Yapily

Company: Yapily Ltd
Category: Fintech
Journey: Mar 2025 - July 2026

About the journey

I joined Yapily to lead the frontend function, but within weeks, the remaining engineers in the team departed. This required an immediate shift in scope—from leading an existing team to rebuilding the frontend capability from the ground up while maintaining continuity across legacy systems.

Over the following year, I focused on stabilising delivery and re-establishing engineering standards while hiring and structuring a new frontend team. In parallel, I supported ongoing product development on a legacy codebase, balancing incremental improvements with longer-term architectural decisions.

I led several high-visibility initiatives, including the complete rebuild of the company’s main website, the development of internal and external demo tooling, and the introduction of a unified component library to standardise UI development across products. This work culminated in a full rebuild of the company’s primary visual interface, significantly improving interaction speed, consistency, and overall responsiveness. Crucially, I also extended this technical leadership into the core architecture, completely rebuilding the backend of the flagship Hosted Pages product to successfully launch the company's cVRP (Commercial Variable Recurring Payments) flow in the UK.

These improvements proved critical during enterprise sales cycles, where product performance and reliability were closely evaluated. In particular, the increased interaction speed and stability of the platform contributed to securing sign-off from one of the company’s largest corporate clients.

Alongside my core responsibilities, I championed the adoption of AI-assisted development practices. I became the internal point of contact for licensing, and best practices, helping teams leveraging AI into their workflows.

What I left

I initially stepped into Yapily during a turbulent period in the broader UK tech market, seeking a stable environment where I could immediately apply my skills. What began as a strategic anchor quickly became a masterclass in driving impactful resilience under pressure.

By the end of my first year, having completely rebuilt the frontend capability, I took time to self-reflect on the engineering culture and operational pace. I realised that the company's delivery standards and long-term practices no longer aligned with my definition of engineering excellence. Having achieved what I set out to stabilise, it was time to move on to an environment that matches my standards for technical execution and velocity.

I left behind a transformed engineering unit. Throughout continuous ambiguity, I consistently advocated for my people—filling product roadmap gaps with initiatives specifically designed to protect team motivation, nurture morale, and establish a sane, positive culture.

I move forward knowing the team is equipped with the standards, tools, and cultural framework to thrive independently.