Robert Sowula
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Robert Sowula

Robert Sowula

Senior Software Engineer & Platform Engineer

REWE International AG

I’m a senior software and platform engineer based in Vienna, Austria, and open for relocation. I design and build distributed systems, backend services, and internal platforms, with a strong background in software engineering, platform architecture, and developer tooling.

Experience

  1. Senior Software & Platform Engineer

    REWE International AG
    • Designed and built Go-based Kubernetes Operators for Kafka and API management, enabling self-service for 1,000+ developers (Go).
    • Led operator development across teams and architected core parts of a new platform built during an organization merger.
    • Architected and provisioned multi-cluster GCP environments (Terraform, GitOps).
    • Led Istio service mesh integration and operations across critical production clusters with thousands of workloads.

  2. Software Engineer (Founder)

    Readcap
    • Built a distributed content processing & indexing pipeline for 100GB+ of book content (Python, Elasticsearch, PostgreSQL, Redis).
    • Designed and deployed a scalable microservices backend optimized for low-latency retrieval (Java, Go, Python, gRPC).
    • Shipped an iOS app with in-app purchases and acquired paying users (Swift, SwiftUI).

  3. Software Developer and Scientific Employee

    INSO Industrial Software GmbH
    • Developed custom service-oriented software solutions (Java, Spring, Kotlin, Docker).
    • Integrated an extensive continuous deployment (CD) pipeline

  4. Teaching Assistant (part-time)

    Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)
    • Supported seven university courses in software engineering and data science through workshops, grading, project supervision, and oral exams.

  5. Software Engineering Intern

    RISE ‑ Research Industrial Systems Engineering
    • Designed and implemented web-based software solutions (Java, Spring, Angular).
    • Built quality-assurance pipelines to maintain code quality.

  6. DevOps Intern (two summer internships)

    BOC Products & Services AG
    • Conceptualized and deployed scalable AWS infrastructure, forming the basis for the company’s migration to AWS (CloudFormation).
    • Migrated SSO services to a replicated Kubernetes setup, improving availability.
    • Contributed fixes for high-availability and failover issues in open-source dependencies (Go).
    • Developed microservices and deployment solutions for a scalable ELK stack (Python, TypeScript, RabbitMQ, Kubernetes).

Education

  1. M.S. Software Engineering/Internet Computing

    Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)

    Grade: 1.3/1.0 (approx. GPA 3.9/4.0)

    • Emphasis on algorithms, software engineering, and data science.
    • Master’s thesis in Music Information Retrieval (MIR).
    • Presented a research paper at ISMIR 2024.

  2. B.S. Software & Information Engineering

    Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)
    • Focus on formal methods, algorithms, and software engineering.

Selected Projects

Kubernetes Operator for Integration Orchestration

Platform automation for Kafka and API management
  • Designed and built Kubernetes Operators for Kafka and API management to enable self-service for internal teams.
  • Automated lifecycle management for core platform services across a multi-cluster environment.

Technologies:

Go Kubernetes Kafka Operator SDK Terraform

Service Mesh Integration

Istio rollout across critical production clusters
  • Led Istio integration and operations across critical production clusters.
  • Improved routing, observability, and security for production workloads while supporting gradual platform adoption.

Technologies:

Istio Kubernetes Terraform GCP

Distributed Content Processing System

Distributed pipeline and backend for Readcap
  • Built a distributed content processing and indexing pipeline for 100GB+ of book content.
  • Designed a low-latency microservices backend for search and app functionality.
  • Implemented Elasticsearch-based full-text search for fast retrieval across the indexed content.
  • Shipped an iOS app on top of the platform and monetized it with in-app purchases.

Technologies:

Java Go Python PostgreSQL Elasticsearch Redis gRPC Swift

Automated Music Mixing Research

Music information retrieval research presented at ISMIR 2024
  • Developed a fully automated DJ mixing system combining MIR, machine learning, and rule-based audio processing.
  • Implemented tempo detection and stem-based transition improvements for more precise mixes.
  • Presented the work at ISMIR 2024.

Technologies:

Python C++ TensorFlow

Certifications

iSAQB® Certified Professional for Software Architecture – Foundation Level (CPSA-F)

iSAQB®
Issued Sep 2025

Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)

The Linux Foundation / CNCF
Issued Nov 2025 · Expires Nov 2027
Talks
How we did not migrate to Istio Ambient mode featured image

How we did not migrate to Istio Ambient mode

How we evaluated moving from Istio sidecars to Ambient mode: a hybrid design, PoC results, why we deferred, and a live demo.

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Robert Sowula
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Publications
Robert Sowula, Peter Knees (2024). Mosaikbox: Improving Fully Automatic DJ Mixing Through Rule-based Stem Modification and Precise Beat-Grid Estimation. ISMIR 2024, San Francisco, USA.
PDF Code Poster DOI
Skills
Programming
Go
Java/Kotlin
Python
Swift
TypeScript
C/C++
Platform
Kubernetes
Terraform
GCP
GitOps
Istio
Docker
Ansible
Frameworks / Systems
Operator SDK
Spring
Apache Kafka
PostgreSQL
Redis
Elasticsearch
MongoDB
TensorFlow
Scikit-learn
Frontend
SwiftUI
Vue.js
Angular

Open Source

Canvas 1Layer 1

Libelektra

Configuration framework for hierarchical key management
  • Maintained packaging, plugin development, and release automation for the project.
  • Introduced RPM and DEB packaging, increasing adoption of the software (CMake/CPack, Python).
  • Implemented C++ plugins and a continuous release pipeline, enabling more frequent releases (C/C++, Jenkins).

Technologies:

C C++ CMake/CPack Python Groovy Jenkins
View Project

asactl

CLI for managing Apple Search Ads campaigns from YAML
Manage Apple Search Ads campaigns from YAML, preview diffs, and apply changes without dashboard work.
Go
View Project

tempotui

Terminal UI for reviewing Tempo time entries
Review monthly Tempo entries in the terminal and spot time-tracking issues faster.
Rust
View Project

Outside of Work

A few things I enjoy away from work.

DJ Mixing

Music and DJing are a long-running hobby, and I occasionally play at local clubs.

Sports

I enjoy staying active through running, hiking, cycling, and weightlifting.

Photography

I like capturing landscapes, everyday moments, and travel scenes.

Side Projects

I run home lab infrastructure and use it to explore new technologies and build software projects.