Ganesh
Chandrawale
Problem solver. Tech leader. Lifelong learner.
15+ years turning complex business problems into elegant technology solutions — from writing Java code in Pune to architecting cloud transformations in London.
I follow the problem,
not the title.
My career didn't follow a plan. It followed curiosity. I started as a PL/SQL developer on a project I wasn't hired for, became a Java developer, then accidentally ran an L2 ops team of 20 people, then flew to London when my son was 40 days old to rescue a project in the red — and somehow turned it around.
That pattern — show up, learn fast, solve the hard thing — has defined every chapter of the last 15 years. From Pune to London, from writing shell scripts at midnight to designing cloud architectures for some of the UK's largest programmes.
Today I work as a Solution Architect designing enterprise-scale systems on AWS. I also write, mentor, lead an Architecture Guild, and think deeply about the role AI will play in the future of how we all work.
- —Real-world experience is the best teacher.
- —Skills matter more than labels.
- —Documentation isn't boring — it's how knowledge survives you.
- —The best architecture decisions are deeply human ones.
- —An IT change without a business change is an illusion.
15 years of showing up
and figuring it out.
This isn't a polished CV summary. It's the actual story — the chaos, the lessons, and the moments that shaped how I think.
PL/SQL & Java Developer
Started as a Java developer after fast-track training — then immediately landed on a PL/SQL project I wasn't hired for. Learned on the job, became one of the trusted juniors, and discovered my first big lesson: everyone must understand what they're working towards, no matter how small their role.
L3 Engineer → L2 Lead → DevOps → Java Dev → Solution Architect
Five roles in five years. Joined a chaotic vendor transition, spent 12-hour days documenting everything, automated away 50% of the ticket volume with a Java utility built in spare time. Was sent to London when my son was 40 days old to rescue a project in the red. Turned it around in weeks. Ended the chapter as a Solution Architect migrating legacy apps to AWS with 3 days to spare before the deadline.
Sr. IT Business Analyst & Integration Architect
Learned what proper requirements management looks like. Championed automation in a resistant organisation. Had a coffee conversation that turned into a project saving thousands of hours of manual reporting — and proved that the best way to sell a new tool is to solve a real, painful problem for a real person who really needs it.
Sr. System Architect → Solution Architect
Joined a large-scale industry transformation programme. Standardised hiring processes, founded an Architecture Guild, shaped requirements and designed a cross-domain billing capability from scratch — including rebuilding stakeholder confidence at a critical point — and started building an AI Agent as a personal innovation project. The work is bigger than ever — and so is the learning.
Cricket coaching.
A different kind of delivery.
Since 2019, I've been coaching cricket at my local club — starting with 9-year-olds learning their first forward defensive, and now working with 13-year-olds who are starting to understand the game's deeper tactics.
Cricket teaches patience, discipline, and how to handle pressure — lessons that translate surprisingly well to software architecture. Both require reading the situation, adapting your approach, and knowing when to attack and when to defend.
It's also a reminder that not everything valuable happens in front of a screen. Some of the best problem-solving happens on a cricket field on a Saturday morning.
Witney Mills Cricket Club
Witney, Oxfordshire
"Coaching isn't just about technique — it's about building confidence, teaching resilience, and helping young players fall in love with the game."
Problems solved.
Lessons earned.
Not just project names — the context, the challenge, and what actually happened.
Greenfield Billing Capability
Took a greenfield billing capability from one-line business intent to production-ready automated processing. Worked alongside business analysts to bring requirements to definition of ready, designed an end-to-end solution that touched every adjacent domain, and rebuilt stakeholder confidence at a point when the direction of the programme was in question.
- ✓Requirements brought to definition of ready before design began
- ✓Cross-domain solution design covering every connected capability
- ✓Stakeholder confidence restored through structured demonstration of intent
Legacy Application Migration to AWS
Three legacy applications needed migrating from ageing data centres to AWS against a hard deadline. Discovered they were incompatible with lift-and-shift. Presented an alternative modernisation approach, secured approval, and delivered all three applications with penetration testing complete ahead of the deadline.
- ✓Avoided significant licence cost exposure
- ✓Delivered ahead of contractual deadline
- ✓Full technology compliance achieved
Work Management Platform
A conversation about a manual reporting burden became a full product. Delivered a work management platform that replaced email-based processes, produced 15+ automated reports, and enabled the team to take on significantly more work with the same headcount. Later replicated for other departments.
- ✓Eliminated hours of weekly manual reporting
- ✓Team capacity increased with same headcount
- ✓Replicated across additional departments
L2 Support Automation Utility
Identified that a single ticket category made up 50% of L2 support volume — always the same root cause, same fix. Built a Java utility that detected the issue proactively and applied the resolution automatically. Ticket volume halved within weeks of deployment.
- ✓50% reduction in support ticket volume
- ✓Freed team capacity for higher-value work
- ✓Deployed to production within weeks of demo
Recruitment Process Transformation
Inherited a hiring process with high CV volume, low quality, and poor interview conversion. Built a structured interview matrix, rewrote job descriptions based on real responsibilities, aligned recruitment partners, and founded a Capability Guild for onboarding. Conversion improved significantly with far fewer interviews.
- ✓CV volume dropped, quality improved dramatically
- ✓Interview success rate more than doubled
- ✓Founded Architecture Guild (40+ members)
Latest Projects
Deep dives into current work — the domain challenges, design decisions, and outcomes that matter.
Billing Transformation
From vague intent to trusted financial automation — shaping requirements, designing a cross-domain solution, and rebuilding stakeholder confidence along the way.
Settlements (London Market)
Designing financial certainty in a multi-party market—making complexity defensible, auditable, and scalable.
From the field
lessons learned.
The Ferrari Analogy Is Costing You More Than You Think
How a seemingly sensible boardroom shortcut quietly undermines engineering quality, accumulates risk, and misreads the very philosophy it claims to follow.
The Requirements Graveyard: Why So Many Projects Die Before a Line of Code Is Written
Most projects do not die in production; they die quietly in the requirements phase. By the time engineers open an IDE, the real damage is already done.
Which Architect Am I, Exactly? The Job-Title Maze We've Built
When someone asks me what kind of architect I am, I still hesitate. My CV says Solution Architect, but my work cuts across integration, data, cloud and enterprise architecture.
Thoughts on where
technology is taking us.
Architecture Assurance: Reconciling Intent Across the Distributed Web
In a modern enterprise, architecture is—and always will be—a **Distributed Web of Artifacts.**
From Page Views to Purpose: How AI Is Redefining Customer Experience in the IT Industry
An exploration for strategy leaders, enterprise architects and customer experience professionals on the fundamental shift happening at the intersection of AI and customer experience.
I completed an architectural audit in 60 minutes using Amazon Kiro
AI architectural audits used to take days. Here's the exact chain-prompting method I used with Amazon Kiro, GitHub and MCP to do one in under an hour.