Software Engineer · Bavaria, Germany
Zaniar Shokati
Software Engineer
I build things I actually need.
My background spans C++, C#, and Python across industries as different as aerospace and automotive — I like the kind of problem that forces me to learn a new domain fast.
More recently, that same instinct pushed me to build my own solutions when the tools I needed didn't exist. I hit a wall learning German with generic apps, so I started building better ones. That grew into DeutschGenie, an AI exam prep platform for German certifications, and Merulia, a vocabulary learning app — both designed, built, and shipped solo.
The domain doesn't matter much to me. A hard problem and a clean solution — that's the job.
Skills & Stack
Languages
- C++
- C#
- Python
- TypeScript
- SQL
Domains & Disciplines
- Machine Learning
- Reinforcement Learning
- Embedded Systems
- AI-powered Products
- Full-Stack Development
- System Design
Tools & Platforms
- PyTorch
- Next.js
- Docker
- Git
- Railway
- Linux
Things I've Built
Two independent products — designed, built, and shipped solo.
DeutschGenie
AI-powered exam prep for German language certifications (Goethe, ÖSD, telc).
- •Examiner-calibrated, weighted feedback — not generic corrections
- •Diagnoses vocabulary gaps vs. comprehension issues separately
- •Built for learners who actually need to pass
Merulia
Multilingual vocabulary learning through the way words actually connect.
- •Semantic "Card Worlds" — words grouped by meaning, not alphabetically
- •Spaced repetition built in
- •Started as a tool I built for my own German learning
Consulting
I take on select software consulting work — architecture decisions, full-stack development, and getting AI-powered systems from prototype to production.
The best problems I've worked on came from industries I wasn't expecting. I pick things up fast and I'm not attached to how things are usually done.
If you're building something hard, let's talk.
Writing
Some of what I've learned along the way.
From Package-by-Layer to Domain-Partitioned: What I Actually Learned
Jul 23, 2026
"It depends" is the honest answer to almost every architecture question. Here''s the longer answer — what it depends on, and what the migration actually looked like.
Read →LearningEscaping the Endless Learning Loop (Without Lowering Your Standards)
Nov 11, 2025
How I stopped collecting courses and started shipping things — while still learning more than I did before.
Read →Machine LearningDeploying Machine Learning Models in Production: Challenges, Strategies, and Best Practices
Feb 26, 2025
Moving models from a notebook to a serving stack is where most projects quietly die. Here's what actually helps.
Read →CareerNavigating the Ever-Changing Tech Landscape as a Junior Developer
Feb 26, 2025
A note to the version of me that started five years ago — and to anyone starting today.
Read →AILeveraging Knowledge Distillation for Embedded AI: A Comprehensive Guide
Feb 22, 2025
Getting a large teacher network to teach a tiny student one is the closest thing embedded AI has to a superpower.
Read →Reinforcement LearningBuilding a Robust Soft Actor-Critic (SAC) Agent for LunarLanderContinuous-v2
Feb 21, 2025
A hands-on walkthrough of stabilising SAC on a classic continuous control benchmark — and what breaks along the way.
Read →Outside the IDE
As a software developer, I spend most of my days staring at a screen — which is why I balance things out with a phone camera and whatever's outside the window.
I'm not exactly Ansel Adams. But who needs perfect lighting when you've got a sense of humor and decent timing?
Get in touch
Whether it's a project, a question, or just to say hi.