Irina Safonova

Irina Safonova

Lead Software Engineer & Solution Architect — Data Platforms, Enterprise Integrations & Practical AI

More than 25 years designing and building data-intensive systems for complex business operations: enterprise platforms, financial workflows, data products and AI-enabled solutions.

I combine solution architecture with hands-on engineering, moving between system design, data modelling, implementation and delivery as the product requires. Based in Helsinki, working internationally.

Where I add the most value

Solution architecture, start to finish

I design data and AI platforms from scratch, or untangle ones that grew faster than their architecture — data model, pipelines, APIs, security.

The bridge between business and engineering

I translate messy, half-formed requirements into technical plans, backlog items and something a team can actually build against.

Delivery, not just design

I work collaboratively with engineers, validate architecture against implementation constraints, and stay hands-on where the team needs me. I can lead technical design, contribute directly to the codebase, or combine both.

Toolkit

AI & Integrations

Applied ML — academic & project experience
LLM integrations (OpenAI, Azure OpenAI)
AI-assisted & agentic workflows
RAG-style data access

Languages & Data

SQL Server / T-SQL (25 yrs)
Python (10 yrs)
Performance tuning

Architecture

Data-intensive & multi-tenant systems
REST APIs & enterprise integration
Backend automation & event-driven processing

Platform & Infra

Azure project experience, including Azure OpenAI & Event Hub
AWS project experience
Docker
Terraform working knowledge

Delivery

Agile / Scrum (CSM)
Implementation planning & delivery
Consulting & stakeholder communication

Leadership

Solution architecture
Tech lead / team lead
Cross-functional bridging

25+ years of production systems
the timeline, and the ones worth reliving

Scan the timeline below for the quick version, or read on for the reconstructed screens and stories behind each role. Client and tenant data is redacted where confidentiality applies.

2026 · contractLead Solution ArchitectEarly-stage B2B SaaS (confidential)

2024 – 2026Technical IT Consultant → Senior Software EngineerGood Sign

2017 – 2024 · 7 yrsBusiness & IT ConsultantSelf-Employed

2012 – 2015 · 3 yrsSAP/ERP Migration ConsultantStroytechkom

2007 – 2012 · 5 yrsSoftware DeveloperAl-Arqam School, Qatar

2000 – 2008 · 8 yrsTeam Lead / Software EngineerGiprosvyaz

2026 · Contract Lead Solution Architect

Secure multi-tenant data and AI platform

An anonymized early-stage B2B SaaS platform that brings data from multiple external systems into a consistent internal model and supports reliable, auditable processing across isolated client environments.

Deterministic services remain responsible for trusted business logic. AI-assisted components are isolated and used only for controlled interpretation, explanation and investigation support over authorized data.

My role: target architecture, data model, ingestion workflows, tenant isolation, AI integration boundaries, deployment structure and implementation planning — with hands-on contribution where required.

Temporary contract; product details remain confidential, while the architectural approach is described here.

Read the architecture case

app.confidential-platform.com/operations

Data operations

Tenant isolatedIS

01 Sources

3 connectorsAPI, SFTP file and structured upload

02 Ingestion

12,486 recordsValidated, typed and deduplicated

03 Normalize

Shared domain modelSource records mapped to consistent entities

04 Match

Deterministic engineMatches, mismatches and rule outcomes

05 Review

AI-assisted analysisEvidence-grounded exception explanations

Data sources Last 24 hours

ERP ledger

Tenant-scoped connector

8,220 records

Completed

Payment provider

CSV schema v4

3,914 records

Processing

Billing export

Validation required

352 records

7 exceptions

Authenticated tenantScoped storageAudit trailEncrypted secrets

Exception review Evidence attached

Reference mismatch

4 records could not be matched automatically

Amount mismatch

3 records differ across source systems

AI-assisted explanation
A recent source-format change may explain the validation exceptions. The explanation is evidence-grounded and cannot alter trusted system results.

Conceptual reconstruction of an anonymized multi-tenant data platform. It shows source ingestion, normalization, deterministic processing, exception review and a constrained AI explanation layer. All data is fictional.

2024 – 2026 · Technical IT Consultant → Senior Software Engineer

Good Sign — SaaS billing & pricing

Worked on a SQL-centric, data-intensive SaaS platform supporting billing operations for hundreds of client organizations. Customized stored procedures, billing logic and data workflows for client-specific requirements; designed and implemented SQL-based solutions for complex billing, pricing and integration scenarios; investigated production data issues and improved performance and maintainability. Contributed to AI-assisted workflows over structured enterprise data and took on Scrum Master responsibilities when needed.

Client data and implementation details are confidential; responsibilities and technical scope are summarized accurately.

2017 – 2024 · 7 yrs · Business & IT Consultant

Reporting & workflow automation

Independent consulting for enterprise clients — legacy modernization, data-flow redesign, and reporting automation. The unglamorous plumbing that quietly saves a finance team its Friday afternoons.

2012 – 2015 · 3 yrs · SAP/ERP Migration Consultant

Factory SAP-to-local-ERP migration

Led the migration of a factory's core operations from SAP to a local ERP alternative for Stroytechkom — data migration, business-process remapping, and a cutover planned around not stopping the production line.

2007 – 2012 · 5 yrs · Software Developer

Student assessment system

A desktop application built for Al-Arqam International School, Qatar: moved grade entry, term averages and report cards off paper and into one system, cutting out the manual paperwork teachers used to fill in by hand every term — report work that took 3–4 days dropped to about half an hour. No dashboards, no charts — a grid, a database, and evenings teachers got back.

2000 – 2008 · 8 yrs · Team Lead / Software Engineer

ERP for the Giprosvyaz institute

Enterprise resource planning for a telecom design institute — contracts, project stages, and deadlines for fiber-optic and exchange projects across the region. Built the integration with the institute's CRM and automated the manual postings the accounting team did by hand, cutting their processing time by 70%; reports that used to take an hour to compile now generate straight from the ERP in about 10 minutes. A relational database behind, a six-person team I led through eight years of releases.

Giprosvyaz ERP — [Contracts]_□×

Contract No.CustomerDesign ObjectAmount, RUBStageDue Date

214-05Lensvyaz JSCFiber line St. Petersburg–Vyborg, working docs1 840 200WD30.06.2005

198-04Novgorod PSTNATS-63 reconstruction, station facilities976 500DP15.03.2005

187-04NW Telecom JSCGatchina district network, line facilities2 310 000WD30.09.2005

165-03ElektrosvyazCable ducting, Petrozavodsk418 300WDdelivered

AddEditDeleteReport…

Records: 1,247User: I. Safonova14.03.2005

Reconstruction — contract registry of the ERP built for Giprosvyaz institute, 2000–08

Foundations

M.Sc. Software Engineering & Digital Transformation

LUT University, Finland · 2021–2023

M.Sc. Communication Networks & IT

State University of Telecommunications · 2001–2007

Automated Control Systems for Aircraft — B.Sc.

D.F. Ustinov Baltic State Technical University "Voenmeh"

Automated Database Management Systems

Physics & Mechanics Engineering College

Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) AWS Cloud Quest Practitioner IoT IBM Cloud Computing

Working stack: Python, SQL Server / T-SQL, Kafka, Azure Event Hub, Docker, Terraform, Azure, AWS, OpenAI and Azure OpenAI.

Also served as Scrum Master (Oppi AI, LUT, 2022), guiding Agile delivery for an internal team, and as Adjunct Lecturer (LUT University, 2023), teaching software engineering courses.