Alessandro Volpicella

AWS & Serverless Expert | Fullstack Software Engineer

Dr.-Otto-Boessner-Weg 7a, 85521 Ottobrunn (Munich), Germany

Portrait of Alessandro Volpicella

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Professional Summary

Software Engineer with 6+ years experience building scalable, high-performant solutions on AWS. Worked across different domains and industries.

  • 6+ years hands-on experience with AWS across different domains - from small startups to large enterprises
  • Authored two books in the AWS space: AWS Fundamentals, and CloudWatch Book
  • Built serverless systems that handle 100 million API requests and 1 million events per month
  • Ability to work across the whole stack, from frontend to backend to infrastructure

Technical Skills

Here is a non-exhaustive list of my technical skills. I feel confident in learning new technologies, frameworks, and tools.

AWS

  • Serverless Architecture
  • Event-Driven Architecture
  • Infrastructure as Code
  • Observability
  • SQS, SNS, S3, Lambda
  • Account Management
  • AWS CodePipeline
  • Cost Optimization
  • IAM, KMS, Secrets Manager

Fullstack Development

  • TypeScript/JavaScript
  • Python
  • React.js
  • Next.js
  • Remix / React-Router
  • GraphQL, REST APIs, Trpc
  • Docker
  • PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite
  • MongoDB
  • Redis

Work Experience

Platform Engineering Lead / Fullstack Developer

2022 - 2025

Hashnode

At Hashnode I started as a Fullstack Developer, founded the Platform Team, and led the team tech-wise. I have built several features, initiated the whole AWS Infrastructure, Event-Driven Architecture, and more.

  • Led platform team to make major architectural decisions involving Cloud Providers (AWS, GCP) and third-party integration tools like Vercel, Imgix, Upstash, and more
  • Initiated the whole AWS Infrastructure as Code Setup using CDK
  • Architected event-driven system processing 1,000,000 events monthly
  • Architectured & Built a public GraphQL API handling 100M+ requests/month using Lambda, Apollo, API Gateway + Edge Caching on Stellate
  • Integrated CloudWatch & X-Ray to gain observability across the whole stack
  • Designed & integrated a B2C subscription system with Stripe integration
  • Internal coaching, workshops, and knowledge sharing sessions to understand how to best use AWS for certain tasks like email sending, event-consumers, etc.

Tech Stack: AWS (Lambda, CloudWatch, X-Ray, DynamoDB, S3, SES, SQS), MongoDB, GraphQL, TypeScript, Node.js, Stripe API

Cloud Architect / Cloud Engineer

2021 - 2022

Capgemini

In this role, I was responsible for the AWS Architecture of several projects, mostly in the automotive sector. I also organized the internal AWS Community and organized hackathons.

  • Cloud migration projects from on-premise to AWS
  • Building observability solutions using CloudWatch, Grafana, Prometheus
  • Led internal AWS community and organized hackathons

Tech Stack: AWS, Terraform, CDK, Amplify, TypeScript, Python

Data Scientist & Software Engineer

2019 - 2020

CHECK24

At Check24 I started as a working student to research & develop Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms to classify bank transactions for their internatl SaaS tool "Kontomanager". The product was used to understand your finances better and categorize transactions into categories.

  • Implementing a machine learning model based on state-of-the-art techniques for classifying bank transactions
  • Implementing a REST Endpoint for inferencing the trained machine learning model using Python Django
  • Master Thesis: "Using Weak-Supervision for Classifying Company Purposes" - overcoming the challenge of a lack of labeled data

Tech Stack: Python, Tensorflow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, Django, Docker, MLFlow

Fullstack Developer - Focus Data Science

2018 - 2019

BMW Group

Working student position with two main project focuses during my time there.

Bachelor Thesis Project - ReachNow! Demand Prediction

Research & Development of a machine learning model for predicting passenger demand of the ride-hailing service ReachNow! This machine learning model was used to predict where most cars will be needed depending on several factors. The results were presented in a web application that teams used on a daily basis.

  • Research to find the fitting machine learning models for spatial-temporal data (time & location) for predicting passenger demand
  • Development of a continuous machine learning pipeline using AWS SageMaker, S3, Lambda, and API Gateway
  • Web application development using React.js, JavaScript, Redux, and Leaflet to visualize the predictions

Bachelor Thesis: "A Machine-Learning Approach to predict Passenger Demand in On-Demand-Mobility Service"

Big Data Project - Internal Data Lake

After completing the bachelor thesis, I supported the team in building the internal Data Lake for all vehicle sensor data.

  • Integration of vehicle sensor data into the internal AWS Data Lake using Kinesis data streams, Lambda functions, and Glue
  • Processing data with Lambda functions to store in structured format in DynamoDB

Tech Stack: Python, Java, AWS (DynamoDB, Athena, Lambda, SageMaker, Kinesis, Glue), React.js, Docker

Client / Freelance Projects

AWS Consultant

2025

Michelberger Digital

  • Cost optimization of Lambda functions and cloud infrastructure
  • Improved a high-scaling event processing system by incorporating SQS, Lambda, and a multi-tenant architecture
  • Integrated a CDK Sandbox to enable deployments for every developer
  • Custom Shopify App development to integrate customers fulfillment processes from Shopify into its own solution

Tech Stack: AWS (Lambda, SQS, CDK), TypeScript, Node.js

Fullstack Developer / Consultant

2025

Control Mechatronics GMBH

Consulting & Development of building a controlling web-application for automated reports based on ERP data.

