Hello! I’m Marc García Martínez.
I've been working in the research & development of AI and NLP for 14+ years as a Software Engineer. I started as a programmer and became a manager over the years. I also launched my own startup some years ago.
ExperienceCitibeats is a Social Understanding startup that transforms people's opinions at scale into data you can use to solve problems faster.
I joined the company as CTO for two years, facing new and exciting challenges.
Read More about CitibeatsToptal is an elite network of freelancers that enables businesses to connect with the top 3% of software engineers and designers in the world.
I resigned from my previous job for a simple reason: I needed a challenge. Toptal offers the possibility to work with top-level companies, changing from one to another every few months, obtaining a unique experience.
Read MoreI started leading a new chapter focused on AI and Natural Language processing. The team expanded from 3 to 70 people, some of which I recruited myself.
In addition to software goals, we successfully implemented Git, Agile methodology, QA, TDD, CI, and other software development practices. That way we achieved milestones while keeping the quality of the code & product.
Read MoreBitrabajo was a freelance micro service start-up, very similar to Fiverr that I co-founded with a childhood friend of mine.
After launching the site, we reached the media (press, radio & television) and got over 1000 active users in less than 6 months.
Read MoreStarting as a Junior Front-End Developer, I learned and grew until becoming a Senior Software Engineer.
During these years, I contributed to design & develop the Natural Language processing engine the company still uses nowadays.
Read MoreWhile studying to obtain my driving license, I successfully designed & developed a web application from scratch to perform multiple choice tests (simulations of the real exam).
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Case Studies
Skills
EducationBesides tech knowledge, this degree expanded my way of thinking and finding simple solutions to complex problems.
Being able to think like an engineer, and not just a programmer, has been the key to the evolution of my professional career.
Read MoreI learned to code when I was 16. Since then, as I'm largely self-taught, I've expanded my coding knowledge focusing on languages, technologies & methodologies I needed at that time.
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Aerospike is a high-performance NoSQL database that we wanted to use as a replacement of DBM files. After exhaustive research, we found out that this technology was the most appropriate for our needs.
Back then, there wasn't so much knowledge over the Internet about Aerospike, that's why I decided to attend a workshop. Aerospike for Developers taught the developers the concepts and facilities available to them for use in their application. The course had code examples and exercises in C#, Java and Go.
The workshop gave me a deeper knowledge of the technology, which I later used to integrate the database into the core of Inbenta software.
During the last couple of years of high school, I got interested in Electronics in addition to Coding. As it was hard for me to decide which one I liked the most, I opted by Telecommunications, which is a career that includes both disciplines.
In the end, I figured out that I enjoy Programming the most. However, this career expanded my way of thinking and finding simple solutions to complex problems, which is the key to great engineering.
From a coding perspective, in addition to algorithmic & programming fundamentals, I learned VHDL and Assembly (over a Motorola chipset we used to control different periferals).
When I was 16, I took a brief programming course at high school. It consisted of a set of simple Visual Basic and HTML exercises. Nevertheless, having the ability to create programs really fascinated me. I spent the whole summer programming on my own.
Through self-study, I quickly moved to other languages like PHP and C++. I also learned by myself different programming patterns, how to make use of MySQL (among other databases) and how to setup a server to run a website.
Since then, I've become used to research more sophisticated methodologies and technologies (OOP, TDD, Agile, NoSQL, Cache, Serverless, Machine Learning...), which I've successfully incorporated to my professional career.
After spending 10 years in the same company, I decided to resign for a simple reason: I needed a new challenge.
It took me a while to figure out what to do next. Finally, I decided to look for a job that allowed me to switch projects every few months. That seemed to be the way to learn new technologies, keep improving and avoid getting stuck after a while.
Also, I wanted to have flexible work hours and the ability to work in remote, as I was planning to travel around the world while working.
I looked for some online freelance markets and read opinions and reviews from both people who had worked there and people who had been a customer. After the research, the best option seemed to be Toptal.
After the screening process, which took me a few weeks and was harder than expected, I joined Toptal and started working on different projects.
My experience in Toptal has been as expected:
The company decided to create a team devoted to improving software's core, which consisted of an AI & Natural Language processing engine, and a web application used to set up lexicon, engine configuration, and customers knowledge base.
