ALAIN BLOCH

Ruby on Rails

20 years of experience developing scalable web applications, from v1.8 to v7.2.x.

JavaScript

Substantial experience with Node.js, React, React-Admin, Redux, Vue, Nuxt, and jQuery.

Python

Data scraping and ETL for AI/ML systems using Orator, bs4, and Rev_AI.

AI & machine learning

LLM system design using OpenAI/Gemini, LangChain, and Qdrant. Prompt engineering, RAG pipelines, embedding and re-ranking strategies, multi-agent and tool-calling architectures, observability and evaluation (Helicone), and production concerns including safety, latency, and cost.

Containerization

OpenShift, Docker, Kubernetes, automated deployment, and image generation.

API development

RESTful and HATEOAS APIs, JSON:API with JSON Schema, and GraphQL. Integrations with third-party services including Salesforce and Google.

Databases

MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MongoDB, Redis, Cassandra.

Workflow engines

Camunda (BPMN), Ruote, Flor.

Methodologies

Agile, TDD, BDD, MVC+P, object-oriented design.

Testing

RSpec, Test::Unit, Jest, Cucumber, Mocha, Chai, Selenium, Cypress.

Performance & monitoring

Google Analytics, New Relic, Airbrake.

Project management

Basecamp, Lighthouse, Pivotal Tracker, Jira.

As team lead for the Web/API team, I led the modernization of a large legacy Rails platform serving thousands of users. That included upgrading core infrastructure, migrating a REST API to GraphQL with graphql-ruby and Apollo, building an API-first CMS, and rebuilding the admin client on a customized React-Admin stack. I implemented tenant-aware RBAC and multi-tenancy with encrypted isolation, enterprise SSO using OAuth2 and SAML with Azure AD, and RFC 9068 JWTs. I also built inbound and outbound webhook infrastructure and deployed RAG-based AI agents and helpdesk integrations, contributing to SOC 2 compliance and enterprise growth across aerospace, automotive, and defense customers.

A first-of-its-class platform for “arm-to-arm” personalized therapy, used by major pharmaceutical makers and hospitals. I built microservices and sub-modules so critical lines of code could ship without blocking the rest of the team. I revised the core platform, applied Material UI, GraphQL, and JSON Forms, and integrated the Camunda workflow engine into a configurable customer application. I worked with the architecture and core platform teams on newer versions, became tech lead for a four-person core platform team, then moved into a technical solutions architect role for customer configurations, deployments, and roadmap features.

Contract work through the company I founded. I have built social networking, content and multimedia management, wiki-style collaboration, newsletter creation and distribution, integrations with APIs such as Amazon EC2/FPS, Facebook Connect, Twitter, and Constant Contact, and e-commerce with PayPal and Google Checkout. I used Basecamp, Pivotal Tracker, and time-tracking and invoicing tools, hired freelance contractors, led development and design teams, and wrote specifications, wireframes, and UML diagrams.

Grand Rounds helps people get specialist second opinions and uses data analysis to qualify treatments and physicians. My most impactful work was a rewrite and refactor of the core product libraries, which unlocked two new products and made the product lines more scalable. I introduced coding patterns for the monolithic Rails application and mentored junior team members.

I solely redesigned and developed the second version of the core job-training product: interactive scenarios with scored choices, progress bars timed to audio, and slideshow components. I tested iterations of the job landing page and raised conversion by 30%. I also revised client emails to increase engagement. Near the end of my time there we started a React and Redux front end and a move toward a microservice architecture.

The site grew from 1 million users to over 100 million in the three and a half years I was there. I worked on custom translation layers, mobile interfaces, Facebook sharing, Salesforce integration, the public API, search, and other projects that made Change.org the leading petition site. We used Redis and Resque for background work, asynchronous loads, batch jobs, and caching to step outside the request-response cycle, then moved to a SaaS-style architecture and an HTML5 responsive site. We also became lead contributors to the RendrJS Node framework.

Joined a small engineering team when the company had about 50 employees. I led the public API that let third-party developers add plugins and widgets. I extended the front-end framework, Yam.js, with promise chains and new post types, and built a calendar and event platform that broadcast updates and alerts.

Built client and server products including OpenFeint Game Spotlight, a RESTful read-only API, and a cross-platform RESTful API. The API had full test coverage and JSON, XML, and HTML support. GET requests were page-cacheable, and queries were tuned so a request made one to three database calls, with response times under 30 ms. I also wrote a JavaScript library for the OpenFeint client webview that sent instructions to the Objective-C client through WebKit so HTML views felt native.

Full-time Ruby on Rails work, plus unobtrusive JavaScript and AJAX, primarily on PostgreSQL, using Agile, Basecamp, and wikis. We applied test- and behavior-driven development. I built a custom AJAX calendar with ranges, times, and summarization, and a web-service layer so people could use an app by email and SMS.

Full-time Rails development, with PHP and JavaScript when a project needed it. I led and built several projects, including an in-house CMS reused across sites, and helped roll out a new pricing and sign-up process for the hosting department.