Karthik Nair

Backend • Cloud • AI-Assisted Systems

I am a Computer Science undergraduate with interests in Backend Engineering, Distributed Systems, Cloud Infrastructure, Full-Stack Development, and AI-Assisted Software Engineering. I have published a research paper in financial technology, competed as an international hackathon finalist, and built end-to-end software solutions across web, mobile, and cloud-native platforms.

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01 — About

Engineer, first.

I am a Computer Science undergraduate with interests in Backend Engineering, Distributed Systems, Cloud Infrastructure, Full-Stack Development, and AI-Assisted Software Engineering.

I have published a research paper in financial technology, competed as an international hackathon finalist, and gained extensive experience in end-to-end system development. My work focuses on scalable SaaS platforms, multi-tenant architectures, and solving real-world problems through thoughtful system design.

I care more about how software behaves in real-world environments than how impressive it looks in a demo. Building secure APIs, maintaining data consistency, designing scalable architectures, and improving developer experience are the kinds of problems I genuinely enjoy solving.

B.Tech, Computer Science and Engineering

SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Ramapuram

Aug 2023 – May 2027 · CGPA: 9.59 / 10

English — Full professional proficiency

German — Elementary proficiency

Hindi — Professional working proficiency

Malayalam — Native or bilingual proficiency

Sanskrit — Limited working proficiency

Tamil — Full professional proficiency

01: Backend Engineering
Designing secure and scalable backend systems using REST APIs, authentication, RBAC, and modern database architectures.
02: Cloud Computing
Building and deploying cloud-native applications with Docker, Linux, GCP, AWS, and production deployment workflows.
03: System Design
Architecting maintainable software with scalable data models, multi-tenant architectures, and reliable backend workflows.
04: AI Engineering
Integrating LLMs, OCR, and intelligent automation into practical software products to solve real-world problems.
05: Full-Stack Development
Building responsive, production-ready web applications using Next.js, React, TypeScript, and modern frontend technologies.
06: Continuous Learning
Exploring distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, DevOps practices, and emerging technologies through hands-on projects and experimentation.

02 — Engineering Philosophy

The principles that guide how I build software.

I enjoy solving practical engineering problems, continuously improving my work, and building systems that remain useful long after the first release.

Build with a purpose

Every project should solve a real problem. I prefer understanding the problem first and then choosing the right technologies instead of building around a technology for its own sake.

Keep it simple

I believe good software is easy to understand, maintain, and extend. I try to avoid unnecessary complexity and focus on writing clean, structured, and readable code.

Think beyond the current feature

While building new functionality, I try to design systems that can support future requirements without needing major rewrites. Scalability starts with good design decisions.

Learn through building

Most of what I've learned has come from building projects, breaking things, fixing them, and improving them over multiple iterations. Every project teaches me something new.

Balance engineering and product thinking

Writing code is only part of building software. I try to understand how people will actually use what I'm creating and design features that improve the overall experience rather than simply adding functionality.

Never stop improving

I rarely consider a project truly finished. Whether it's performance, architecture, UI, or developer experience, I enjoy revisiting my work, refactoring it, and making it better with every iteration.

03 — Experience

Where I've worked.

Roles ordered from most recent to earliest.

Backend Developer · Quantum Scripts

Nov 2025 – Jan 2026

Part-Time

Contributed to the backend development of an AI-powered subtitle generation platform, working across databases, cloud infrastructure, media-processing workflows, and production deployments.
Migrated the platform's core data layer from Supabase to MongoDB to improve transactional reliability within payment and credit-management systems. Designed and implemented REST APIs supporting large video uploads, asynchronous processing pipelines, and media retrieval workflows.
Worked extensively with Docker-based deployments, Linux servers, SSH-managed infrastructure, and cloud environments, gaining hands-on exposure to how modern applications are deployed and maintained in production. Integrated AWS S3 for large-scale media storage, implemented Razorpay payment and credit-management workflows, and supported live GCP deployments by troubleshooting issues affecting active users.

Frontend Developer, Industrial Training · Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Ministry of Railways

Jun 2025 – Jul 2025

Completed industrial training at the ICF IT Centre, gaining first-hand exposure to software development and operational workflows within a Government of India organization.
Developed a complaint management portal using Next.js, React, and Tailwind CSS, focusing on responsive user interfaces and workflow-driven navigation. Beyond the project itself, the experience provided valuable insight into how technology, teams, and day-to-day operations are coordinated within a large industrial and administrative environment.

Technical Member · CodeKrafters

Nov 2024 – Present

Started my journey in collaborative software development through the Web3 domain, contributing to blockchain-focused projects, hackathons, workshops, and community-driven technical initiatives.
Collaborated on full-stack and blockchain application prototypes involving frontend development, wallet integration, and smart contract interactions. Through participation in hackathons, technical events, peer reviews, and debugging sessions, I gained practical experience working in engineering teams while exploring emerging technologies and expanding my software development foundations.

04 — Featured Projects

Products I've shipped end-to-end.

Each one covers the full stack — from data architecture to the interface shown below.

AI-Powered Personal Finance Platform

SmartSpend

A full-stack fintech platform combining robust financial analytics, AI-powered insights, and deterministic transaction processing. The system's architecture and research outcomes resulted in a published conference paper.

