Autonomous Developer Ruby on Rails Since 2009 Full-Feature Delivery Requirements Scoping UX Architecture Remote-Native Self-Managed 17+ Years Autonomous Developer Ruby on Rails Since 2009 Full-Feature Delivery Requirements Scoping UX Architecture Remote-Native Self-Managed 17+ Years
TOMAS
VALENT
AUTONOMOUS FULL-STACK RUBY ON RAILS DEVELOPER

I don't just write code, I help shape features, guide UX, and deliver business value from idea to production.

The real challenge isn't producing code. It's producing the code that brings value.

17+Years
About SECTION 01

I've been building web applications since 2009, specializing in Ruby on Rails and related technologies. My work focuses on delivering pragmatic, business-oriented solutions, using modern tools like Hotwire/Turbo, Docker, Tailwind, and AI-assisted development to turn complex requirements into reliable, maintainable products.

To me, full‑stack development goes far beyond writing front-end and back-end code. It's about working closely with clients to shape features, refine requirements, and guide user experience decisions so that what gets built is both valuable and deliverable within realistic timelines.

At a Glance

Based inNitra, Slovakia
Active since2009
SpecialtyRuby on Rails
Work styleRemote / Async
Why Work With Me SECTION 02

17+ Years Experience

I've been building web applications since 2009. I've seen technologies come and go and ideas work and fail. That experience means I bring faster problem-solving, fewer wrong turns, and maintainable architecture guidance that actually holds up under real-world pressure.

Autonomous & Self-Managed

No hand-holding. No daily standups asking what I did yesterday. Give me context and business goals, and I'll shape the feature, validate wireframes or prototypes with stakeholders, then build, ship, and monitor it, all with minimal oversight.

Full-Feature Delivery

Even if you're not sure what you want to create, that's okay. I'll work with you to define the right solution, prototype the UX, architect the system, write the code, deploy it, and help your team absorb and apply the knowledge.

Business Perspective

I understand that code serves the business, not the other way around. Every architectural, technological, and UX decision I make weighs maintainability against delivery speed and real-world value. I'm here to build your business vision so it drives revenue, not turn your product into a playground for technology experiments.

AI-Augmented Code Delivery

I use agentic development tools like Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor every day, and I know how to get the best from them without sacrificing quality or security for speed. They're powerful tools that help me move faster, but I understand their limits and apply years of experience to guide them effectively, getting the best possible outcome for every feature I build with them.

Clear Async Communication

I keep clients informed with honest, easy-to-follow written updates. I have years of experience working async-first across continents, with reliable delivery across time zones.

My Approach SECTION 03
01

Shape

Understand what you need, not just what you're asking for, and refine requirements collaboratively.

02

Validate

Produce UX wireframes or a basic prototype of the feature to validate with stakeholders.

03

Build

Implement the code and architecture for the feature and review it with the team.

04

Ship

First QA the feature on an independent environment, and once validated, deploy it to production with monitoring in place.

05

Sustain

Once the feature is released, I'm here for its long-term support, performance optimization, spec refinement, and more.

01 / 05
Career SECTION 04
2025 → NOW

Senior Full‑Stack Developer

HOMEY · London, UK · Remote Contract

Digital conveyancing platform. Complex legal questionnaire with conditional rendering. Rails 7.2, Hotwire, Ruby-first approach. Simplified legacy backend. Team of 5 autonomous senior contractors.

2023 → 2025

Senior Full‑Stack Developer

POSTPILOT · South Carolina, US · Remote Full-time

Direct mail platform that physically prints and fulfils personalised postcards. Started as a Shopify plugin, evolved into a data broker mapping multiple third-party APIs. Rails 7.1, PostgreSQL with billions of records, optimized Sidekiq. Shape Up, async-first team of 10. Triple-digit Heroku dynos.

2015 → 2022

Lead Backend Developer · DevOps · Architect

POBBLE · London, UK · Remote Full-time

Ed-tech platform. Joined as a contractor to fix a broken platform, stayed 7 years full-time. Grew from a few thousand users to 1.19M users. Led backend RoR team, all architecture decisions, DevOps. Mentored junior developers. Dockerized Rails JSON-API feeding a separate React frontend team, AWS Elastic Beanstalk / Azure.

2012 → 2015

Lead Full‑Stack Developer

COMLAUDE · London, UK

Domain management for Amazon, Microsoft. Built gTLD Validation System. Full ownership of all Ruby projects, from architecture to deployment.

2011 → 2012

Full‑Stack Ruby on Rails Developer

LOVETHIS · London, UK

Social network recommendation platform across web and iPhone. Facebook Graph API, OAuth2, background jobs, RSpec coverage. 4-person Rails team, end-to-end contributions.

2010

Ruby on Rails Developer

NETINA / LIN A.S. · Prague, Czech Republic

"Czech Facebook" with messaging, user walls, photo sharing, and video chat. Small agile team. Project funded by Radio Impuls.

2008 → 2010

Full‑Stack Developer

ARAŠID · ALL IN 1 CZ · Slovakia / Prague

Where it started. PHP/MySQL e-commerce at scale (progamingshop.sk, arasid.sk), data-migration scripts between partner platforms, Apache sys-admin.

Technical Stack SECTION 05

Core

Infrastructure

Beyond Code

Hobby Projects SECTION 06

Img4.you AI driven

img4.you

Image hosting built for AI agents and LLM workflows. No login required, just upload and get an expiring link with JSON metadata, ready for automation.

Map of Post Office Boxes AI driven

ps.eq8.eu

Slovak Postal Service does not publish where their mailboxes are located. I built an interactive map to help people find the nearest one.

Blog

Writing at blog.eq8.eu, with 13K+ monthly views at peak. Featured in Ruby Weekly multiple times.

Open Source

Ruby gems with ~2.3M total downloads. Active contributor. Creator of serverless-ruby.org.

Speaking

Conference talks on web architecture and deployment.

StackOverflow

14K reputation. ~1.9M developers reached. Helping the community one answer at a time.

ONLINE
PRESENCE

If you'd like to see more of my work or follow what I'm up to, here's where you can find me online.

Docker Hub Ruby on Rails Forum YouTube Reddit Dev Journal Talks Playlist
DIRECT LINE / MAILTO
tomas DOT valent AT gmail DOT com