Skip to content

Tomáš Mihalicka

Distributed Systems Architect · Sane-AI-Adoption Consultant

12+ years of evolution from web development to distributed systems architecture, specializing in event-driven design and domain-driven development

12+
Years Experience
6+
Architecture Focus
50M+
Users Served
Download PDF

Professional Summary

Software engineer with 12+ years of development experience, specializing in distributed systems architecture for the past 6+ years. Focused on event‑driven design, messaging infrastructure, and Domain‑Driven Design (DDD).

I align architecture with real‑world business complexity, emphasizing observability, modularity, and long‑term maintainability. Currently focused on AI‑assisted SDLC: reviewing AI‑generated systems, designing guardrails around LLM components, and helping teams adopt AI without losing engineering judgment.

Core Expertise

Architecture & Design

DDD, CQRS, Event Sourcing, Hexagonal, Modular Monoliths

Distributed Systems

EDA, async communication, contracts, Kafka routing

Cloud & DevOps

AWS/Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD

Leadership

Architecture reviews, standards, mentoring, enablement

Professional Journey

From building websites for beer money to payment platforms for millions of users.

Owner & Principal Consultant

Monadial

2025 • PresentBratislava, Slovakia

Independent architecture consultancy specializing in distributed systems, domain-driven design, and event-driven architectures. Helping organizations modernize their systems through strategic architecture guidance and hands-on implementation.

  • DDD consulting and strategic domain modeling workshops
  • Event-driven architecture design and implementation
  • System modernization and migration planning
DDD ConsultingEvent-Driven ArchitectureSystem Modernization

Staff Software Engineer / Software Architect

Pixel Federation

2019–2025Bratislava, Slovakia • 6 years

Led the architecture and development of mission-critical distributed systems serving millions of users. Drove the transition from monolithic to event-driven architecture, establishing foundational patterns for scalability, observability, and maintainability across the organization.

  • Designed and implemented distributed payment/billing platform
  • Established event sourcing patterns for audit compliance
  • Led architecture direction and cross-team collaboration
  • Mentored engineering teams and drove hiring initiatives
Distributed SystemsEvent SourcingCQRSKafkaTeam Leadership

Senior Data Engineer

Pixel Federation

2017–2019Bratislava, Slovakia • 2 years

Designed and implemented large-scale data processing pipelines handling billions of events. Built real-time analytics systems using Apache Spark and developed ML infrastructure for game optimization and player behavior analysis.

  • Built petabyte-scale data pipelines with Apache Spark
  • Implemented real-time analytics for game telemetry
  • Developed ML models for player segmentation
Big DataApache SparkMachine Learning

Lead Software Engineer

Pixel Federation

2015–2017Bratislava, Slovakia • 2 years

Led backend development teams building scalable game services. Architected microservices handling game state, player progression, and social features. Established development practices, code reviews, and deployment automation.

  • Led cross-functional development teams
  • Designed microservices architecture for game backends
  • Established CI/CD and code review processes
Team LeadershipMicroservicesGame Backend

Backend Developer

Websupport

2014Bratislava, Slovakia • 1 year

Developed hosting and domain management systems serving thousands of customers. Built billing systems, automated provisioning workflows, and customer management interfaces using PHP and MySQL.

PHPMySQLBilling Systems

Full-stack Developer

Phirational s.r.o.

2012–2014Bratislava, Slovakia • 2 years

Built custom web applications and e-commerce solutions for various clients. Developed both frontend interfaces and backend systems, focusing on user experience and business logic implementation.

Full-stack DevelopmentE-commerceJavaScript

Web Developer

ZUNO Bank AG

2011–2012Vienna, Austria • 1 year

Developed customer-facing banking web applications with focus on security and compliance. Built responsive interfaces and integrated with banking APIs and payment systems.

Banking ApplicationsSecurityCompliance

Technologies

Technical Stack & Expertise

Architecture & Messaging

KafkaRabbitMQSQS/SNSCQRSEvent SourcingHexagonal

Cloud & Infrastructure

AWSAzureGCPDockerKubernetesTerraformGitHub Actions

Observability

OpenTelemetryPrometheusGrafanaSentryBetterStack

Data & Storage

PostgreSQLMySQLRedisMongoDBSparkHadoop

Frameworks & Tooling

CatsFS2SymfonySpring.NET CoreDoctrine

Languages

ScalaTypeScriptPHPPythonJavaC#SwiftGo

Selected Projects

Things I actually shipped

Distributed Event Processing & Routing

Monadial

Kafka‑based, topology‑aware routing with pluggable strategies and stream orchestration
Component supervision (FSM), delivery guarantees, backpressure‑aware flow control

Distributed Payment Platform

Pixel Federation

Unified transactional model; event sourcing for traceability and audit readiness
Decoupled service orchestration via messaging
Type‑safe actors with supervision trees, event sourcing, and pluggable runtimes (Fiber, Swoole)
Erlang/OTP‑style concurrency patterns for PHP — typed messages, backpressure, OpenTelemetry
iOS messenger built on One‑Time Pad encryption — information‑theoretically secure, not just computationally hard
Offline key exchange via streaming QR codes; per‑message key destruction and burn‑on‑demand conversations

Event‑Driven Service Communication Backbone

Multi-team Infrastructure

JSON Schema contracts, validation, versioning; shared libraries for messaging
Delivery guarantees and failure handling patterns across teams

Got a system nobody can fully explain?

Whether it grew that way over ten years or an AI generated it last sprint — I can help. First call is free and I'll tell you if I'm not the right person.