Hey, I'm Carl đź‘‹

I'm a Microsoft-certified software engineer and architect. Raised in Oxford. Living in Portugal. Building Sentido - Software Made Simple.

Over the past decade I've designed cloud infrastructure on Azure, built .NET and SQL Server systems, automated DevOps pipelines, wired together APIs and data flows, and more recently integrated AI into systems that were already running in production. I go deep on the hard parts - security, architecture, delivery - and come back with something the team can actually maintain.

What you'll get from me:

  • Clear guides - field-tested patterns for architecture, integration, automation, and AI that work under real conditions.
  • Opinionated choices - the "why this, not that" decisions bigger organisations rely on, explained plainly.
  • Delivery that handovers - documentation and training so your team owns the outcome, not just a black box.

If you've got messy systems to untangle, software to ship, or AI to integrate responsibly - come along. I'll make the path obvious.

Carl speaking / working

What I'm doing now

  • - Building secure Azure infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps tooling for teams that need reliable delivery at scale.
  • - Integrating AI into .NET and SQL Server systems - agentic workflows, knowledge assistants, and NL2SQL - shipped to production with security and cost discipline built in.
  • - Helping smaller businesses get websites, booking systems, and automations set up clearly - with documentation so they can run with it afterwards.
Work with me

Principles I work by

  • Clarity beats cleverness. Tools should make sense to the people who use them.
  • Docs are part of delivery. If you can't hand it over, it isn't done.
  • Simple first, robust always. Preference on proven tech for business‑critical flows.

My Journey

2024-Present

Sentido & Field‑Tested Playbooks

Building Sentido and consulting on an industrial monitoring platform: splitting legacy apps, containerising services, and shipping CI/CD that teams can trust. Also helping owners launch SEO‑friendly sites and Shopify stores with clean handovers.

"Carl was fantastic in helping me set up my Shopify store… thanks to his clear guidance and expertise, my website runs smoothly to this day."

"Carl is an excellent, all‑round professional… no time wasted and solution found, or problem solved. I'd have no hesitation recommending him-grab him if you get the opportunity!"

2022-Present

Transport Tech: Security & Platform Hardening

Implemented dynamic mTLS with Azure App Gateway and HAProxy, governed DUKPT key loading for remote Android devices, and drove vulnerability remediation across legacy services.

Managed Services
2019-2022

Managed Services: Portals, Automation & Data

Owned full‑stack delivery of MVC sites and client portals, built alerting/triage services, and delivered ETL pipelines with Azure‑first architectures and IaC.

"No matter how many issues we sent his way, he would always take on the challenge and build a great solution… and left behind some of the best documentation I've ever read."

"Collaborative, clear communicator, and meticulous attention to detail. Carl consistently goes above and beyond."

"It was a pleasure working with Carl. He is always calm, focused and goal‑oriented… a dynamic professional with strong knowledge of his work."

2018-2019

Enterprise E‑commerce: Data & Reporting

Delivered SSIS/SSRS reporting suites, API integrations, and ERP process automation. Resolved production job failures and produced ad‑hoc analytics for stakeholders.

Managed Services
Earlier

Freelance, Creative Projects & Foundations

Hands‑on work across creative and small‑business projects, translating tech into outcomes people care about.

"Multi‑faceted creative thinking… delivered on time and within budget… Carl's attention to detail makes him a trusted collaborator."

Claire avatar
Claire Robertson

"Dedicated and efficient developer… swift comprehensive solutions, strong documentation, always open to feedback."

"I really enjoyed working with Carl. He brings that rare combination of strong soft skills and technical ability."

Antony avatar
Antony Jackson
Software Engineering Manager & Technical Architect

A little more about me

Turning messy business goals into simple, reliable systems: websites that convert, AI workflows that remove repetitive admin, and data stacks that don't wake you up at night.

.NET 8, C#, SQL Server (including the SQL Server 2025 AI layer), Azure, Terraform, and the Microsoft AI stack - Semantic Kernel, Microsoft.Extensions.AI, and Azure AI Foundry. For agentic work: MCP, Claude Code, and the Microsoft Agent Framework. Plus a pragmatic grab-bag for automation, analytics, and delivery.

Enterprise teams and scale-ups who need AI integrated into existing .NET, SQL Server, and Azure systems - securely and past the demo into production. Also small businesses and growing teams that need clear, practical software delivery without unnecessary complexity.

Want the full story?

If you'd like a detailed CV, case studies, or references, I'm happy to share on request.

Get in touch

Let's build something that makes sense

Tell me what you're trying to launch or fix. I'll suggest a simple path forward.

Start a conversation