Problem

Expense tracking often lacks automation or relies on opaque algorithms. SmartSpend solves this by ensuring all financial processing remains deterministic and auditable, while using AI specifically for personalized insights and categorization.

Engineering decisions

Architected a full-stack platform leveraging Next.js and MySQL on TiDB Cloud for reliable data persistence and real-time financial analytics.
Engineered an automated ingestion pipeline that integrates OCR for receipt and statement parsing, feeding directly into a deterministic financial core.
Deployed the solution to modern cloud infrastructure, ensuring high availability, and integrated the Gemini API for intelligent, explainable spending categorization.

Next.jsTypeScriptMySQL (TiDB Cloud)Gemini APINextAuth

Conference Publication (ICGMRFT 2026)

IEEE YESIST12 2026 International Finalist

Code

AI-Powered Proof-of-Work & Accountability Platform

ProjectForge

A production-oriented SaaS platform for AI-assisted task creation, evidence verification, and accountable progress tracking. Built with a scalable backend and real-time collaboration features.

Problem

Self-reported progress is difficult to verify in remote environments. ProjectForge provides a transparent, cryptographically-backed audit trail for completed work.

Engineering decisions

Architected a scalable full-stack system with Next.js, MongoDB, and Firebase to support multi-user workflows and seamless real-time collaboration.
Implemented SHA-256 cryptographic hashing to create tamper-evident audit trails, ensuring that all uploaded proof remains immutable.
Integrated AI-assisted verification workflows while maintaining strict role-based access control (RBAC) and human-in-the-loop final decision making.

Next.jsFirebaseMongoDBVercel

USAII® Global AI Hackathon 2026 Finalist

Code

AI Financial Security Assistant

Trust Buddy

A mobile-first security application featuring a deterministic risk engine and a RAG-enhanced scam detection workflow to protect users from financial phishing and malicious content.

Problem

Users face increasingly sophisticated digital threats. Trust Buddy provides secure, AI-assisted explanations for suspicious signals while ensuring that LLM explanations cannot override deterministic security decisions.

Engineering decisions

Developed a robust client-server architecture using an Android (Kotlin + Jetpack Compose) frontend and a high-performance FastAPI backend.
Engineered a deterministic risk engine that processes OCR, QR analysis, and voice input to identify financial phishing, credential harvesting, and malicious links.
Implemented a RAG-enhanced security analysis pipeline to generate contextual threat indicators, enforcing strict boundaries so AI explanations never compromise core security protocols.

KotlinJetpack ComposeFastAPIGeminiGroqML Kit

Code

Operational Logistics Intelligence Platform

SentinelRoute

A multi-tenant operational logistics platform combining real-time event synchronization, deterministic risk scoring, and explainable recommendations for command-center decision support.

Problem

Fleet operators lack integrated visibility and proactive risk assessment. SentinelRoute provides a secure operational workspace powered by real-time state synchronization and explainable risk scoring.

Engineering decisions

Engineered a real-time, event-driven architecture using Socket.IO for centralized event dispatching, shared state synchronization, and live updates across dashboards.
Developed an operational intelligence engine combining deterministic risk scoring with Gemini-powered explainable recommendations and confidence scoring.
Designed a secure multi-tenant architecture with server-authoritative tenant isolation, role-based access control, and immutable audit trails.

Next.jsTypeScriptMongoDBFirebaseSocket.IOReactTailwind CSS

Code

Decentralized Web3 Voting Platform

D-VOTE

A secure, transparent, and blockchain-powered voting platform designed to ensure immutable voting records and transparent election management based on a decentralized trust model.

Problem

Traditional voting systems suffer from opacity and potential tampering. D-VOTE leverages Web3 architecture to provide verifiable, tamper-proof elections where trust is guaranteed by cryptography.

Engineering decisions

Developed robust Solidity smart contracts deployed on Ethereum Sepolia to enforce a strict one-vote-per-wallet policy and secure on-chain election management.
Utilized Hardhat for comprehensive smart contract testing and deployment workflows, ensuring a resilient blockchain backend.
Integrated MetaMask using ethers.js and viem to create a decentralized frontend experience that enables transparent viewing and verification of election results.

SolidityEthereum SepoliaHardhatethers.jsviemMetaMask

Code

05 — Achievements

Recognized across international, national, and academic platforms.

Conference Publication

Co-Author • 2026

Published research paper: "SmartSpend: A Goal-Based Personal Financial Planning Platform for Awareness-Driven Savings" (ICGMRFT 2026)

IEEE YESIST12

International Finalist • 2026

Maker Fair Track — selected among 2,000+ global submissions for SmartSpend.

USAII® Global AI Hackathon

International Finalist • 2026

Recognized for ProjectForge and AI-assisted software innovation.

ALOHA Abacus National Competition

First Runner-Up • 2019

National-level ALOHA Abacus Competition.

ALOHA Abacus State Competition

State Winner • 2019

State-level ALOHA Abacus Competition.

ALOHA Abacus Tiny Tots Competition

State Winner • 2012

State-level ALOHA Abacus Competition (Tiny Tots Category).

06 — Volunteering

Community impact.

Namma Tiruttani

Volunteer / Contributor

Contributed to the Namma Tiruttani community development initiative through volunteer activities supporting local civic engagement and social impact programs.