Hello, I'm
Balazs Sebesteny
Strategic Principal Software Engineer & CTO with 20+ years of experience specializing in the PHP/Laravel ecosystem. Expert in architecting high-load SaaS platforms, integrating AI/NLP solutions, and leading cross-functional teams. Proven track record in modernizing legacy monoliths into microservices and scaling lead-generation engines to 5,000+ RPM.
/ Career
A brief overview of my career
Principal Engineer
CareMaster Global, Remote
Architect and modernize full-stack features using Laravel and Vue.js, focusing on high-performance RESTful APIs and complex ACL permissions. Standardize coding practices and UI components to ensure codebase maintainability and scalability across a large customer base. Enforce high reliability through comprehensive automated test suites and detailed technical documentation.
Senior Technical Advisor
Scrap IO
Directed architectural patterns for a high-traffic lead-generation engine handling 5,000 requests per minute. Built and deployed automated CI/CD pipelines and code quality tools using Laravel Vapor and AWS to ensure 24/7 availability for 200M+ indexed records.
Principal engineer
Hourstack LLC (acquired by ClickUp)
Architected and maintained a clean, high-performance, and standardized RESTful API core to support a global user base. Engineered seamless integrations for high-traffic third-party platforms including Asana, ClickUp, GitHub, Google Calendar, and Slack. Optimized and fine-tuned database performance to handle complex time-tracking data and multi-platform synchronization. Championed code quality by implementing a robust CI/CD pipeline for automated testing and deployments using Laravel Forge and Envoyer. Played a key role in the technical maturity of the product, contributing to its successful acquisition by ClickUp.
Senior engineer
SWOOP Analytics
Create a scalable deployment system, an efficient database, and a modern API. Write documentation. Ensure that the product and data end work together. Build components to work within the overall architecture laid out by SWOOP.
Lead developer / VP of Engineering
Yabble (acquired by Global Insights Leader)
Pioneered the integration of LLM and NLP technologies to automate market research analysis and survey result synthesis. Designed a scalable SaaS infrastructure on AWS (Elastic Beanstalk, RDS, Aurora) capable of handling rapid data ingestion and real-time reporting.
Senior developer
NZME
Played a key role in the successful migration of a monolithic legacy system to a modern microservice architecture, enhancing scalability and agility. Contributed to many of the crucial core services, like finance, fulfilment, e-commerce, and central messaging. Worked in an agile environment as a lead developer.
Lead developer
The Space In Between
Lead a team of developers, both internal and contractors. Helped the producers distribute work. Designed a system that enables rapid project development, safe deployment, and reliable maintenance in a changing environment.
Senior developer
Futuretech Ltd
LeSpearheaded the platform's architecture, specializing in the resolution of complex challenges within video streaming and real-time messaging protocols. I led a strategic migration from high-cost proprietary technologies to a robust open-source stack, significantly reducing overhead while maintaining performance. Additionally, I orchestrated a comprehensive core refactor to support a new major SDK version, ensuring the system remained modern, secure, and extensible.
Senior developer
UstreamTv (acquired by IBM)
Joined as an initial core engineer to design and build the platform’s foundational architecture. Key contributions include developing high-performance APIs that drove company revenue and executing a comprehensive rebuild of the flagship broadcaster application. I played a pivotal role in designing scalable media server clusters and server-side systems to optimize global bandwidth. To ensure reliability, I also engineered a suite of internal tools for stream testing and measurement.
Senior developer
Jasmin Media Group
Recruited to lead stability and security initiatives during a pivotal growth phase. I focused on the high-concurrency programming of media servers and broadcaster applications, resolving deep-seated session management issues and implementing comprehensive DDoS and intrusion protection. Additionally, I built internal monitoring tools to empower support teams and collaborated on the engineering of the company’s scalable advertising platform.
Principal Engineer
CareMaster Global, Remote
Architect and modernize full-stack features using Laravel and Vue.js, focusing on high-performance RESTful APIs and complex ACL permissions. Standardize coding practices and UI components to ensure codebase maintainability and scalability across a large customer base. Enforce high reliability through comprehensive automated test suites and detailed technical documentation.
Senior Technical Advisor
Scrap IO
Directed architectural patterns for a high-traffic lead-generation engine handling 5,000 requests per minute. Built and deployed automated CI/CD pipelines and code quality tools using Laravel Vapor and AWS to ensure 24/7 availability for 200M+ indexed records.
Principal engineer
Hourstack LLC (acquired by ClickUp)
Architected and maintained a clean, high-performance, and standardized RESTful API core to support a global user base. Engineered seamless integrations for high-traffic third-party platforms including Asana, ClickUp, GitHub, Google Calendar, and Slack. Optimized and fine-tuned database performance to handle complex time-tracking data and multi-platform synchronization. Championed code quality by implementing a robust CI/CD pipeline for automated testing and deployments using Laravel Forge and Envoyer. Played a key role in the technical maturity of the product, contributing to its successful acquisition by ClickUp.
Senior engineer
SWOOP Analytics
Create a scalable deployment system, an efficient database, and a modern API. Write documentation. Ensure that the product and data end work together. Build components to work within the overall architecture laid out by SWOOP.
Lead developer / VP of Engineering
Yabble (acquired by Global Insights Leader)
Pioneered the integration of LLM and NLP technologies to automate market research analysis and survey result synthesis. Designed a scalable SaaS infrastructure on AWS (Elastic Beanstalk, RDS, Aurora) capable of handling rapid data ingestion and real-time reporting.
Senior developer
NZME
Played a key role in the successful migration of a monolithic legacy system to a modern microservice architecture, enhancing scalability and agility. Contributed to many of the crucial core services, like finance, fulfilment, e-commerce, and central messaging. Worked in an agile environment as a lead developer.
Lead developer
The Space In Between
Lead a team of developers, both internal and contractors. Helped the producers distribute work. Designed a system that enables rapid project development, safe deployment, and reliable maintenance in a changing environment.
Senior developer
Futuretech Ltd
LeSpearheaded the platform's architecture, specializing in the resolution of complex challenges within video streaming and real-time messaging protocols. I led a strategic migration from high-cost proprietary technologies to a robust open-source stack, significantly reducing overhead while maintaining performance. Additionally, I orchestrated a comprehensive core refactor to support a new major SDK version, ensuring the system remained modern, secure, and extensible.
Senior developer
UstreamTv (acquired by IBM)
Joined as an initial core engineer to design and build the platform’s foundational architecture. Key contributions include developing high-performance APIs that drove company revenue and executing a comprehensive rebuild of the flagship broadcaster application. I played a pivotal role in designing scalable media server clusters and server-side systems to optimize global bandwidth. To ensure reliability, I also engineered a suite of internal tools for stream testing and measurement.
Senior developer
Jasmin Media Group
Recruited to lead stability and security initiatives during a pivotal growth phase. I focused on the high-concurrency programming of media servers and broadcaster applications, resolving deep-seated session management issues and implementing comprehensive DDoS and intrusion protection. Additionally, I built internal monitoring tools to empower support teams and collaborated on the engineering of the company’s scalable advertising platform.
/ Featured Projects
A selection of professional work, published apps, and experimental prototypes.
/ Tech Stack
Breakdown of my technical skills, categorized by domain and proficiency
Frontend
Backend
Database
Other
/ Contact Me
Feel free to reach out. I'm always open to discussing new projects and opportunities.