Karlo Krakan

Karlo Krakan

Senior Software Engineer
k.krakan [@] alumni.ubc.ca

I’m a senior software engineer who takes systems from idea to production: architecture, deployment, and observability. My recent work centers on AI-native applications: RAG pipelines, LLM integration, and real-time voice, plus full-stack SaaS. I self-host my own infrastructure, from email and private cloud to a GPU-accelerated local LLM stack. I studied Physics at the University of British Columbia, grounding my engineering in computational fundamentals.

Location Calgary, AB

Expertise

Proven track record building production AI systems, including retrieval-augmented generation with vector search and reranking, streaming LLM chat, and live speech-to-text. Comfortable both running these as distributed cloud services and self-hosting the entire stack.

Deep expertise in PostgreSQL, spanning semantic search with pgvector, full-text search, time-series compression, and query optimization. Skilled with Redis for caching, queues, and real-time messaging, and with MySQL and MongoDB where appropriate.

Strong quantitative and computational foundation grounded in physics, including numerical methods, Monte Carlo simulation, statistical modeling, and risk analysis, applied across physical simulations, streaming sensor analytics, and market volatility modeling.

Extensive hands-on experience with GNU/Linux and self-hosted infrastructure, from a personal email server and private cloud to monitoring and reverse proxies. Production experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform, plus Prometheus and Grafana for observability and Proxmox virtualization with GPU passthrough.

Technical Strengths

Languages

Python   TypeScript   JavaScript   PHP   C#   SQL   Bash  

Frontend & Mobile

Vue 3   React   Vite   Chart.js   Capacitor (mobile)  

AI & Machine Learning

LLM integration   RAG pipelines   Vector search & embeddings   Prompt engineering   AI agents & workflows  

Databases & Data

PostgreSQL   pgvector   Redis   MySQL   SQLite   MongoDB   Time-series data  

DevOps & Infrastructure

Docker   Kubernetes   Terraform   Azure   Traefik   GNU/Linux   Proxmox   Cloudflare   DNS   TCP/IP  

Security

Authentication   Application hardening   TLS / Let's Encrypt   HMAC signing   SSH / VPN  

Blockchain

Wallet & node RPC integration   On-chain data analysis   DeFi / AMM mechanics  

Backend

Django   Django REST Framework   Celery   Node.js   Laravel   WebSockets   REST APIs  

Education

Bachelor of Science (BSc), Physics

University of British Columbia

Vancouver, BC

Diploma, Computer Systems Technology

British Columbia Institute of Technology

Burnaby, BC

Work Experience

Feb 2026 - Present

Lead Software Engineer

Independent Personal Training Studio

Vancouver, BC

  • • Architected and built a full-stack web platform for a personal training studio end to end, from a Django REST API backend to a Vue 3 single-page frontend, backed by PostgreSQL.
  • • Built a production retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) knowledge base: Voyage AI embeddings in pgvector, hybrid semantic and full-text retrieval, cross-encoder reranking, and MMR diversity filtering, giving trainers an AI assistant grounded in their own documents.
  • • Implemented streaming LLM chat over WebSockets with the Anthropic Claude API, including citations and injected domain context, plus AI-generated client check-in analysis offloaded to Celery for long-running jobs.
  • • Integrated real-time voice with Deepgram: live speech-to-text with speaker diarization during check-ins, plus text-to-speech playback.
  • • Added real-time collaborative document editing using Yjs CRDTs and a Hocuspocus server with live cursors, backed by Redis and PostgreSQL.
  • • Built secure authentication from scratch: JWT with refresh-token rotation and blacklisting, TOTP two-factor, device management, and rate limiting with account lockout.
  • • Integrated third-party wearable and body-scan providers to automatically sync client health metrics.
  • • Deployed the full stack on Docker Swarm behind Traefik with TLS, instrumented with Prometheus, Grafana, and Sentry, with Celery and Redis for async processing, and shipped a companion Android app built with Capacitor.
Aug 2020 - Present

