Profile

Hello ! I'm Vikram Rao

Full-Stack Engineer | Building AI-Native Products

More than a résumé

This portfolio is AI-operable: ask a question about how I engineer, read the engineering journal behind the answer, then keep asking.

Open to opportunities

Rostock, Germany

0

Years of Experience

Ask My Engineering Brain

How this works

This is not a generic chatbot. It answers using a documented engineering corpus: project work, technical decisions, and working-style evidence.

Question

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Concept extraction

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Structured + semantic retrieval

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Evidence merge

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Answer with confidence

1. Question understanding

The system identifies concepts such as architecture, maintainability, AI tooling, collaboration, or specific technologies.

2. Evidence retrieval

It retrieves relevant project evidence and engineering decisions using deterministic matching and semantic search.

3. Evidence merge

Structured matches are prioritised for exact questions, while semantic retrieval helps with broader questions.

4. Answer generation

The final answer is generated from retrieved evidence and includes a confidence level.

5. Transparency

If evidence is limited, the answer says so instead of overclaiming.

Engineering Approach

I'm Vikram — a Senior Frontend Engineer with full-stack experience and over eight years building production-grade React applications, design systems, and complete product features. My focus is component architecture, WCAG-compliant accessibility, and performance-aware UI engineering — from initial concept through to deployment and long-term maintainability.

My core stack is React, TypeScript, and Next.js. I place strong emphasis on reusable component systems, deliberate frontend architecture, and rendering performance. I can also own complete features across the full stack — from React UI through Node.js/Express APIs to PostgreSQL, Docker deployments, and authentication flows — when the product requires it.

A consistent thread in my work is integrating AI tooling into the engineering workflow — not as experimentation, but as a structured practice: agent-readable component metadata, MCP-based tool interfaces, and defined development conventions that make AI-assisted workflows consistent and maintainable.

I approach problems pragmatically and often find unconventional paths forward, particularly when requirements are ambiguous. I carry ideas through to execution rather than waiting for perfect clarity.

Outside of work, you'll find me behind a camera, on my bike, on a dance floor, or exploring somewhere new in the world.

Black and white landscape of a frozen alpine lake surrounded by snow-covered mountains and evergreen forests under overcast skies.

📸 From Passion to Product

Photography Intelligence

Photography started as a personal hobby — a way to slow down and pay attention. It became the second proof of an idea I first built for this portfolio's Ask feature: that AI systems should retrieve real evidence and explain their reasoning, not guess. The same grounded, explainable approach now powers a system that lets you search my photo library in plain language — evidence this methodology generalizes beyond one dataset, not a one-off feature.

Experience

Frontend Developer

Frontend Developer

publicplan GmbH

Full Time - Remote

Düsseldorf, Germany

11/2023 – 04/2026

2 years 5 months

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Tech Stack

InfoTypeScriptInfoReactInfoNext.jsInfoViteInfoStorybookInfoMaterial UIInfoJestInfoDockerInfoGitHub CopilotInfoOpenAIInfoCypressInfoGitLabInfoGitHubInfonpmInfoExpress JS
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Key Responsibilities

  • Architected and delivered a citizen-facing Next.js care-services portal end to end (App Router, SSG for static pages, SWR for client-side data fetching) — setting up CI/CD, Docker containerisation, and test infrastructure, building the UI on kern-components, and shipping responsive, accessible layouts across mobile, tablet, and desktop.
  • Designed and shipped kern-components, a production React component library of 20+ WCAG 2.1 AA-compliant components — TypeScript interfaces with native HTML prop support and form library compatibility, full keyboard navigation, semantically correct ARIA roles, and focus-management-aware interaction patterns. Deployed as the shared UI foundation across the care-services portal and employee competency platform, with Storybook as the primary documentation environment.
  • Extended kern-components with a structured agent integration layer — defining component-scoped metadata and usage conventions that enable LLM-based tools to discover and correctly use components. Implemented via Storybook metadata definitions and MCP-compatible tool interfaces.
  • Owned full-stack development of an internal employee competency platform (Next.js, tRPC, Zod) — end-to-end type-safe APIs, React frontend on kern-components, PostgreSQL, and Docker. Delivered role-based access control, admin CRUD panels, PDF generation, DE/EN localisation, and architecture conventions that enforced codebase consistency.
  • Implemented a secure mailbox platform for a government client — integrating BundID authentication across backend and frontend for GDPR-compliant transmission of confidential messages. Owned the backend authentication flow, session security, REST API integration, and accessible form design.
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Work Samples

Frontend Developer

Frontend Developer

VestiFi GmbH

Full Time - Hybrid

Rostock, Germany

07/2021 – 09/2023

2 years 2 months

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Tech Stack

InfoNext.jsInfoJavaScriptInfoReactInfoMaterial UIInfoReduxInfoJestInfoGitHubInfonpm
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Key Responsibilities

