Portrait of Ivica Lakatoš

Ivica Lakatoš

Senior Software Engineer

I’ve been building full-stack web applications with Ruby on Rails for over a decade.

Rails is my default. The rest depends on the problem.

I’ve worked on backend-heavy systems, real-time applications, and rich frontend interfaces. The stack changes. The goal stays the same — build systems that work in the real world.

View Work Contact
10+ yearsShipping real software
Rails-firstFull-stack application development
Product-mindedFocused on user and business outcomes
Practical AISolving real product problems

Featured Projects

Selected Work

Leap

Real-time language learning platform

A real-time platform for practicing spoken English through live video sessions and instant feedback.

  • Built real-time communication with WebSockets and LiveKit
  • Integrated speech and AI feedback with OpenAI and SpeechAce
  • Designed session orchestration and user-matching systems

Ruby on Rails · React · TypeScript · PostgreSQL · Redis · Sidekiq · OpenAI

Microverse

Global online school for developers

An online learning platform for developers, rebuilt from no-code tools into a scalable Rails application.

  • Helped migrate Make, Zapier, and Airtable workflows into Rails
  • Improved reliability, scalability, and operational maintainability
  • Designed backend services for complex learning flows

Ruby on Rails · PostgreSQL · Redis · Docker · Heroku

FUGA

Music royalty accounting system

A music royalty accounting system for processing contracts, revenue streams, and financial reports at scale.

  • Improved performance across application and database layers
  • Worked on reliable processing for large-scale financial datasets
  • Built in a production-critical, high-throughput environment

Ruby on Rails · React · PostgreSQL · Redis · RabbitMQ

InspectionXpert

Manufacturing platform

A platform for converting PDF-based inspection documents into structured, usable data.

  • Built full-stack OCR workflows from MVP to production
  • Designed APIs and UI flows for review and correction pipelines
  • Improved reliability of document processing in production environments

Ruby on Rails · React · PostgreSQL · OCR processing

Keen Research

Speech recognition data platform

A platform for handling audio ingestion, speech processing, and transcription workflows at scale.

  • Designed APIs for audio uploads, metadata, and processing pipelines
  • Implemented asynchronous workflows for large files and logs
  • Built systems to support reliable transcription operations

Ruby on Rails · MySQL · JavaScript · Async processing

Thompson Learn

Learning platform

A digital learning platform for delivering interactive content and managing student and teacher workflows.

  • Built backend features for course management and user workflows
  • Improved reliability of content delivery and learning flows
  • Contributed to product development in a cross-functional team

Ruby on Rails · PostgreSQL · Ember.js

Experience

Career Snapshot

Senior Software Engineer · Microverse

2022–2026 · Remote

Worked on migrating a no-code platform to Ruby on Rails, building scalable learning workflows, real-time features, and AI-powered feedback systems.

Senior Full-Stack Engineer · AxiomQ

2017–2022 · Serbia

Built and scaled web applications across fintech, manufacturing, education, and speech recognition, working across backend systems, APIs, and frontend interfaces.

Ruby on Rails Engineer · Orange Iceberg

2015–2017 · Serbia

Developed full-stack Rails applications, designed APIs, and shipped production systems from initial idea to deployment.

Skills

Core Stack

Backend: Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Sidekiq

Frontend: React, Stimulus, TypeScript, Ember, jQuery, JavaScript

Data: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis

Infra: Docker, Heroku, CI/CD

Real-time & AI: WebSockets, LiveKit, OpenAI, SpeechAce

Ruby on Rails is my default for building full-stack applications. On the frontend, I’ve worked with React, Stimulus, Ember, and jQuery—depending on what the project needed.

How I Work

Pragmatic and Product-Focused

I prefer simple systems over complex ones. Not because they are easier to build, but because they are easier to run, maintain, and improve over time.

I take ownership end-to-end, work closely with product, and care about outcomes, not just code.

Most of the time, the problem isn’t the technology. It’s making things work in the real world.

Contact

Let’s Build Something Useful

Open to interesting projects, technical challenges, and collaboration.

Based in Novi Sad, Serbia.
Reach out via lakatos.ivica@gmail.com, connect on LinkedIn, or view my work on GitHub.

Prefer a CV? Download it here.