Jacob Wechuli — Software Engineer

Professional Summary

Software Engineer with experience building scalable backend systems, mobile applications, cloud-native services, and AI-powered solutions. Proficient in Java, Spring Boot, Python, Flutter, React, Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS, with hands-on experience developing enterprise banking integrations and fintech applications. Passionate about AI engineering, backend development, cloud technologies, and building software that solves real-world problems. Recognized for quickly learning new technologies, collaborating effectively in Agile teams, and delivering production-ready solutions.

Professional Experience

Software Developer Intern — Application Development (Integrations)
KCB Group PLC, Nairobi, KE

May 2024 – Aug 2024

Developed and maintained Java Spring Boot microservices powering enterprise banking platforms including KCB Bank, KCB M-PESA, and KCB Vooma, improving reliability and scalability of internal integrations.
Designed and maintained RESTful APIs and participated in SOAP service integrations for internal banking systems.
Integrated third-party financial services including Safaricom Daraja APIs for mobile money workflows.
Deployed and managed containerised services using Docker and Kubernetes in staging environments.
Improved application observability through structured logging with SLF4J, supporting faster issue diagnosis.

Java • Spring Boot • PostgreSQL • Docker • Kubernetes • REST • SOAP • Daraja API

Junior Application Developer
PropelFin, Nairobi, KE

Mar 2025 – Aug 2025

Developed Flutter-based fintech applications including digital payment and loan management solutions.
Built reusable mobile components shared across multiple financial applications, reducing duplicate development effort.
Integrated backend services and payment workflows into production mobile applications.
Collaborated with designers and developers to deliver responsive, user-friendly interfaces.

Flutter • Dart • Firebase • REST APIs

Engineering Intern — Network Infrastructure
Kenyatta University, Nairobi, KE

May 2022 – Aug 2022

Supported maintenance of the university's campus-wide network infrastructure across fiber and Ethernet networks.
Diagnosed and resolved connectivity issues; configured wireless access points for university events and conferences.
Supported KUtv live broadcasts by maintaining reliable network connectivity for streaming operations.
Assisted engineers in monitoring network performance and reducing service downtime.

Projects

Goldplus Advisory Mobile Application React Native, Firebase, Anthropic AI

Designed and developed a production mobile application for a Nairobi-based business consulting firm serving SMEs and entrepreneurs.
Built an AI business advisor chatbot and WhatsApp financial assistant using Anthropic AI for personalised financial guidance.
Implemented receipt OCR and automatic M-Pesa SMS transaction parsing for hands-free expense logging.
Architected secure cloud authentication, budget tracking, and financial statement generation features.

Trustworthy RAG Chat Application Streamlit, LlamaIndex, Cleanlab TLM

Built a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) chat application with Streamlit that lets users upload a PDF and ask natural language questions about its contents.
Indexed documents using LlamaIndex and retrieved the most relevant information before generating responses, improving reliability over a standard chatbot for document-based knowledge.
Integrated a trustworthiness score using Cleanlab's Trustworthy Language Model (TLM), surfacing a confidence score and explanation alongside every answer so users can gauge reliability instead of accepting outputs at face value.
Deepened understanding of RAG pipelines, vector embeddings, retrieval strategies, and evaluating AI systems beyond correctness.

Telemedicine Appointment System Spring Boot, PostgreSQL, React, Redis, Docker

Developed a secure healthcare platform supporting doctor-patient appointment scheduling with role-based access control.
Implemented JWT authentication, Redis token caching, and Docker deployment for scalable, secure session management.
Integrated Twilio SMS and email notifications for real-time appointment reminders and confirmations.

Certifications

AWS
AI Practitioner, Cloud Practitioner, MLOps, Agentic AI, Networking, Security Fundamentals

Databricks
Advanced Machine Learning Operations, Generative AI Fundamentals

OpenAI
Agents and Workflows

Technical Skills

Languages
Java, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Dart, Go

Backend Engineering
Spring Boot, Spring Security, REST APIs, SOAP APIs, Microservices, OAuth2/JWT, Webhooks, API Design, Enterprise Applications

AI Engineering
LLM Applications, RAG, AI Agents, Prompt Engineering, Embeddings, Vector Databases, LlamaIndex, Hugging Face, Anthropic/OpenAI APIs, AI Assistants

Cloud & DevOps
AWS (EC2, Lambda, S3, DynamoDB, Bedrock, IAM), Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, Linux, Cloud Deployment

Databases
PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, Firebase, DynamoDB, Data Modeling, Caching

Social, Messaging & Integrations
Telegram Bot API, WhatsApp Business API, X API, TikTok API, M-Pesa Daraja API, OAuth Authentication, Webhook Integrations, Automated Workflows

Frontend & Mobile
React, Next.js, Angular, React Native, Flutter, Firebase

Developer Tools
Git/GitHub, Swagger/OpenAPI, Unit Testing, Agile Development, Debugging

Education

BSc Telecommunications and Information Engineering

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, KE | 2019 – 2025