hosting, and monetization end-to-end.
Selected client work
Case studies that show how I approach architecture, delivery, and long-term stewardship. Expand any item to see the details.
Grounded RAG Knowledge Assistant
Architect & Solo DeveloperA fully on-prem retrieval-augmented assistant that answers staff questions from company documents — with real citations, and an honest "it is not in the documents" when the answer is not there.
Grounded RAG Knowledge Assistant
Architect & Solo DeveloperA fully on-prem retrieval-augmented assistant that answers staff questions from company documents — with real citations, and an honest "it is not in the documents" when the answer is not there.
- Built the full RAG pipeline end to end: TXT/PDF extraction, text normalization, overlapping chunking, and batched embeddings indexed in PostgreSQL + pgvector behind an HNSW cosine index.
- Grounded every answer in retrieved context only — citations are reconstructed in C# from the source records, never trusted from model output, so the system cannot invent policy or fake a source.
- Kept it fully local with Ollama models (qwen3:14b for chat, nomic-embed-text for embeddings), so sensitive business documents never leave the network — no third-party AI API in the loop.
- Shipped the whole product surface: streaming chat UI, authenticated upload/re-index/delete, background ingestion, health checks, and a Q&A evaluation set to tune retrieval, thresholds, and prompts.
Wayscriber
Creator & Solo DeveloperA fast, Wayland-native screen annotation and presentation tool written in Rust — summon a drawing layer over any app, then annotate, zoom, capture, and get back to work.
Wayscriber
Creator & Solo DeveloperA fast, Wayland-native screen annotation and presentation tool written in Rust — summon a drawing layer over any app, then annotate, zoom, capture, and get back to work.
- Built a complete annotation toolkit with pressure-sensitive pen and highlighter input, shapes, arrows, text, sticky notes, blur, screen eyedropper, selection, and full undo/redo.
- Designed persistent boards, pages, and named sessions alongside ZoomIt-style zoom, screen freeze, click highlights, light passthrough, and PNG/PDF capture workflows.
- Implemented native tablet and touchscreen input, multi-monitor workflows, command and radial palettes, configurable toolbars, and roughly 130 rebindable actions.
- Shipped an optional Rust GUI configurator plus maintained APT, RPM, AUR, Nix, and direct-download distribution for major Wayland compositors.
LiveGames
Architect & Solo DeveloperA browser-based real-time multiplayer platform with seven games, skill-based matchmaking, persistent progression, and live social play.
LiveGames
Architect & Solo DeveloperA browser-based real-time multiplayer platform with seven games, skill-based matchmaking, persistent progression, and live social play.
- Built seven multiplayer games: Connect Four, Typing Race, Word Duel, Speed Math, Tic-Tac-Toe, Rock Paper Scissors, and four-player Ludo.
- Implemented skill-based matchmaking for guests and registered players, with real-time game state, spectating, match chat, and rematch flows over SignalR.
- Persisted match results, XP, levels, ranks, and global and per-game leaderboards through ASP.NET Core Identity and EF Core.
- Automated build, test, publish, health checks, EF migrations, and systemd deployment to a self-hosted Linux server with GitHub Actions.
Maintenance & Repair Services Platform
Architect & Solo DeveloperModernized a 20-year-old operations system into a cloud-first, multi-tenant product.
Maintenance & Repair Services Platform
Architect & Solo DeveloperModernized a 20-year-old operations system into a cloud-first, multi-tenant product.
- Replaced a legacy system with 500k+ lines of modern C# spanning scheduling, billing, and work-order domains.
- Held sub-50ms core latency and 99.9% uptime while shipping new capability weekly.
- Designed domain-driven modules with CQRS and event-driven automation, including thousands of recurring maintenance tasks.
- Owned architecture, implementation, and production operations as the single accountable engineer.
Veridos Digital Identity
Senior Software EngineerRebuilt government identity issuance services onto a modern .NET + Camunda stack.
Veridos Digital Identity
Senior Software EngineerRebuilt government identity issuance services onto a modern .NET + Camunda stack.
- Reimplemented backend services from scratch with Camunda process orchestration.
- Launched IdentityServer-based authentication for multi-tenant government workflows.
- Delivered integration and performance test suites that guard every release.
- Coordinated cross-functional teams to align process models, UI, and API contracts.
Deutsche Telekom Cloud Migration
Team Lead & ConsultantMigrated an enterprise platform to modern ASP.NET Core and Azure without downtime.
Deutsche Telekom Cloud Migration
Team Lead & ConsultantMigrated an enterprise platform to modern ASP.NET Core and Azure without downtime.
- Eliminated legacy .NET 4.7 technical debt across the platform, achieving zero-downtime migration to .NET Core 3.1 and cutting CI build times by over 40%.
- Delivered a fully automated Azure deployment pipeline that reduced release cycles from weeks to same-day, covering dev through production stages.
- Unified authentication across five internal apps and corporate identity providers via IdentityServer, reducing login support tickets significantly.
- Established cross-team quality gates and rollback playbooks that kept a multi-country release on schedule with zero production incidents.
Evidence Tracker Product Line
Team LeadDigital evidence management for police departments, complete with barcode tracking.
Evidence Tracker Product Line
Team LeadDigital evidence management for police departments, complete with barcode tracking.
- Built barcode tracking, evidence logs, and digital submission workflows end-to-end.
- Led a six-person team through discovery, delivery, and multi-agency rollout.
- Evolved a bespoke solution into a configurable product family adopted by additional departments.
- Ran pairing, code reviews, and guild sessions to level up the wider engineering team.
More selected work
Side products & collaborationsA sampling of additional products shipped over the years.
More selected work
Side products & collaborationsA sampling of additional products shipped over the years.
Talk2Text
Architect & Developer
Offline speech-recognition suite for journalists across iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Delivered native apps sharing a common transcription engine and secure vocabulary sync.
- Implemented multiple speech engines for high-accuracy dictation in noisy environments.
- Provided offline workflows so sensitive interviews never leave the device.
LinguLite
Architect & Developer
Blazor-powered language-learning platform with a focus on Bosnian.
- Built dual modes for structured learning and native-speaker validation.
- Designed modular practice flows covering grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
- Shipped a responsive UI so lessons work equally well on desktop and mobile.
Discord Ops Bot
Architect & Developer
.NET Core automation that keeps large Discord communities on track.
- Automated moderation commands for warnings, mutes, bans, and escalation logs.
- Aggregated curated news feeds with deduping and per-channel routing.
- Surfaced uptime and health insights so on-call moderators could react quickly.
Say hi
Brief projects, deep rebuilds, or a second opinion on your roadmap? Feel free to reach out. Email is fastest, but the form below goes straight to me as well.
Let's connect
ibro@ibro.me
Location
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
