Although I started my career as a headphones-always-on coder, the startup fast-paced mindset taught me that understanding the broader business and product context was essential. Over time, I took on responsibilities beyond pure technical work, including aligning with business interests, collaborating with product and data teams, and even working with sales teams. This holistic approach has allowed me to better understand user needs, prioritize development efforts, and drive value across both technical and business dimensions.
About
Thanks for stopping by. Read below to learn more about myself and my background.
I’m Mathi, a Principal Solutions Architect specialising in fintech, based in Berlin.
My career started with headphones always on, building whatever the ticket said. Over time I became the one writing the tickets — and eventually the one talking about tickets that haven’t been written yet. I’ve been an engineer, a manager, an architect, a travelling salesman, and a founding employee, sometimes all at once.
Outside of payments: stoicism, teaching, beer, and being the only Uruguayan that doesn’t play football.
Building & Leadership
Payments & Fraud
My expertise in payments and fraud prevention started as just a project but ended up becoming my main domain. I've integrated 50+ PSP providers, built and integrated fraud prevention systems for some of the highest-risk markets in Latin America, designed a standalone 3DS module from scratch, and designed payment orchestration layers that operate across 50+ countries. Along the way, I've navigated PCI-DSS compliance, strong customer authentication, and the endless nuances of local payment methods — from cash vouchers to mobile wallets. It's a domain where every edge case is a real case, and I've learned to architect for that reality. The patterns I've used in payments — event-driven architecture, distributed systems, domain-driven design, high-stakes reliability — translate directly to any domain where the cost of failure is high.
Architecture & Engineering
At Payrails, I designed the core technical architecture from scratch — the blueprint that now underpins how enterprise merchants manage their entire payment stack. At Delivery Hero, I drove architecture across 8 specialised fintech teams, establishing RFC-driven decision-making processes and cross-team consistency across 50+ markets. My foundation in distributed systems, event-driven architecture, and domain-driven design has been tested across multiple tech stacks and multiple continents. And yes, I still write code — it’s still one of the most fun parts of the job.
Teaching & Mentorship
Teaching has always been a driving force in my career. For 7 years, I served as a Software Architecture and Software Engineering in the Cloud professor at Universidad ORT Uruguay, where I had the privilege and challenge of sharing my knowledge with the next generation of engineers. I've also spoken at payments conferences across Europe and US, including PAYMENTSfn. This passion for teaching continues in my professional life, where I conduct workshops, mentor colleagues, and foster growth and knowledge-sharing within my teams. I am committed to creating a culture of continuous learning and helping others develop their skills.
Education
I hold a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and an advanced specialization in Big Data and Machine Learning from Universidad ORT Uruguay — a foundation I actively apply in payment analytics, fraud modelling, and data-driven architecture decisions. I also had the honor to be selected to deliver the graduation speech at the ceremony held at Teatro Solís.