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I'm Ricardo Cruz, an AI-driven full-stack developer currently building an AI Research Assistant platform using retrieval-augmented generation, vectorized embeddings for contextual search, and foundation-model API integrations with tool access. Previously I founded and led a freelance hiring platform in Angola, drove architecture decisions for a full-stack web app (MERN stack, hosted on Vercel), and worked as a software engineer in the automotive industry, developing microservices, streaming data pipelines, and CI/CD automation.…I'm Ricardo Cruz, an AI-driven full-stack developer currently building an AI Research Assistant platform using retrieval-augmented generation, vectorized embeddings for contextual search, and foundation-model API integrations with tool access. Previously I founded and led a freelance hiring platform in Angola, drove architecture decisions for a full-stack web app (MERN stack, hosted on Vercel), and worked as a software engineer in the automotive industry, developing microservices, streaming data pipelines, and CI/CD automation.

Ricardo Cruz

AI Engineer, Full Stack Developer, Web Developer, +2

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I'm Ricardo Cruz, an AI-driven full-stack developer currently building an AI Research Assistant platform using retrieval-augmented generation, vectorized embeddings for contextual search, and foundation-model API integrations with tool access. Previously I founded and led a freelance hiring platform in Angola, drove architecture decisions for a full-stack web app (MERN stack, hosted on Vercel), and worked as a software engineer in the automotive industry, developing microservices, streaming data pipelines, and CI/CD automation.…I'm Ricardo Cruz, an AI-driven full-stack developer currently building an AI Research Assistant platform using retrieval-augmented generation, vectorized embeddings for contextual search, and foundation-model API integrations with tool access. Previously I founded and led a freelance hiring platform in Angola, drove architecture decisions for a full-stack web app (MERN stack, hosted on Vercel), and worked as a software engineer in the automotive industry, developing microservices, streaming data pipelines, and CI/CD automation.

Available to hire

I’m Ricardo Cruz, an AI-driven full-stack developer currently building an AI Research Assistant platform using retrieval-augmented generation, vectorized embeddings for contextual search, and foundation-model API integrations with tool access.

Previously I founded and led a freelance hiring platform in Angola, drove architecture decisions for a full-stack web app (MERN stack, hosted on Vercel), and worked as a software engineer in the automotive industry, developing microservices, streaming data pipelines, and CI/CD automation.

Skills

Experience Level

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Intermediate

Intermediate

Intermediate

Intermediate

Intermediate

Intermediate

Intermediate

Language

English

Fluent

Work Experience

AI Research Assistant at Personal/Indie Project

January 1, 2025 - Present

Architected and developed an AI-based research assistant platform enabling document ingestion, semantic vector search, context-aware Q&A, and content generation using Next.js, TypeScript, OpenAI API, and Pinecone. Implemented a conversational UI with real-time context awareness and access to web-search tools for answering queries.

AI Research Assistant (Personal/indie project) at Self-employed / Personal Project

January 1, 2025 - Present

Architected and developed an AI-based research assistant platform enabling document ingestion management, semantic vector search, context-aware Q&A, and content generation (blog posts) using Next.js, TypeScript, OpenAI API, and Pinecone.

AI Research Assistant at Independent / Personal Project

January 1, 2025 - Present

Architected and developed an AI-based research assistant platform enabling document ingestion, semantic vector search, contextual-aware Q&A, and content generation in blog posts using Next.js, TypeScript, OpenAI API, and Pinecone. Integrated a conversational UI for end-user dialogue with real-time contextual awareness and access to web search tools for answering queries not present in ingested documents.

Freelance AI Travel Planner - MVP Application at TripPy (Freelance project)

December 31, 2024 - September 22, 2025

Leveraged OpenAI API to create travel itineraries based on location, duration, and activities; enabled chat with an LLM to generate itineraries, saved itineraries to a database, viewed them in a blog-style format, and allowed publishing for others to browse.

Project Lead - AI Travel Planner MVP at TripPy

December 1, 2024 - September 22, 2025

Led the development of an MVP travel planner that uses OpenAI’s API to create itineraries based on user location, duration, and activities. Enabled in-app chat with an LLM, itinerary saving to a database, blog-style viewing, and sharing capabilities.

AI Travel Planner MVP Developer at Trippy

December 1, 2024 - September 22, 2025

AI Travel Planner MVP application that leverages OpenAI's API to create simple travel itineraries based on a user's location, duration, and primary activities. It enables chat with a large language model to generate itineraries, stores itineraries in a database, renders them in a blog-style page, and supports sharing with other users.

Founder/CTO at Uenji

May 1, 2024 - September 22, 2025

Founded an Angola-based freelance hiring platform; steered full-stack web architecture decisions (MERN) hosted on Vercel; implemented user authentication (Auth.js), MongoDB data management, react-hook-form onboarding, real-time messaging (PushER), file hosting (AWS S3), and payments with Stripe.

CTO / Founder at Uenji

May 1, 2024 - September 22, 2025

Founded and led a freelance hiring platform startup in Angola; architected a full-stack web app using MERN variants and Next.js; implemented authentication (Auth.js), MongoDB data management, real-time messaging (Pusher), file hosting (AWS S3), and payment (Stripe).

CTO / Founder at Uenji

May 1, 2024 - September 22, 2025

Founded and led a freelance hiring platform startup based in Angola. Directed all technical architecture decisions for a full-stack MERN-based web application hosted on Vercel. Implemented authentication (Auth.js), MongoDB, multi-step onboarding (React Hook Form), real-time messaging (Pusher), file hosting (AWS S3), and payment processing (Stripe).

Software / DevOps Engineer at Critical Tech Works

June 1, 2021 - September 22, 2025

Developed and managed microservices for streaming and processing large data sets on AWS using Apache Kafka; built CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins; implemented monitoring/operations and architectural improvements based on stakeholder requirements.

Data Engineer at Critical Tech Works

June 1, 2021 - September 22, 2025

Debugging code by data scientists performing data cleaning on large datasets; produced production-ready pipelines using Spark Scala; ingested energy-related data from factories into a centralized Hadoop data lake via on-prem Oracle databases.

Software / DevOps Engineer at Critical Tech Works

June 1, 2021 - September 22, 2025

Developed and managed microservices used for streaming and processing large quantities of data, leveraging Apache Kafka on AWS. Built up CI/CD (Jenkins) for orchestrating builds, deployments, and automated regression tests; implemented monitoring and operational improvements; designed architectural enhancements based on stakeholder requirements.

Data Engineer at Critical Tech Works

January 1, 2019 - September 22, 2025

Debugged data cleaning code from data scientists, prepared production-ready data pipelines; ingested energy-related data from automotive factories using Talend Studio; migrated on-prem Oracle data to a centralized Hadoop Data Lake.

Software / DevOps Engineer at Critical Tech Works

January 1, 2019 - September 22, 2025

Developed and managed microservices for streaming and processing large data quantities using Apache Kafka on AWS; built CI/CD with Jenkins for orchestrating builds, deployments and automated regression tests; implemented monitoring and operations; designed architectural improvements.

Data Engineer at Critical Tech Works

January 1, 2019 - September 22, 2025

Debugged data cleaning code from data scientists handling large datasets, transforming and preparing data for production readiness. Ingested energy-related data from factories into a Hadoop-based data lake and worked with on-prem Oracle databases for data transfer.