AI-NATIVE FOUNDING ENGINEER & HEAD OF TECH AND PRODUCT
I build your first version. Or I make your team ship.
Founders hire me when they have a product to build and need someone to own it end to end. If you're stuck, that's what I fix.
No pitch, no lock-in. Just an honest conversation.
0→1 buildsPayments & ledgersIdentity & KYCReal-time systemsAI productsAI enablementCore data modelsGeospatialB2B platformsDelivery systemsEmerging marketsRegulated fintech
the usual suspects
If you're stuck, this is usually why
I get called in when the build has stalled. It usually traces back to one of these.
01
You're the bottleneck.
Nothing ships unless you're in the room. Every decision routes through you, so the roadmap moves at the speed of your calendar.
02
The team is busy, but nothing ships.
Standups look healthy and tickets move. Months pass and there's still no product a customer can actually use.
03
No one owns the hard core.
Payments, identity, the data model: the parts that are expensive to get wrong have no owner who has built them before.
04
You launched, then it stalled.
v1 is live but fragile. Hardening it and turning it into a real platform is a different job than getting it out the door.
how to hire me
Two ways I plug in
01 / build it
Founding Engineer
You have a product to build and no one to own it. I build the first version myself. Not a throwaway prototype, the actual core, iterated on real customer feedback until it works. The core logic, the integrations, the data model: I write the code and I own the outcome.
For: pre-product or pre-PMF founders who need v1 built right
Book a call02 / own it
Head of Tech and Product
You have a team that isn't shipping. I run product and engineering: set priorities, fix the delivery system, make the hard technical calls, and hire as you scale. I stay in the codebase, not just the calendar.
For: post-launch teams that have stalled or are scaling
Book a callwhat I build
I build the parts that are expensive to get wrong
The core that can't fail
The regulated, real-money parts
AI that ships, and AI that pays off
And whatever you put in front of me
selected work
What I've built
pawaBank
Cross-border payments, UK to Ghana
Founding engineer, then product lead, on the whole stack.
Founding engineer, then Head of Product | 2020 to 2022
Core transaction flows and ledger
Onboarding and KYC/AML pipeline
Built on Railsbank BaaS
Savings and early investment
DigMo Wallet
Mobile wallet licensed by the Bank of Zambia
Prize-linked savings on mobile money. I built the core ledger and draw engine in-house.
CPTO | 2023 to 2025
Prize-linked savings on mobile money
Core ledger and transaction monitoring
Mobile money across Airtel, MTN, Zamtel
Event-driven draw and payout engine
pawaPass
Identity verification across 16 African markets
One verification stack, used by fintech, betting, and wallet partners.
Head of Product and Technology | 2022 to 2026
Multi-market KYC policy engine
Document OCR and 3D liveness
Partner APIs and admin consoles
Led 20+ engineers and specialists
recent ai builds
PhotoRestore
Five-model photo-restoration pipeline with a Gemini Vision QA gate that rejects failures before delivery.
Cairn
Multi-pass LLM evaluation with an adversarial re-test that argues each verdict up and down to contain hallucination.
MedAtlas
Registry-derived location and entity graph with automated geocoding and continuous change detection.
a reference
The CEO I built three companies with, in her own words
We started in fintech and KYC with no background in either, and ended up running payments and onboarding infrastructure across multiple African markets. That learning curve was his more than anyone's.
He's the rare leader who makes a CEO's job easier. He absorbs ambiguity, structures the chaos, and makes the hard calls that have been sitting on the founder's desk.
I'd hire him again, immediately, for any 0→1 build where the founding team needs a partner who can hold the technical, product, and operational threads at once. If you're considering him, you're considering the strongest version of this role I've worked with.
Founder & CEO, Pawaful Ltd. We worked together across several ventures.
Read the full reference letter (PDF)how I work
From first call to a product that ships
01Discovery call
30 minutes. You tell me where it's stuck. I tell you straight whether I can help and how.
02Diagnosis and proposal
I look at the code, the team, and the roadmap, then come back with what's actually wrong and a plan to fix it.
03Hands-on build
I write code and make decisions, not slide decks. Founding engineer or Head of Tech and Product, depending on what you need.
04Outcomes you own
A working product, a team that ships without me in every meeting, and the documentation to keep it that way.
what's included
Weekly shipping cadenceClear ownership of every decisionCode and docs you keepHonest feedback, alwaysNo lock-in, leave anytime
engagements
Ways to work together
However we start, I'm in the work, building and fixing alongside your team, not advising from the sidelines.
weeks, not quarters
First-version build
Fixed scope. I build the first version myself and hand you something real, not a deck.
ongoing
Fractional Head of Tech and Product
I run product and engineering and stay in the codebase, making the calls and shipping with the team.
weeks
AI enablement
Your team uses AI but velocity stalled and the bill is climbing. I set up the workflow, tooling, and guardrails so it speeds you up for real.
days to weeks
Drop-in rescue
Something is stuck or on fire. I jump in, find what's actually wrong, and fix it with you, in the code.
is this you?
Who this is for
This is for you if:
- You have a product to build and no one to own the hard parts.
- Your team is busy but nothing ships.
- You're in regulated or real-money territory: payments, identity, fintech.
- You want someone who writes code, not just strategy.
This is not for you if:
- You want a deck and a roadmap to hand to someone else to build.
- You need a 20-person agency tomorrow.
- You want a yes-man. I'll tell you when an idea is wrong.
- You're shopping for the cheapest contractor by the hour.
who I am
Twelve years building. The last six in the hardest markets there are.
I'm Michal. Twelve years building software, the last six taking products from nothing to live across African markets, as founding engineer, then Head of Product and Technology, then CPTO. I write the code, and I run the teams that ship it.
I came into fintech and identity with no background in either and ended up owning payments and onboarding across multiple markets. That is the real skill: I learn a domain fast and build the part that has to work. Whatever you're making, that is what you're hiring.
I'm still in the code every day, and I stay current on purpose. A stack I haven't used or a market I've never seen has never scared me off, and it never will. Based in Wroclaw, Poland, working with founders anywhere.
See my full background on LinkedInquestions
Questions I get asked
All three, depending on the work. Most engagements start fractional or fixed scope. If it turns into a full-time fit, we can talk.
Wroclaw, Poland, on CET. I work with founders across Europe, the UK, Africa, and US hours when it matters.
Usually within a week or two. A discovery call is the fastest way to find out.
Two things. I build AI products: LLM pipelines, evaluation systems, vision QA gates. And I use AI across my own workflow to ship more, faster, with fewer people. You get both.
Fintech and identity are where I've gone deepest, but the hard parts rhyme: real money, real users, systems that can't quietly fail. I've also built geospatial and AI products.
It depends on scope and mode. The discovery call is free, and you'll get a straight number before you commit to anything.