  • Consultation on the UI design, process of importing the data, and the overall architecture
  • Development of the incoming ERP data import using S3 and Lambda
  • Development of the web application using Remix, PostgreSQL, and TypeScript

Tech Stack: AWS (S3, Lambda, VPC), SST, PostgreSQL, TanStack, React, TypeScript

Fullstack Developer / Consultant

2025

Klotter GmbH

Greenfield project to build a custom project management software for the internal manufacturing process.

  • Fullstack development of the overall web application using Remix, AWS (SST), Postgres, Cognito
  • Business process consultation to design the process of manufacturing
  • Implemented automated data integration with external ERP systems using S3 and Lambda
  • Developed SSO authentication system using AWS Cognito and Microsoft Entra ID
  • Overall web development of the application using Remix, PostgreSQL, and TypeScript

Tech Stack: AWS (Lambda, SQS, Cognito, S3), SST, Remix, PostgreSQL, TypeScript, Microsoft Entra ID

Fullstack Developer (AWS, Lambda, DynamoDB, React.js)

2021

ADS Allgemeine Deutsche Steuerberatung mbH

Development of a web application for consulting clients with their financial situation

  • Greenfield project to architect & build a custom customer relationship system for financial planning clients.
  • Development of a serverless backend using AWS Lambda, DynamoDB, Cognito, and API Gateway
  • Implementing infrastructure as code with AWS Amplify CLI & custom CloudFormation resources
  • Built user management system with AWS Cognito
  • Implementation of the web application using React.js including PDF Generator, Multi-Step Wizard Forms, and more
  • Set up multi-stage environment (Develop, Release, Master) with full CI/CD

Tech Stack: AWS (Lambda, DynamoDB, Cognito, API Gateway, Amplify, CloudFormation), React.js

Publications

I've authored two books, one video course, and more than 40 blog articles about AWS. Here is a non-exhaustive list of my work.

CloudWatch Book

Author | 500+ copies sold

2024

The CloudWatch Book teaches the full CloudWatch suite. We show you how to use CloudWatch to observe your overall AWS Application. From Logs, Metric, up to traces, anomaly detection, and more.

  • In-depth coverage of CloudWatch features and best practices
  • Accompanying video course (6+ hrs) with practical demonstrations
  • GitHub repository with code examples and templates
  • Real-world monitoring and alerting strategies

AWS Fundamentals

Author | 1,400+ copies sold

2023

AWS Fundamentals teaches AWS for the real-world. We explain the top 16 services in all major categories and how to use them to actually build things. The focus is on mastering these services and reusing them in a real-world setup.

  • 350+ pages covering core AWS services and their configurations
  • Infrastructure as Code introduction (Terraform, CloudFormation, Serverless, CDK)
  • Visual learning approach with custom infographics for all core services
  • Practical examples and real-world best practices

Speaking

Selected speaking engagements. Full list here.

EDA for the Real World

Architecture & Implementation with TypeScript and EventBridge

May 2025

EDA Community Day CZ (Prague)

Event-Driven architectures are everywhere. Building them in a serverless, cloud-native way has never been easier. But many developers struggle with issues around type-safety, rule architecture, and scaling. In this talk, I show the best practices I've learned working with EventBridge and TypeScript in a startup handling over 1,000,000 events monthly.

AWS Community Day Romania

Described Hashnode's journey of building a central and public GraphQL API running on cloud-native services (Lambda, API Gateway, Apollo) powering over 100 million requests a month.

GraphQL Radio Podcast

Interviewed by Max Stoiber about Hashnode's architecture, team structure, and scaling GraphQL APIs with Stellate.

Serverless Guru - YouTube

Discussed whether AWS is really suited for startups or if they should start with alternative platforms, exploring the pros and cons of different cloud approaches.

Personal Projects

MergeIt Shopify App

Shopify app which lets merchants combine and merge orders to save on shipping costs.

Tech Stack: AWS, SST, Postgres, TypeScript, React, Remix, Shopify

FraudFalcon Shopify App

Shopify app to help merchants fight fraud and chargebacks. You can create custom rules to detect fraud and block orders automatically.

Tech Stack: AWS, SST, TypeScript, React, Remix, Supabase, Shopify App

AWS Fundamentals

With AWS Fundamentals we run a blog, bi-weekly newsletter, and published two books

Tech Stack: AWS, SST, TypeScript, React, Next.js, GitHub Actions, Cognito & Federated Sign-In, Kit

Octolense (sold)

Analytics solution for GitHub actions. Understand which actions and repositories are most expensive. Exited because lack of time to maintain it + huge platform risk.

Tech Stack: AWS, SST, TypeScript, React, Next.js, TailwindCSS, DynamoDB, GitHub API

Kitlytics

Subscriber analytics for the newsletter platform Kit (former ConvertKit). Understand your audience and grow your business. Currently paused.

Tech Stack: AWS, SST, TypeScript, React, Next.js, TailwindCSS, DynamoDB

Education & Certifications

Education

Master of Science - Computer Science

Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 2022

Bachelor of Science - Business Informatics

Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 2018

IT System Technician - Apprenticeship

2012

AWS Certifications

AWS Certified Developer Associate
AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate

(2021)

The up-to-date version of this CV is available online at sandrovolpicella.com/cv