Carmen
Ghirardi
I write code the way others paint with ink — patient strokes, clean lines, and the quiet joy of watching a knotted problem dissolve into a working solution.
Every craft rests
on a foundation
Mine was laid at eleven — coding a little shrine to a favourite anime — and it has only deepened since. Today it spans the whole stack, with my brush pointed firmly at one horizon.
AI agentic workflows
Lately my ink writes autonomous AI — retrieval-augmented generation, automation, and the careful orchestration that lets software reason, retrieve, and act on its own.
Backend & APIs
Type-safe services and APIs built to hold up under real load — clean data models, predictable contracts, and the quiet plumbing that lets a product grow without nasty surprises.
Frontend & Interfaces
Typed, component-driven interfaces that feel inevitable to use — fast, accessible, and resilient to a whole design system's worth of change.
Cross-platform Apps
One codebase, every screen. Native-feeling apps for phone, desktop and web — shipped without maintaining five separate versions of the same thing.
Product Design
Designing how people actually move through a product — flows that look considered and feel effortless, from first sketch to the shipped pixel.
Collaboration & Craft
Fifteen years shipping next to other people: steering multi-contributor projects without losing the thread, and moving fluidly across roles wherever a project needs me — now with AI assistants woven into the daily loop.
Fifteen years of building
A decade and a half turning problems into software — first across Italy, as both an employee and an independent, often at once. Now I've made Sweden home, and it's where I'm focused on building what comes next.
Full Stack Software Engineer
My focus today: building and scaling production web platforms at a Swedish product company, while growing toward software architecture in AI engineering for agentic workflows. I work across the full stack — equally at home on the frontend and the backend, from data models and APIs to the interfaces on top — pairing clean architecture with CI/CD and close collaboration across the team.
Independent Professional
My ongoing independent practice, running in parallel with my employed work. I take projects end to end — TypeScript and Node.js at the heart of the build, extended with React, Vue and cross-platform mobile — spanning full-stack engineering, UI/UX design and technical consulting. It's where I push my own direction hardest: toward software architecture in AI engineering for agentic workflows.
Full Stack Software Engineer
Nine years as a core engineer on client and in-house products, building full-stack applications in PHP (Laravel) alongside JavaScript and TypeScript (Vue.js, Node.js). I owned features from database to interface, shaped the front-end experience, and mentored teammates — keeping a long-lived codebase healthy and shipping steadily.
IT Coordinator
Coordinated IT services for a regional public administration — technical support, software assistance, and the development and upkeep of internal systems. I worked hands-on across the province, including on-site support for its network of public libraries, keeping critical day-to-day services dependable for staff and citizens.
Teacher
Taught the professional use of Adobe Photoshop to adult learners, translating a working designer's process into clear, practical lessons. I built the course material from scratch and adapted my pace to mixed-ability classes — early practice at the mentoring and communication I lean on every day now.
Teacher
Delivered courses in programming, graphic design, foundational IT and social web marketing across a range of vocational groups. Designing curricula for varied backgrounds sharpened my ability to break complex technical ideas into approachable, hands-on steps that genuinely stuck.
Learning never stops
Technical High School, Computer Science
From an early age I was captivated by software and the creative problem-solving it demands. Specialising in computer science turned that passion into practical skill — the foundation of my whole career.
- Functional programming with C and Assembly — understanding systems at a fundamental level.
- Object-oriented programming in Java, C++ and C# — efficient, modular applications.
- Hardware, system architecture and technical components, hands-on.
- Web development within the .NET framework — robust, data-driven applications.
Support Volunteer — Italian Civil Service
A year away from the books, to contribute something meaningful to my community — welcomed into a cooperative running social programmes.
- Facilitated activities and social support for groups of young people.
- Assisted and included individuals with disabilities in community programmes.
- Childcare and educational support in a preschool environment.
- Mentorship and structured activities supporting people in reintegration.
The person behind the code
Born in Italy in 1989. My superpower, I've been told, is reading people — speaking to each person in their own language, and being the calm one in the middle when a crisis needs steering. Deep down I'm shy: quiet and still, like fresh snow. But once I grow comfortable with someone, I become a dancing wind under a bright sky — warm, playful, and fully myself.
The ones I love
Ruka 瑠花 — blue flower — is my white dog; Ori 折 — opportunity — is my black cat: a white dog and a black cat, two opposites that mirror my own contrasting nature. And then there's Alessandro — my partner in life, a software engineer like me, and the steady centre of the little family we've built together. I love them all beyond measure.
Gaming, my quiet place
Console and PC gaming is how I wind down — the one space where the noise finally goes quiet and the day lets go of me. When I feel scattered or lost, slipping into a game is how I find my footing again: a few hours in another world, and I come back to myself, steadier and lighter. It's less a hobby than a small ritual of resetting.
Anime, manga & Japan
Japanese culture shaped me long before I could name why. The characters I grew up with became quiet teachers: Sana Kurata 倉田 紗南 from Kodocha, all open-hearted courage, and Tohru Honda 本田 透 from Fruits Basket, whose gentle, unconditional kindness still feels like a blueprint for the person I try to be. Manga, anime and the spirit behind them are woven into who I am today.
Let's put
it in ink
However you'd like to work together, there's a way in. Looking for a consultant? ELVA11 ↗, the company I work with, has a whole team of people like me. Hoping to collaborate with me directly? I run my own business here in Sweden, so don't hesitate to ask — just know my days are quite full right now, so free time is scarce. Either way, I'd genuinely love to hear from you.