Backend & AI Systems Engineer

I build scalable backend systems, AI-powered applications, and cross-platform mobile experiences. My work focuses on Python APIs, LLM-driven systems, and cloud-native applications that integrate real-world services such as Spotify, Firebase, and Azure. I enjoy designing reliable architectures, orchestrating intelligent agents, and shipping production-ready software across web and mobile platforms.

Photo of Octavio Valdez
Octavio Valdez Backend · AI Systems · Full-Stack Guadalajara, MX · Remote-friendly

Projects

Memories Archive — Shared Photo App

Cross-platform mobile application that allows users to privately share and store photos with a partner or friend. Built using Expo and Firebase to provide secure authentication, cloud storage, and real-time synchronization.

  • Private shared gallery between two users
  • Photo uploads with Firebase Storage
  • Secure authentication with Firebase Auth
  • Real-time data using Firestore
  • Push notifications using Firebase Functions
  • Automated CI/CD using GitHub Actions and Expo EAS builds
  • Continuous dev and production releases
Expo · React Native · JavaScript · Firebase (Auth / Firestore / Storage / Functions) · GitHub Actions · EAS
AuraCue — AI Playlist Generator

AI-powered application that generates personalized Spotify playlists from natural language prompts. The system orchestrates multiple AI agents to collaboratively select songs and verify them against Spotify’s catalog.

  • Multi-agent orchestration using Agno and OpenAI
  • Playlist generation based on natural language prompts
  • Spotify API integration for song verification
  • Export generated playlists directly to user Spotify accounts
  • Backend built with FastAPI
  • Automated deployments via Railway and Vercel
Python · FastAPI · Agno · OpenAI API · Spotify API · React · Railway · Vercel · CI/CD
Academic Performance Data Modeling Study

Data modeling and analysis project designed to evaluate how AI tool dependency relates to student academic performance and conceptual understanding.

The work included schema design, variable definition, preparation of datasets for analysis, and interpretation of relationships between study habits, AI usage, and improvement rates.

Data Modeling · SQL · Python · Hypothesis Testing · Statistical Analysis
Personal Finance Management App

Containerized finance application with a Streamlit interface and Flask API, designed to separate business logic from presentation while keeping the setup lightweight and reproducible.

  • Dashboard with metrics and charts
  • Transaction, category, and account tracking
  • Credit card purchases and installment handling
  • Monthly progress summaries and balance reporting
  • Portable local setup with Docker Compose
Streamlit · Flask · SQLModel · SQLite · Docker · Docker Compose · Python

Core Skills

  • Python backend development (FastAPI, Flask, AIOHTTP)
  • REST API design and asynchronous services
  • AI systems with LLM APIs and multi-agent orchestration
  • Database design (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Firebase)
  • React web applications and UI development
  • Cross-platform mobile apps with Expo
  • Cloud platforms: AWS, Azure, Railway, Vercel
  • CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions and automated deployments

Experience

2025 — Present
Junior Data Scientist / AI Engineer — Derevo
  • Developed a robust Python API using AIOHTTP to access Azure services such as CosmosDB, Blob Storage, and Key Vault.
  • Integrated Microsoft Authentication and JWT for secure access and role-based authorization.
  • Designed authentication middleware to enforce API security policies.
  • Implemented JSON schema-based configuration versioning in a multi-agent AI environment.
  • Built APIs to dynamically create, update, delete, and manage AI agents.
  • Engineered context versioning and templating mechanisms for rollback and template-based creation.
  • Integrated secure Azure Key Vault secret management for agent configuration workflows.
  • Collaborated with clients to evaluate needs and align product capabilities with business objectives.
  • Built Python utilities to add temporal awareness to agent data retrieval and interpretation.
  • Implemented automated backup generation for agent context files during rediscovery processes.
  • Refined agent prompts to support relevant in-scope conversational suggestions.
  • Implemented access-control measures to define which users can interact with specific agents.
2024 — 2025
Software Engineer Student Worker — Intel Corporation
  • Developed backend features using Python, Flask, and REST APIs to support engineering workflows.
  • Built APIs to support LLMs deployed with Hugging Face TGI and vLLM in Docker containers on AWS EC2.
  • Created React UI components for improved data input and result visualization.
  • Implemented backend logic to store structured AI outputs in SQL databases.
  • Integrated EMON for system performance analytics and profiling workflows.
  • Built AI agents using orchestration across multiple LLM providers to improve automation capabilities.
2023
Data Transformation Intern — Derevo
  • Wrote optimized SQL queries for large Azure datasets to improve query performance.
  • Created automated ETL pipelines for streamlined data ingestion and processing.
  • Improved data quality through validation checks and transformation workflows.
  • Managed Azure SQL environments to support reliability and scalability.

Contact

Open to backend, AI systems, and full-stack software engineering opportunities.