About
Engineering with product instinct.
My work sits between product thinking and technical depth. I care about interfaces that feel sharp, systems that scale without drama, and execution that turns ideas into shipped outcomes.
Founder-minded engineer · Germany
Building products at the speed of my system.
I am Karan Kartikeya, CTO at SlideCoach and a current Cognitive Systems master's student at Ulm University. I build clean, scalable products with a full-stack mindset and a strong bias toward useful execution.
TypeScriptPythonProduct EngineeringFull-Stack + AI
Location
Germany
Operating from Europe while building globally focused software.
Stack
Full-stack + AI
React, TypeScript, Python, JavaScript, backend systems, and applied AI.
Experience
Building products while staying hands-on with the code.
Mar 2025 – Present
Co-founder & CTO — SlideCoach
Leading AI model development to enhance personalized presentation feedback. Fine-tuning Large Language Models using LoRA and PEFT for adaptive response generation. Integrating multimodal inputs (slides, text, voice) into the feedback system.
May 2025 – Aug 2025
Research Assistant — Universität Ulm
Worked in the Human Factors Dept. Enhanced car simulation environments using SILAB. Assisted on a remote control setup for driving simulations and assessing cognitive load on users while driving.
Nov 2023 – Sept 2024
Associate Developer — Accenture
Managed SAP BASIS tasks including configuration, monitoring, and system maintenance. Collaborated with cross-functional teams to optimize enterprise-level infrastructure.
Nov 2022 – June 2024
Founder & CEO — 7Svar (Exited)
Led product development from idea to MVP, working closely with engineers and designers. Started B2B pilot partnerships with universities and companies, generating over $15,000 in pilot revenue.
Jan 2022 – Jun 2022
Backend Developer — BharatX (YC '22)
Led development of a WooCommerce Plugin enhancing fintech integrations for e-commerce platforms. Redesigned Reconciliation APIs, reducing delinquency rates and improving transaction reliability.
Oct 2021 – Dec 2021
Backend Developer — ZuAI (Formerly ZuPay)
Developed and optimized REST APIs using Python, Flask, and SQLAlchemy, improving system efficiency. Enhanced authentication mechanisms, securing core application functionality.
Education & Studies
Academic grounding in cognition, systems, and intelligent products.
2024 – Present
M.Sc. in Cognitive Systems
Universität Ulm, Germany
Graduate studies with a lens on cognition, intelligent systems, multimodal AI, reinforcement learning, and how people interact with technology.
2019 – 2023
B.Tech in Computer Science
Graphic Era Hill University
CGPA: 8.10 / German Grade: 1.95. Strong foundation in software engineering, algorithms, and systems programming.
Projects
Selected builds and live code footprints.
Open-source packages
Published Python library
engram-causal
Causal inference library for building intervention-aware experimentation and decision workflows. Published on PyPI.
Published npm library
docu-suite-mcp
MCP toolkit package for documentation-centric workflows and structured tool-driven automation. Published on npm.
Live products
● Live
Company · Mar 2025 – Present
SlideCoach
AI presentation coaching platform
Co-founded and leading technical direction. AI-powered platform with multimodal feedback on slides, text, and voice. Fine-tuned LLMs using LoRA and PEFT for adaptive coaching loops.
Next.jsFastAPILoRAPEFTMultimodal AIPostgres
● Live
Side Project · macOS App
ClapSnap
macOS gesture-based workspace launcher
macOS menu bar app that launches your entire workspace with a double clap or snap. Local audio detection, zero cloud, cinematic overlay, and customizable welcome message. One-time purchase, no subscription.
macOSSwiftAudio DetectionMenu Bar
● Live
Side Project · Web Tool
IlovePdfDoc
Free document conversion & editing suite
Online platform for converting, merging, splitting, and editing documents — no sign-up required. Built-in encryption and auto file deletion after 30 minutes for privacy.
Next.jsTypeScriptPDF ProcessingFile Encryption
● Live
Side Project · AI Tool
Roast My Idea
AI startup idea validator
Submit a business idea, get brutally honest AI feedback in 30 seconds — no signup. Analyzed through YC Office Hours thinking, CEO perspective, market timing, and distribution strategy. Delivers a Kill / Refine / Build verdict with score.
Next.jsLLMTypeScriptAI Evaluation
● Live
Side Project · AI Platform
VibeRank
Competitive prompt ranking platform
Platform that ranks users based on their ability to craft effective AI prompts — "Who Prompts Best?" Comparative assessment system for prompt engineering skill.
Next.jsLLMsTypeScriptRanking Engine
Research & experiments
Research Project
Adaptive VR Environment
Cognitive load-minimizing VR setup
Immersive VR environment designed to minimize cognitive overload and motion sickness through optimized interaction design and environmental cues. Research project at Universität Ulm.
VRSILABCognitive Systems
AI Project
LLM Code Generation Assistant
Natural language to functional code
Fine-tuned LLMs using LoRA and PEFT to translate natural-language requirements into functional code. Trained on domain-specific datasets for improved accuracy.
PythonLoRAPEFT
Side Project
Collegifyy
AI platform for student opportunities
AI-powered platform to streamline campus events and deliver personalized job and course insights for students. Smart recommendations based on profile and interests.
Next.jsAI RecommendationsTypeScript
Commit History
How the public GitHub graph is trending right now.
Status
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Reach Out
Want to build something sharp together?
The fastest path is email. The button below opens Gmail compose directly with Karan's public contact address.