Senior Software Engineer

B2B Energy Management and Sustainability

Vancouver, BC

  • • Senior engineer on a B2B industrial IoT platform that ingests time-series data from sensors connected to industrial assets, processing and analyzing it at scale to generate actionable insights for manufacturers.
  • • Built and extended the streaming data pipeline on Apache Kafka and Faust, joining multiple sensor streams to enable multi-sensor configurations while accurately calculating production quantities.
  • • Designed and developed a Faust agent to compute live statistical data on high-volume sensor streams.
  • • Built a compression system that reduced the time-series database table size by 60x and improved query execution speed by up to 90%, resolving a major latency problem in the reporting subsystem.
  • • Built several Prometheus and Grafana dashboards to monitor the internal services that run the platform, including VerneMQ and Faust.
  • • Designed an automated email/SMS notification subsystem using Azure Service Bus and Azure Functions.
  • • Led the integration of the platform with Kepware KEPServer, letting clients use their existing Kepware installations instead of custom sensor solutions.
Jan 2020 - Aug 2020

Full Stack Developer

B2B Software Development Company

Vancouver, BC

  • • As part of the Product Support team, worked to develop and improve a wide variety of business-oriented web applications and business automation processes, mainly using tools such as PHP, JS, and MySQL.
  • • Communicated directly with clients about the software development requirements when the need arise.
  • • Worked in a team of two to develop a single page web application using React and Laravel, to implement a content management system for LinkedIn advertising campaigns.
  • • Focus on testable, readable, and maintainable code in order to satisfy business requirements and reduce the possibility of error.
May 2015 - Dec 2015

Software Engineer, R&D

Specialized Maritime Software Development Firm

Vancouver, BC

  • • Designed a simulation of anchored container vessels based on leading edge research in the field.
  • • Independently researched principles of marine engineering in preparation for design of a mooring analysis program to be used in container vessels.
  • • Consulted with head engineer about marine engineering requirements.
  • • Added relevant features as requested by the head engineer.
  • • Programs developed in C#.
Jul 2011 - May 2015

Owner and Head Technician

Krakan Computers

Vancouver, BC

  • • Laptop/PC assembly/disassembly. Repair and cleaning.
  • • Repair and cleaning. Virus removal. Backup and restore.
  • • Network administration.
  • • Consultations.

Academic Experience

Computational Physics

4th year computational physics course

University of British Columbia

  • • Used Python to design physical simulations based on theoretical models.
  • • Implemented algorithms for Monte Carlo simulations, numerical differentiation/integration, interpolation and root finding, and ordinary/partial differential equations.

Physics Research

4th year physics laboratory course

University of British Columbia

  • • Performed three experiments in medical imaging including MRI and PET.
  • • Used theoretical considerations to guide the planning and design of experiments.
  • • Used signal processing instruments such as discriminators, amplifiers, etc, to extract useful data from inherently noisy measurements
  • • Interpreted and modeled data using Monte-Carlo simulations, numerical integration, linear regression.
  • • Wrote formal reports in LaTeX for each experiment in the Physical Reviews Letters (PRL) format.

Projects

Apr 2019 - May 2019

EcoCity: The Game

A city building game focused primarily on the ecological aspects of running a city.

British Columbia Institute of Technology

  • • Focused primarily on back-end requirements.
  • • Designed the user database, developed a save game system, and other back-end functions.
  • • Made use of Agile methodology to rapidly develop and deploy a working game in 5 weeks.
  • • Software used: Unity, C#, PHP, MySQL
Nov 2014 - Mar 2015

Probing New Physics Using the Standard Model Gauge Couplings and the LHC

Research presented at the Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference

University of British Columbia

  • • Worked with a team to study a new theory and determine whether the theory could be proven or disproven using the Large Hadron Collider.

Volunteer Work

Feb 2018 - Jan 2020

General Assistant

Free Geek Vancouver

Vancouver, BC

  • • Dissasembly of large/small electronics into constituent parts for recycling.
  • • Testing and repair/refurbishing of computer hardware to be sold in store.
  • • Assembly of computer systems to be sold in store. Sorting and ordering incoming donations.
Jan 2015 - Mar 2015

General Assistant

Physics Olympics

University of British Columbia

  • • Collaborated with a group to generate physics quiz questions for students at the high school level.
  • • Invigilated the quiz portion of the competition, offered encouragement to students as well as insight into the problems without giving away answers.
May 2011 - Jun 2015

General Assistant

European Festival

Burnaby, BC

  • • Organized the set-up of admission booths for logical and efficient service. Directed parking lot traffic.
  • • Handled cash and credit/debit transactions as well as disgruntled visitors.

Contact

© 2026 Karlo Krakan. All rights reserved.