Rafael
Sisto
Computer Engineer turned entrepreneur. I build software products and lead nearshore engineering teams for U.S. fintech companies — from embedded systems to production-grade platforms.
Grew up near the Brazilian border in Uruguay's interior — far from tech hubs, close to first principles thinking. Moved to Montevideo, earned a degree in Computer Engineering from Universidad de la República, and eventually co-founded Kreitech, a nearshore software and staffing agency focused on senior LatAm talent for U.S. fintech clients.
Deep roots in full-stack development, IoT, embedded systems, and XR. I've written production Java EE for national government platforms, built autonomous robots that competed across Latin America, developed AI-powered mobile apps, and architected cloud-native fintech platforms — all while maintaining the mindset of someone who still solders their own circuits.
"From gaucho to comecables — the journey from a rice farm in Uruguay's interior to tech entrepreneurship taught me that the best engineers solve problems with whatever they have at hand."
Today I run Kreitech as CEO, partnered with Black Duck, Appgate, and Proxmox, with a team delivering fintech software for U.S. Series B+ companies. I believe engineering leadership is about reducing friction between great ideas and working software.
Embedded Systems & IoT
From Beagleboards running autonomous robots to IoT carnival devices and home automation platforms. Hardware-software co-design with real constraints.
Platform Architecture
Designed systems handling millions of records for national government bodies (BPS, ARNR, MEC, PROSUR). Java EE, microservices, and cloud-native patterns.
Product Development
End-to-end product delivery: discovery, architecture, development, and launch. React Native, AI integrations, voice interfaces, and mobile platforms.
Robotics & Computer Vision
3rd place LARC 2012 in Fortaleza, Brazil (31 teams). Autonomous navigation with OpenCV + Kinect, subsumption architecture. Also 2nd place Uruguay SUMO 2008. Speaker at SUMO.UY 2009.
Fintech Engineering
Nearshore staffing and development for U.S. fintech: lending, payments, compliance. Senior LatAm engineers embedded in client teams.
Engineering Leadership
CEO and co-founder of Kreitech. Building and managing senior nearshore teams, delivery pipelines, and client relationships across the Americas.
Languages
Frontend & Mobile
Infrastructure & Backend
Embedded & Specialized
CEO & Co-Founder
Co-founded and lead a nearshore software development and staffing agency. Focused on senior LatAm engineering talent for U.S. fintech clients. Partners: Black Duck, Appgate, Proxmox. Delivered platforms for government bodies (BPS, MEC, ARNR), fintech startups, fleet management, and anesthesia staffing. Co-founded Oino with ENIA.
Researcher & Developer — Robotics
Butiá 2.0 project: educational robotics platform (ANTEL partnership). Developed computer vision plugin for TurtleBlocks in C/Python. Prepared 20 Butiá robot kits for Proyecto Ceibal national tender. Competed as team MonsterButiá at LARC 2012 in Fortaleza, Brazil — 3rd place among 31 teams from all Latin America, using OpenCV + Kinect for autonomous can collection. Previously: 2nd place SUMO robotics Uruguay 2008, speaker at SUMO.UY 2009, CAFR Buenos Aires 2007.
Java EE Senior Consultant
Architected and built high-traffic Java EE systems for Banco de Previsión Social (BPS): Mis Aportes, Consultas Registrales, payment web services (Abitab, Redpagos). Implemented PKI/TLS secure WS. Also delivered APIA extensions for Dirección Nacional de Industria with JAX-WS and PGE (e-government platform).
Senior Java Developer (on-site)
Migrated 200+ Java EE applications from Weblogic 8.1 to 10.3 on-site in Tampa. Analyzed inter-app dependencies across Struts, EJB, JMS, Apache Beehive stacks.
Systems Analyst
Managed messaging infrastructure for 5000+ users. Migrated from Exchange 2003 to 2007. Administered Active Directory, DNS, and complex user environments. Developed automation scripts.
BSA — Blind Spot Alert
CTO & co-founder of a hardware startup building an ultra-low-power blind spot sensor for cars. Attaches to side mirrors, lights up when a vehicle enters the blind zone. Based on Texas Instruments radar, USB MagSafe-style charging. Working prototype tested on real vehicles. Reached distribution agreement stage with AutoZone (documents exchanged) — commercial validation was real. Shut down in 2025: the radar sensor lost close-range signal and a hardware revision to fix it required investment we couldn't close in time.
Cuentacuentos
AI-powered storytelling app for children. Generates personalized, illustrated stories from voice prompts in React Native.
Anestaff
Anesthesia staffing platform. Full discovery-to-MVP: BRID, data dictionary, architecture, React prototype. U.S. healthcare market.
RubyComm
Fleet management platform. Discovery closed fixed-price; development T&M with dedicated Tech Lead. Real-time tracking and operations.
MonsterButiá — LARC 2012
Autonomous beach-cleaning robot competing at the Latin American Robotics Championship in Fortaleza, Brazil. Collected black-painted cans from sand using computer vision (OpenCV), Kinect depth sensing, and subsumption architecture. 3rd place out of 31 teams from across Latin America. Also competed in SUMO robotics (2nd place, Uruguay 2008) and CAFR 2007 (Buenos Aires).
PROSUR / ARNR / BPS
National-scale Java EE systems: patent search across 9 Latin American IP offices, radiological protection management, pension portal with millions of users.
Computer Engineer (Ingeniero en Computación)
Universidad de la República (UdelaR) · 2009
Faculty of Engineering — Thesis: Omnidirectional robots framework
Oracle Certified Professional
Java SE 6 Programmer (1Z0-851) · 2012
Oracle Corporation
MSc Computer Science (partial)
PEDECIBA / UdelaR · 2012–
Orientation: Robotics — Embedded Robotics, Butiá educational platform
Microsoft Exchange & Enterprise Security
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner · 2009–2010
Exchange Server 2007 · Enterprise Security & Directory Services
IoT: Models, Protocols & Platforms
IEEE Uruguay Section · 2019
Tutorial by Ing. Gustavo Giannattasio
Project Management (CAPM/PMP prep)
Hexa · 36 hours · 2013
Ing. Daniel Osimani PMP & Roberto Balestrino PMP
Let's build
something real.
Looking for a senior nearshore engineering team for your fintech product? Need a technical co-founder perspective on architecture or product? I'm based in Uruguay and travel frequently to Austin, TX.