About

I’m Bernard van der Esch, a backend developer in Warsaw who likes building things. I work mainly in PHP and Symfony: APIs, backend systems and integrations. I enjoy automating workflows, experimenting with AI tools, and small projects that let me learn a new technology. If something can be automated or improved, I’ll probably try to build it.

Today I’m a Forward Deployed Engineer at Fast White Cat, where I develop the Open Mercato ecosystem: platform features, internal tooling and developer workflows, AI-assisted development practices, architecture, and onboarding. I’m also a core team member of Open Mercato.

Experience

• Forward Deployed Engineer, Fast White Cat, May 2026 to now. I develop the Open Mercato ecosystem and I’m a core team member of Open Mercato.
• Senior PHP Developer, EVERTRUST, 2023–2026. A compliance and risk-management platform, with AI-assisted compliance analysis and workflow automation.
• Lead Developer, Cloudy Solutions, 2020–2024. Backend architecture, integrations, mentoring, and end-to-end delivery.
• Magento Architect, Edipresse Polska, 2019–2020.
• Lecturer, Coders Lab, 2017–2021. I taught PHP and backend development.
• Earlier: Magento and PHP developer at Cyclad, ORBA, Praca.pl and Getin Noble Bank, from 2014. I’ve run my own company since 2015.

I was also VP of Membership at Poland’s First Toastmasters in 2019–2020.

Education and certificates

• Warsaw University of Technology, engineer’s degree in Computer Networks and Telecommunications, 2008–2013.
• Certificates: AI_devs 4 Builders, AI_devs 3 Agents Reloaded, and AI in business development.