Daniel Fürst

Software Engineer

T-shaped software engineer with 8+ years’ experience. Empathetic leader passionate about building software that aligns with user needs.

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Expertise

System Design & Software Architecture

I like building scalable, secure, and resilient systems. Over the years, I’ve gained solid, hands-on experience across many components of modern cloud and software architectures.

Generative AI & LLMs

I am currently working deeply with AI pipelines, prompt engineering, RAG systems, getting into vector databases, and configuring agents that help me ship new product features faster and more reliably.

Leadership & Team Development

I lead with empathy — developing team members, fostering growth, and bridging technology with business goals. Whether it's running workshops, facilitating collaboration, or mentoring engineers.

Agile & Delivery

I have a deep understanding of agile product development and believe in the collective intelligence of cross-functional teams built on psychological safety. Keeping things moving and continuously improving.

Experience

May 2021 - today

Senior Software Engineer

echonovum

Re-architected and migrated production Kubernetes workloads from GKE to a serverless, AWS Lambda–driven architecture, reducing infrastructure costs by 30% while improving performance.

Built analytics pipeline to track DAU/WAU/MAU, enabling data-driven product decisions and tracking inventory growth.

Redesigned the platform's core sendout infrastructure to meet higher demand (>10x throughput) with improved resilience.

Built internal prompt engineering tool for versioning, testing, and comparing prompts, accelerating LLM feature development.

Owned and delivered end-to-end integration projects for well-known companies onto the echonovum platform.

  • System design and architecture: Designing scalable, performant, and secure systems, with a focus on leveraging cloud-based solutions.
  • Implementing generative AI pipelines: Designing, integrating, and maintaining AI workflows that connect data sources, models, and application components.
  • Prompt engineering and AI agents: Creating, refining, and evaluating prompts and AI agent configurations for specific product use cases.
TypeScript Python PHP MySQL AWS / GKE Terraform / AWS CDK Kubernetes Generative AI LLMs (Anthropic / OpenAI) MCP Prompt Engineering RAG
Oct 2018 - May 2021

Software Developer / Team Lead

echonovum

Built echonovum's SaaS platform as a member of the team, adopting a microservices architecture for scalability.

Established a new product development process allowing the team to work focused and distraction free, while giving enough room for ideation and collaboration.

  • Active leadership and personal development of the developer team.
  • Cross-team management and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
Node.js Vue.js AWS / Google Cloud Kubernetes PHP Serverless CI/CD MySQL Agile Project Management Scrum Kanban
May 2017 - Sep 2018

Application Engineer

PwC Experience Center, Zürich

Helped shape a self-motivated cross-functional team (8 members) that shipped internal products including Kudos (blockchain rewards) and PwC's first chatbot.

  • Ideation, conception, planning and development of existing and new software components
  • Deputy Product Owner: planning and execution of customer meetings and workshops, backlog grooming
  • Deputy Scrum Master: facilitation of Scrum ceremonies and team coaching
Vue.js Go Solidity Docker PHP JavaScript MySQL
Nov 2015 - Apr 2017

Software Developer / Team Lead

Native GmbH

Led a 3-person development team, delivering web projects for clients including Comparis and Livit.

  • Full-stack web development: websites and web applications
  • Technical point of contact for customers and management
PHP JavaScript MySQL Laravel Joomla Wordpress

Projects

echonovum

2021 - present

echonovum AG

AI-powered experience management SaaS platform, trusted by leading Swiss companies.

echonovum.com

Kudos

2018

PwC Switzerland

Blockchain prototype for employee recognition with digital currency rewards.

Vue.js Solidity Docker

Wintershall

2018

PwC Switzerland

Crowd innovation platform with gamification. REST-API design, auth layer, on-premise infrastructure.

Go Vue.js Bash

Swissconnect

2017

PwC Switzerland

Digital platform connecting courier services for sustainable package delivery.

PHP Symfony MySQL
swissconnect.ch

ParkourOne

2016

Freelance

Training administration platform for ~700 members across 3 countries.

Laravel Eloquent Twig

MatheMagie

2007

Gerig Design AG

Mathematics teaching material. Authored content, didactic concept, online presence. Worlddidac Award 2008.

mathemagie.com

Education

2013 - 2015

Master of Science (M.Sc.), Molecular Biology

University of Zurich

Master Thesis: "CRISPR/Cas9 mediated engineering of a temperature-sensitive zipper mutant to study dorsal closure in Drosophila", Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, supervised by Prof. D. Brunner.

2009 - 2011

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Biology

University of Zurich

2007 - 2009

Environmental Sciences

ETH Zürich

About

Daniel Fürst

Born in 1986, I've soon become fascinated by computers and started experimenting with the web early on building my first website as a teenager (Adobe GoLive). After school, I started working as a web designer, which later helped fund my Biology studies.

In the same year as completing my degree, I transitioned into software engineering, combining my scientific training — analytical thinking, working with data, and structured problem-solving — with practical experience in web technologies. I focus on backend engineering, system design, and cloud infrastructure, and work extensively with generative AI pipelines and large language models.

When I'm not coding, you'll find me shredding trails on my enduro bike, hitting the drums in my band, carving through powder on a snowboard, or catching waves while surfing. I also enjoy taking care of my plants, talking about science and am admittedly a bit of a series and podcast junkie.

Contact

LinkedIn Email

Need a tailored CV? Just ask — AI does the formatting, I do the thinking (and the interviews) :-)