I'm Joaquim Costa. I build scalable backend systems from Rhode Island.

I believe great backend systems should be invisible — reliable enough that no one thinks about them and fast enough that no one complains. That belief has driven 13+ years of designing and building secure, cloud-native systems in Java, Kotlin, and Spring Boot, with a focus on microservices architecture, API design, and DevOps automation.

I played a leading role at General Electricwhere I steadily advanced to Staff Software Engineer, earning multiple promotions based on impact. As the backend lead for the company's internal "Workflows" platform — one of the most widely used systems across the organization — I collaborated on modernizing the application from a monolith to microservices, designing and delivering robust backend solutions that supported high availability and scalability. My work included leading technical design, optimizing performance, and implementing infrastructure improvements such as Docker-based local development environments and CI/CD pipelines.

At Kroger, I standardized backend architecture, implemented RBAC security using OAuth2, and optimized CI/CD workflows with GitHub Actions. I led code review practices and championed OpenAPI adoption to align service development with platform-wide standards.

My time at Capgemini gave me exposure to client-facing enterprise projects where I achieved a 40% improvement in API response times through strategic refactoring and caching. Earlier in my career at General Dynamics Mission Systems, I worked on key management and public key infrastructure products securing millions of devices.

Over the past several years, I've worked extensively in Azure (including AKS) and have also been diving into Generative AI, LLMs, and agentic systems — especially where they intersect with backend development, developer tooling, and automation workflows.

Outside of engineering, I enjoy traveling, automating my home, playing soccer (futebol), and dancing. I'm based in Rhode Island.