I build platforms end to end — and keep them alive for years
I'm Sergei Shapkin — a senior web engineer with more than twenty years spent building, scaling and maintaining platforms that real people use every day. I work across the whole stack: domain modelling and database design, application logic in Laravel and Drupal, front-ends in Vue, the containers and Kubernetes clusters everything runs on, and increasingly the AI tooling that automates the work around it.
I'm most useful where a system has to stay fast and reliable under real load for a long time — news networks serving millions of readers a day, custom CMS engines, business automation, e-commerce catalogs. I don't hand a project off and disappear; I tend to stay with the platforms I build, upgrading and hardening them for years.
Principles I build on
Projects built to last for years
I’ve been developing many of the platforms in my portfolio for 5–10 years or longer.
Smooth operations are more important than trends
I prefer solutions that are easy to maintain and evolve.
From databases to Kubernetes
I see the entire system as a whole, rather than individual technologies.
I don’t disappear after launch
I usually stay involved with the platform and help it grow over the years.
Good engineering means peace of mind
Most of a platform’s value doesn’t emerge on launch day, but years later. That’s why I prefer solutions that remain understandable, supported, and resilient to change.
I don’t chase trends or build complexity just for the sake of it. Kubernetes, queues, Redis, AI tools, or custom components are only introduced when they truly add value—not just because that’s the norm.
Over the past twenty-plus years, I’ve supported news networks with millions of readers, developed e-commerce platforms, migrated systems across several generations of technology, and designed custom engines. That’s why I’m used to thinking not only about how to launch a product, but also about how it will hold up in five or ten years.
I like it when the platform becomes invisible: editors simply publish content, customers place orders, and the business grows without having to think about what’s going on behind the scenes.
The best platform is one nobody has to think about — it just stays fast, stays up, and bends to whatever the business needs next.
Have a platform to build, rescue or scale?
Tell me about the system you're planning. I reply within one business day with a clear, honest assessment.