About
The longer story.
I've been building software for over 15 years, first for conservation projects in Cambridge, then for companies in Porto, and now with AI at Mindera. My full CV is on LinkedIn.
I'm Simão Belchior, a software engineer from Porto. I studied Informatics and Computing Engineering at FEUP, then lived in Cambridge, UK, from 2009 until I came home in 2018. Along the way I've moved between writing code and leading the people who write it.
What I enjoy most is building products that help people do their work. Usually that's software: SaaS platforms, data tools, the systems a business runs on. Other times it's teams and knowledge, which is what I'm building at Mindera. I also like helping teams work well, which is why I'm drawn to Shape Up: it makes a lot of sense for product and software development.
Today I'm AI Lead at Mindera, where I run our AI horizontal. We set best practices for using generative AI across the product development lifecycle and offer training and coaching programmes to help teams adopt them. On the applied AI side, we build proofs of concept as well as production-ready products and features that bring value to our clients and their users.
Outside work I build Kronflow, write here, go running and spend as much time as I can with my family.
The thread
Five chapters, grouped by theme rather than date.
Where it started
A degree in Porto and a first real client.
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2004–09
FEUP · Master's in Informatics and Computing Engineering
Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto.
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2011–16
GT Portugal · Software Engineer (part-time)
A textile agency that helps brands develop garments with factories. Built their product lifecycle system, mapping how they worked and connecting brands and factories through one centralised information system.
What it taught me: The fundamentals of software engineering, and how to get things done. Student groups and part-time jobs helped with both, and GT Portugal let me take a real company's problems from scoping to delivery.
Conservation and climate
Much of my career went into tools for biodiversity, climate and sustainability work.
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2009–14
UNEP-WCMC · Web Applications Developer, then Analyst Developer
Built conservation data tools, then led the team building them, always designing and defining them with the Centre's scientists. Among them: Species+ and the CITES Checklist, the reference sites for internationally protected species, and the first version of the Online Reporting System for multilateral environmental agreements.
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2014–20
Vizzuality · Product Developer, then Senior Project Manager
Helped clients such as the World Resources Institute design and define their products, not just build them: Global Forest Watch, Climate Watch and Half-Earth among them. Set up the Porto office in 2017.
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2023–25
PlatformE · CTO
Led a team of up to 15 across engineering, product, design and infrastructure, building a SaaS platform that cuts waste in fashion production. Introduced Shape Up to speed up delivery.
What it taught me: Technology can have a real positive impact, good UI and UX are what make complex information understandable, and what users ask for isn't always what they need. We are not our users.
Outside the day job
Alumni groups, events, volunteering and side projects.
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2013–14
FEUP · Alumni Ambassador in the UK
Organised events with fellow ambassadors to bring together FEUP alumni living in the UK.
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2014–21
Talks & events · Speaker & host
Spoke on working abroad at the celebration of 20 years of FEUP's Computer Engineering degree in 2014. Later co-hosted Commit Porto in 2019 and hosted its at-home edition in 2020, along with Informatics Week (2019) and Talk A Bit (2021).
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2017–
Alumni EI · Vice President, then Chair of the General Meeting
An alumni association promoting FEUP's computer engineers in Portugal and abroad. On its Board of Advisors since 2023.
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2018–21
Meyash · Partner
A sock subscription: one or two pairs a month, designed by us and made in Portugal. Ran project management and operations alongside three other partners.
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2018–21
Amigos de Aldoar · Volunteer
Helped organise monthly visits to Bairro de Aldoar in Porto, bringing fun and learning activities to the children there.
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2020–21
Posso ir? · Co-founder & backend developer
A COVID-era app showing how crowded shops were in real time. Built the back office and API with four other volunteers; it was Portugal's #1 free app in its first month, with over 100,000 users.
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2020–
Kronflow · Founder & product engineer
Time tracking and project profitability for small teams. Built for one client in 2020, then rebuilt as a multi-tenant SaaS in 2025.
What it taught me: You can keep building communities and events long after university. Giving back, sharing what you know and building products that make life easier are all worth the effort.
Leading engineering teams
Growing a team and taking it through an acquisition.
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2020–22
Switch · Head of Engineering
Joined a payment gateway as its first Head of Engineering and grew the team from 15 to 25 engineers, with three engineering managers, up to the acquisition by SaltPay.
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2022–23
SaltPay (now Teya) · Director of Engineering
Led the integration of Switch's product into SaltPay and ran the Payment Gateway team, scaling it from 600k to 8M requests a month for a key client.
What it taught me: Discussing best practices and ways of working is how engineers develop critical thinking, and that's what helps a team build better products and get them in front of more people.
AI
Helping teams build with generative AI without losing the craft.
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2025–
Mindera · AI Lead
Gen AI best practices, training and coaching across the PDLC, plus applied AI from proof of concept to production.
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2025
Time in the Zone · Side project
A timezone planner for Mindera's AI Open Hours, vibe-coded with Copilot.
What it taught me: AI is an amplifier, for good and for bad, so we need to learn how to get the most good out of it.