Hi, I'm Neel
Nice to meet you!
about me
Nice to meet you!
I'm a freelance software engineer and UI/UX designer with over 12 years of professional experience. I have a full-stack skillset: I've built big-data infrastructure, architected microservices, modernized legacy application stacks, and shipped mobile apps. I've even led teams, owned product strategy, and crafted design systems.
My hobbies include rock climbing, playing chess, and making music! I love learning and I'm always trying to find a new topic to dive into.
These days I run a solo practice for nonprofits and product teams that want senior-level engineering without an agency in the middle. My goal is to help you ship faster and with more value for your budget.
Three things make hiring me different from hiring an agency.
When you hire an agency, the senior engineer scopes the work and the junior engineers write it. Here you work with the same person doing both (that's me!). That means fewer handoffs, less rework, and code that reflects the same care from architecture down to the last test.
I lean hard on modern AI tooling: Claude Code and ChatGPT help me refine requirements and plan, write robust test suites, implement and iterate on features, review code, generate documentation, debug and optimize! These speedups compound over time, allowing me to exponentially increase the value I deliver without cutting corners. By judging what can be delegated and what needs a human touch, I build momentum consistently throughout the project lifecycle.
Most agencies burden clients with code that requires an ongoing engagement with the agency to maintain it. I write code that your team can truly inherit. Framework conventions, reusable patterns, robust tests, proper documentation, and a dedicated handoff at the end of the engagement.
Recreational for real! I build things for fun too.
When I'm not on a client engagement, I make small things: side projects, game jams, illustration, generative art, and little tools that solve a single annoying problem. I put some up on my portfolio, some live on GitHub, and some never see the light of day!
This practice is how I improve my trade skills. It keeps me hands-on with the tools and provides low-stakes environments to try new approaches. When faced with a rare problem, I've usually seen something like it on a weekend project already.