Due to my career and understanding of the core software, the company chose me as the lead of the team. The challenge was starting to manage a team of developers for the first time and improve the software at the same time.
We began with baby steps, adopting new technologies and methodologies each at a time. For that purpose, we created a shared knowledge repository and summits, in which everyone would share his/her own experience and expertise. That way, we created a flexible workflow based on Agile that was continuously improved.
As soon as I could, I started recruiting new members for the team, which grew from 3 to 20 people. I also included other roles we didn't have, such as Quality Assurance.
While the team was growing, I soon realized that I wouldn't be able to manage all development issues and goals by myself. So I split the whole chapter into smaller teams (~4-6 people per team), each one with an appropriately defined purpose. I also gave them trust and autonomy, so they could feel free to organize themselves and innovate.
Later, the company decided that all development chapters should work as a huge R&D Team. I successfully applied the same principles to all the development teams, which was composed of over 70 people.
Read more about how I achieve this in these case studies:
The team adopted Agile methodology with success, committing to milestones and deadlines. Overall productivity increased, and the number of bugs decreased. As the code quality improved, it was quicker for trainees to learn & start developing.
By giving goals to the teams and letting them figure out how to solve them, they got more enthusiastic about their job and results were much better than when I was defining how to do everything.
A childhood friend of mine wanted to launch a freelance micro service platform similar to Fiverr, focusing on the Spanish market.
As the business was going to be based on micro transactions (6€), we needed to attract lots of users willing to use the platform.
We developed the whole site so that it had all the essentials to run. Then, we elaborated a marketing & communication strategy. Coinciding with the unemployment report the government published every quarter, we released the site.
After launching the site, we got featured on radio, television and online press several times. In less than 6 months, the platform gained over 1000 active users.
Despite initial success, we soon faced a common issue among start-ups: lack of funds. The business model was scalable on the long run, but it required a huge investment we couldn't find. As both founders had other projects on-going, we decided to close the platform.
While I was in college, I had the sense that all I was learning was only theoretical. Despite coding my projects, I had the feeling that "I didn't know how to do anything" and that if nothing changed, I would have "just" a degree. I concluded that I needed to acquire work experience.
The challenge was finding and keeping a job while studying.
I found a job that really interested me, as if I was going to do both, study and work, I needed a motivational job. I reduced the number of credits at college so I could attend only three mornings per week. Then, I negotiate a work time that would allow me to study and work 40 hours per week.
I turned down the possibility of working part time, as I considered that wouldn't give me a real sense of what 40-hour work week meant. I first started as a Junior Front-End Developer.
It took me longer to finish my degree, but I ended it with lots of work experience and a successfully launched professional career.
I got promoted several times, and I become one of the leading contributors to the Natural Language processing engine the company still uses nowadays.
The driving school I was studying at, had a desktop application which they wanted to make available online for their students. The real challenge was extracting all existing test data from the desktop application so that it could be used online. There were over 8000 questions and 12000 answers.
Developing the web application didn't take too long. I used PHP to code all the logic and MySQL to store the data. In addition to the test performing logic and user record tracking, I included a user management system, so they could handle their students, as well as a basic CMS system to allow adding new test questions & answers.
Extracting the data wasn't that easy. First I found where was the data stored in the desktop application. It was an encrypted Access database which, after many research, I couldn't figure out how to decrypt. It seemed that the only way to transfer data was opening the desktop application, access each one of the tests and type all the information into the database I had designed.
However, after time how much it took me to type one question and its three answers, I confirmed my suspicions: it would be endlessly performing that task manually for all data (the maths showed weeks!).
I decided to automate the task: using a Windows application, I programmed a macro that would walk over all desktop application questions & answers, make a "screen print", obtain the text using an OCR software, and finally introduce the data into the database. Programming the macro didn't take more than 30min.
I scheduled the task at night and woke up to an entirely filled database. It took less than 8 hours.
The school kept using the application for five years.
InterestI spend most of my free time composing music and playing the bass with my band. I also film and edit our own music videos.
Most of my reading is about new scientific discoveries, especially related to medicine and out space.
Traveling around the globe is the quickest way I know to get out of my comfort zone and therefore, self-grow. That's why I like to visit other places at least twice a year.
ContactSend me an email:
