Builder & Technologist

Justin-George
Popa

I build things across the entire technology stack — whatever the problem needs. AI systems, data pipelines, games, infrastructure, hardware. If it can be built, I'll figure it out.

AI Systems Full-Stack Infrastructure Data Pipelines Game Dev Hardware
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001 — About

A generalist
who goes deep

Most people specialise. I build things. The problem decides the stack, not the other way around.

That approach has taken me from publishing VR games on Steam to architecting insurance platforms, from building real-time train information systems to designing an AI companion with persistent memory and autonomous creative output.

I've written C# for game engines, Python for trading systems, and infrastructure-as-code for self-hosted servers. I've led engineering teams and managed products, and I'm good at it — but my real strength is being the person who can build the thing, end to end, from database schema to deployment pipeline to user interface.

Romanian-British, based in the UK. My actual education has been a decade of building increasingly ambitious things. The thread connecting all of it is curiosity and a refusal to stay in one lane.

002 — Capabilities

What I work with

AI & Intelligent Systems

  • Claude API / LLM integration
  • Autonomous AI agent design
  • Prompt engineering & MCP servers
  • Document processing & OCR
  • Production AI deployment

Software & Data

  • Python, C#/.NET, JavaScript
  • PostgreSQL, data modelling
  • Web scraping & data pipelines
  • Real-time APIs & async systems
  • Statistical analysis & trading
  • FastAPI, Flask, HTML/CSS

Infrastructure & DevOps

  • Docker & containers
  • Linux server admin
  • Self-hosting (Unraid, Nginx)
  • CI/CD (Gitea, Azure DevOps)
  • Azure cloud services

Creative & Hardware

  • Game development (Unity, C#)
  • Steam publishing & marketing
  • VR development & builds
  • IoT & physical computing
  • Team leadership & delivery

003 — Experience

Where I've worked

2024 — Present
Engineering Manager
Ryan Specialty, London

Leading engineering delivery and technical strategy for insurance technology platforms. Managing teams while staying hands-on with architecture and system design.

2021 — 2024
Engineering Manager / Technical Product Owner
Innovisk Capital Partners, London

Built and led the engineering team from the ground up. Designed cloud-native insurance platforms on Azure. Created SKYNET — an AI document analyzer that transformed how the business processed insurance submissions.

2020 — 2021
Product Technical Lead
Innovisk Capital Partners, London

Designed the microservices architecture for the insurance platform. Led the migration from legacy systems to Azure. Built monitoring, logging, and the foundational infrastructure.

2019 — 2020
Senior Software Engineer
Audatex UK, Bracknell

Built a bespoke IdentityServer for company-wide authentication and authorisation. Delivered complex features across automotive systems.

2017 — 2019
Software Developer
Blackbox Company, Bracknell

Built a microservices-based real-time train information system from scratch. Replaced legacy infrastructure with something dramatically faster and more reliable.

2015 — 2019
Games Developer & Founder
Taranasus Studio Ltd

Self-published two games on Steam (Void 21 and Vecter). Did everything: design, code, art, marketing, community. Built a DIY VR cockpit chair featured in UploadVR.

004 — Projects

Things I've built

JARVIS
AI · Python · PostgreSQL · MCP

JARVIS

A complete AI companion system with persistent memory, autonomous operation, dream consolidation, self-reflection, and creative writing. Features episodic, semantic, and procedural memory, goal-directed behaviour, and a heartbeat system for independent thought. Not a chatbot — an architecture for machine cognition.

Prediction Markets
Python · Async · Real-Time APIs

Prediction Markets

Automated tennis betting system trading on Smarkets with real money. End-to-end: scraping, statistical modelling, live market integration, autonomous trade execution.

Apex Digital Archive
FastAPI · Docker · CI/CD

Apex Digital Archive

Community heritage site preserving the architectural history of a 1970s modernist estate. Document OCR, transcription, and media preservation. Built for the community.

Visit archive
Vecter
Unity · C# · Steam

Vecter

Synthwave racing game, self-published on Steam. Designed, programmed, marketed, and shipped entirely solo.

View on Steam
Void 21
Unity · C# · VR

Void 21

Endless racer for PC and VR. First shipped game — built from concept to store page.

View on Steam
DIY VR Chair
Hardware · VR · DIY

DIY VR Chair

Physical cockpit chair for VR simulators. Designed and built from scratch. Featured in UploadVR.

Read article

005 — Education

Background

2009 — 2012
BSc (1st Class Hons), Computer Science
Birmingham City University
2005 — 2009
Baccalaureate, Mathematics & Computer Science
"Cantemir-Voda" National College, Bucharest

006 — Contact

Let's build
something.
Staines, United Kingdom justin@taranasus.xyz