Juan Carlos Cancela
Senior Technical Leader · AI & Platform Engineering · 15+ years
Summary
Senior Technical Leader with 15+ years of experience architecting and delivering high-impact, scalable systems across startups, enterprises, and global consultancies. Currently at GoFundMe, leading the design and implementation of AI-powered content generation features using OpenAI, Claude, Kafka, and modern backend stacks — shipping production AI features at scale. Previously served as Cloud & AI Practice Leader at Capgemini Argentina, overseeing a 120+ person organization and driving enterprise AI adoption across banking, automotive, and SaaS verticals.
Deep expertise in distributed systems, AI/LLM integration, agentic workflows, event-driven architectures, and cross-functional technical leadership. Certified Scrum Master with a track record of building and mentoring high-performing engineering teams. Beyond work, I explore the intersection of technology and philosophy on my YouTube channel and maintain open-source projects on GitHub.
Deep expertise in distributed systems, AI/LLM integration, agentic workflows, event-driven architectures, and cross-functional technical leadership. Certified Scrum Master with a track record of building and mentoring high-performing engineering teams. Beyond work, I explore the intersection of technology and philosophy on my YouTube channel and maintain open-source projects on GitHub.
On a personal note — I am also a proud father of two, Sofía and Santiago. Outside of engineering, I enjoy spending quality time with my family and reading broadly across philosophy, science, and technology.
Technical Skills
AI
Languages
Frontend
Backend
Cloud & DevOps
Data & Messaging
Observability
Testing
Professional Experience
Senior Software Engineer — GoFundMe AI
2024 – Present
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Part of the Amplification team, responsible for GoFundMe home, content amplification, social network strategy, and AI-based content generation (primarily videos).
- Led end-to-end technical implementation of an AI video generation platform: designed event producers and consumers using Avro schemas and Kafka; integrated OpenAI and third-party AI inference providers; connected the Idomoo video platform for rendering; built a regeneration engine driven by event-based, post-processed user profiling data.
- Built an internal NestJS-based API enabling corporate clients to generate AI-powered videos for non-profit organizations at scale.
- Designed and implemented event-driven backend features on a highly scalable Kafka-based microservices architecture.
- Developed and maintained React-based product surfaces across multiple GoFundMe user workflows.
- Implemented Braze-based email campaigns and provided Level 1 production troubleshooting and support.
TypeScript · Kotlin · Spring Boot · NestJS · NodeJS · React · MySQL · Redis · Kafka · Avro · Argo · OpenAI SDK · Idomoo Studio · PHP · Hibernate · JPA
Cloud and AI Practice Leader — Capgemini AI
2022 – 2024
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Led Capgemini Argentina’s Cloud, AI, and Custom Applications practice — a 120+ member organization. Reported directly to the Argentina CEO, combining P&L responsibility, pre-sales leadership, talent development, and technical strategy.
- Drove strategy, growth, and organizational development for the Cloud, AI, and Custom Applications practice in Argentina.
- Partnered with the Argentina CEO on strategic initiatives, business planning, and adaptation of global priorities to local market needs.
- Led pre-sales, opportunity discovery, and solution shaping for enterprise clients in banking, automotive, pharmaceutical, mining, and SaaS sectors.
- Built and scaled the team through hiring, performance evaluation, mentoring, and career development programs.
- Designed internal enablement and certification plans across Cloud, AI, and key Microsoft technologies.
- Worked cross-functionally with Insights & Data, SAP, and Salesforce practices to deliver integrated client solutions at scale.
- Worked across Cloud platforms, AI APIs, software engineering, automation, and enterprise application development.
Full Stack Developer — Parser Digital
2020 – 2022
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Client: Financial Times — Content Discovery team, responsible for FT’s homepage, subscribers’ site, and overall discoverability of FT content.
- Implementation of frontend features on the FT Home Page (Video and Podcasts sections, main storygroup slot).