  • Engineered a high-performance network packet visualisation as the sole frontend developer — processing 100,000+ packets per session via Web Workers, chunking data for progressive rendering, and building zoom-optimised D3.js graphs that maintain smooth interactivity under full data load.
  • Built stateful control interfaces for proprietary network-monitoring hardware in real time — React and Redux-based state management used by ISP clients across live network infrastructure. Migrated the Next.js application from static rendering to an app-server architecture to support i18n (EN/DE) and SWR-based data fetching; deployed on Vercel.
  • Led a full framework upgrade — running structured codemods to migrate deprecated APIs and modernising the frontend architecture for long-term maintainability and security.
  • Built out frontend test coverage with Jest, React Testing Library, and MSW — introducing behaviour-driven unit and integration tests for stateful control workflows and API interactions.
Frontend Engineer

Frontend Engineer

DevTech Systems

Full Time - Remote

Washington DC, USA

03/2020 – 07/2021

1 year 4 months

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Tech Stack

InfoReactInfoReduxInfoJavaScriptInfoAWSInfoDockerInfoGitHubInfonpmInfoGraphQL
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Key Responsibilities

  • Redesigned the UI/UX of Monitor, a React dashboard on a Ruby on Rails API used by M&E field officers on an international development program — restructuring the component hierarchy and information architecture for non-technical users.
  • Owned the data-entry workflow redesign end to end: reporting-period creation, data certification, and reporting-location management — simplifying multi-step flows and reducing input error through clearer form logic and validation, working directly with client stakeholders.
  • Improved test stability by introducing Capybara end-to-end tests for critical tracking and data entry workflows — systematically reducing UI regressions during active feature development.
Full Stack Engineer

Full Stack Engineer

Varathon

Full Time - Hybrid

San Francisco, USA

07/2018 – 10/2019

1 year 3 months

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Tech Stack

InfoReactInfoReduxInfoJavaScriptInfoAWSInfoFirebaseInfoSwiftInfoAndroidInfoPythonInfoC++InfoMySQLInfoGitLab
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Key Responsibilities

  • Built a cross-platform mobile app (iOS and Android) with React Native as co-founder — owning the UI design and contributing across the full stack: React Native frontend, Firebase backend, and local SQLite data layer.
  • Built a real-time image recognition pipeline with OpenCV — automatically detecting and cataloguing physical trading cards via device camera, replacing a manual inventory process.
  • Architected an offline-first data sync system — building Firebase-to-SQLite transformation pipelines for on-device storage and abstracting local data access behind a consistent interface.
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Work Samples

Skills

Frontend Development

Most used

InfoReact.jsInfoNext.jsInfoTypeScriptInfoComponent-based ArchitectureInfoDesign SystemsInfoAccessibility (WCAG 2.1)InfoPerformance EngineeringInfoStorybookInfoResponsive DesignInfoTesting Strategies

Also work with

InfoJavaScriptInfoHTML5InfoCSS3InfoReact HooksInfoReact Hook FormInfoMaterial UIInfoReact Testing LibraryInfoJestInfoPlaywrightInfoCypressInfoReduxInfoTanStack QueryInfoSWRInfoD3.jsInfoViteInfoFigmaInfoReact Native

Backend & Full-Stack

Most used

InfoNode.jsInfoExpressInfoREST APIsInfoPostgreSQLInfoDockerInfotRPCInfoSchema ValidationInfoStructured Output ValidationInfoJWT AuthenticationInfoOAuth2

Also work with

InfoFirebaseInfoSQLiteInfoPythonInfoBunInfoSQLInfoGraphQLInfoWebSocketsInfoRuby on RailsInfoRate LimitingInfoBundID Authentication (Government ID)InfoGDPR Compliance

Architecture & Design

Most used

InfoFrontend ArchitectureInfoAI System ArchitectureInfoKnowledge ArchitectureInfoContext EngineeringInfoComponent-based ArchitectureInfoDesign SystemsInfoContract-First DesignInfoPerformance EngineeringInfoSecurity-by-DesignInfoDocumentation Architecture

Also work with

InfoReusable UI SystemsInfoTesting StrategiesInfoTrust Boundary DesignInfoPrompt SecurityInfoAI Pipeline DesignInfoAccessibility (WCAG 2.1)Infoi18n / LocalisationInfoResponsive Design

Tools, DevOps & Workflow

Most used

InfoGitInfoGitHubInfoGitLabInfoDockerInfoCI/CDInfoAgileInfoVercelInfoRepository Automation

Also work with

InfoHuskyInfoBiomeInfoGit HooksInfoJiraInfoConfluenceInfoScrumInfoKanban

AI Engineering

Most used

InfoAI System ArchitectureInfoDeterministic AI SystemsInfoContext EngineeringInfoKnowledge Layer DesignInfoAI Workflow OrchestrationInfoMCP (Model Context Protocol)InfoModel Context Protocol (MCP) Server DevelopmentInfoAI GuardrailsInfoAI Reliability EngineeringInfoPrompt Security

Also work with

InfoClaude CodeInfoGitHub CopilotInfoAnthropic Claude APIInfoOpenAI APIsInfoStructured Prompt DesignInfoPrompt EngineeringInfoPrompt Injection PreventionInfoHuman-in-the-Loop AIInfoAI Documentation SystemsInfoContext Window Optimization

Education

M.Sc.

M.Sc.

Computer Engineering

University of Central Florida

Orlando, FL, USA

08/2016 – 05/2018

B.Sc.

B.Sc.

Electronics & Communication Engineering

PSG College of Technology

Coimbatore, TN, India

07/2012 – 06/2016