Zoe Nolan

Engineering lead for the first BaFin-regulated decentralised finance platform. Key Achievements - Launched the world's first BaFin-regulated DeFi/AMM platform, managing $100M+ in assets - Led a distributed team of 18 engineers across 7 countries, improving alignment and delivery cadence with a focus on KYC and AML - Architected cross-chain paths, oracle flows, and the migration to Polygon L2

Bootstrapped Zien from whiteboard concept to investor-ready prototypes while working full-time in senior engineering roles. Key Achievements - Designed and built the core backend architecture, APIs and early prototypes. - Established the initial infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines and development workflows. - Produced technical artefacts and prototypes used in seed fundraising and due diligence. - Built the foundations that enabled a smooth transition into the CTO role post-funding.

Developer for climate analytics and Ethereum-based parametric insurance systems. Key Achievements - Built climate analytics pipelines processing 89T+ data points for actuarial modelling - Developed an on-chain oracle integrating real-world climate event data into Solidity smart contracts - Created serverless APIs for pricing and risk models (Python, Postgres, BigQuery, GCP) - Delivered CI/CD automation across the product portfolio, standardising engineering practice

Led engineering for institutional blockchain settlement systems. Key Achievements - Led technical due diligence for a $12M Series A, presenting architecture to institutional investors - Architected blockchain settlement systems for tier 1 banks, including UBS, HSBC, Barclays, Santander, and Deutsche Bank, supporting $1T+ in potential settlement volume for Utility Settlement Coin/Fnality consortium - Worked with the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve, and the ECB on regulatory alignment - Scaled engineering from 4 to 22 across 5 time zones with 90%+ retention - Created the company-wide progression framework, improving retention by 25% - Delivered EVM extensions, tokenised assets, and interoperability protocols for the USC consortium

Core engineering for global real-time messaging and video systems. Key Achievements - Scaled the real-time messaging platform to 500M daily active users with 99.9% uptime - Delivered a C++ video encoder/decoder to 100M+ Android users - Built the chatbot infrastructure enabling automated two-way communication across Skype - Served as Scrum Master for an 8-person distributed team; mentored a graduate engineer to mid-level

Software engineer across GPU architecture, video compression, and driver development through multiple acquisitions (3Dlabs to ZiiLABS to Intel). Key Achievements - Developed a real-time H.264 encoder using GPU microcode for ZiiLABS media processors - Built a machine-learning-based rate control algorithm for video quality optimisation - Implemented hierarchical motion estimation in GPU microcode - high-performance bitstream encoding for ARM platforms - Developed analysis and testing tools (Perl, Ruby, C++) for GPU microcode R&D - Delivered Windows kernel-mode GPU drivers achieving full WHQL certification - Ported DirectX, OpenGL, and 2D drivers to Windows 64-bit - Contributed to GPU architecture planning and media processor product strategy

Gameplay and engine programmer for The Great Escape (PS2, Xbox, PC). Key Achievements - Served as lead PlayStation 2 engineer for a AAA title - Owned bug triage and internal processes, administering the Bugzilla system - Developed gameplay features in C++, collaborating closely with designers and producers - Enhanced internal cross-platform game engine (C++ & microcode)

GPU architect and technical lead for media codec development. Key Achievements - Formed and led the ST200 VLIW codec team, managing junior engineers and interns. - Built prototype MP3 and JPEG decoders for the ST200 architecture. - GPU architecture design with a focus on shader processors and modelling. - Developed a behavioural GPU model in C++ for architecture validation.

Gameplay, tools, and engine developer across PC and PlayStation. Key Achievements - Built a stack-based virtual machine for point-and-click adventure games - Developed scene graph, collision detection, and an arcade flight model in C++ - Maintained version control (SourceSafe) and email server infrastructure

Early web development role. Key Achievements - Designed and maintained client websites using early-generation web tooling - Provided content updates and early UX improvements