- Led migration to fully remove Bower dependencies across FT projects, moving them to npm.
- Built an editorial API allowing teams to customize story groups without developer involvement.
- Implemented dynamic iframe insertion for the FT mobile app (PHP API + React App).
- Active production support on incidents (Splunk, Grafana). CI using Jenkins and CircleCI.
Client: Rappi — Worked on Restaurants and Ads verticals for one of the largest technology companies in Latin America.
- Implemented Ad Server features and frontend on the admin portal; built microservices on Kotlin + Spring Boot.
JavaScript · PHP · React · TypeScript · Webpack · NodeJS · Express · Kotlin · Spring Boot · Go · Postgres · Redis · AWS
Full-Stack JavaScript Developer — Ipsy
2019 – 2020
Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Implemented ipsy.com frontend features using React and AngularJS.
- Migrated Groovy APIs to Node/TypeScript microservices from scratch; migrated backend to Spring Boot/Kotlin.
- Achieved nearly 100% of planned requirements on time.
JavaScript · TypeScript · React · Angular · Node.js · Express · GraphQL · Kotlin · Spring Boot · PostgreSQL · AWS RDS
Software Architect — Clients Portal — Swiss Medical Group
2018 – 2019
Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Led architecture and development of the new web portal for Argentina’s leading healthcare company.
- Defined tech stack, integrated SMG authentication and patient data services, implemented React-based scaffolded project.
React · TypeScript · GitLab · MySQL · MongoDB
Full-Stack JavaScript Developer — IAM (Client: Dun & Bradstreet)
2018
Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Designed an integration system to collect and transform data from multiple D&B endpoints; built a configurable JSON-based data source library with REST API and frontend.
Java · Neo4j · NodeJS · MySQL · JavaScript · TypeScript · React · Express
Full-Stack JavaScript Developer — Deviget
2016 – 2018
Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Built web and mobile apps for Raftr social network using React; defined API architecture for an E-Sports streaming platform.
- Delivered in-company training on JavaScript, TypeScript, and React. Public talk.
JavaScript · React · React Native · NodeJS · Express · Webpack · CSS3
Engineering Technical Leader — GlobalLogic
2014 – 2017
Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Led two development teams delivering Canary.is (website, CMS, eCommerce) and Digital River (shopping cart API), exceeding goals in both.
- Built a metadata-driven MBaaS generator (Node.js + Express) for AnyPresence Inc.
- Directed a LATAM-based cross-project JavaScript & NodeJS technical group.
Java · JavaScript · TypeScript · NodeJS · React · Express · Angular · AWS · git · Ruby · Rails · Heroku · Jenkins
Software Integration Architect — Level 3 Communications
2011 – 2014
Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Built and led up to five cross-product development teams across all Argentina business units.
- Delivered 12+ mission-critical projects on time (LATAM billing, infrastructure-on-demand, customer portal).
- First Principal Software Architect in Level 3’s history for the LATAM region.
Java · NodeJS · JavaScript · GWT · Jenkins · Perl · C# · PL-SQL · Apache Tomcat · JBoss · SharePoint · SVN · git
Sr. Developer & Hotels API Tech Leader — Sabre Holdings
2009 – 2011
Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Integrated Travelocity and Last Minute regional shopping APIs; delivered multiple Hotels API vendor integrations using TDD.
Apache Tomcat · Grails · Groovy · Java · JavaScript · Spring · Maven · SVN
Java Developer — Globant
2008 – 2009
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Client: JWT (J. Walter Thompson) — Global advertising agency.
- Refactored the existing MyGoogle-centric application data layer using Apache JackRabbit.
- Created and maintained project technical documentation.
Apache JackRabbit · Java · Apache · Spring
Client: Playphone — Mobile gaming platform.
- Implemented on schedule new Playphone API features.
Java · Web Services · SOAP · MySQL · Apache
Education & Certifications
Licenciado en Informática
— Universidad de Palermo, Buenos Aires
Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
— Scrum Alliance, 2012