From the Caribbean to the Big Apple. I'm Carlos Polanco, originally from the Dominican Republic, where my tech journey began with a telecommunications degree. Back then, our studies weren't just theoretical - we dove deep into programming, chip design, network security, and system architecture. Most of our focus was on programming, which laid the foundation for everything that followed.
The Arduino Adventure. My final university project was something I'm still proud of - a real-time bus tracking system that let users see exactly how far their bus was and estimate wait times. This was back in the 3G days, so we had to be incredibly resourceful. We programmed Arduino using C++, built the website in PHP, and had just 32KB to fit the entire project code. We even worked with minimal documentation about antennas and ATF connections. Those constraints taught me to write efficient, purposeful code.
The Consulate Years: Learning Through Fire. When I started at the Dominican Consulate in New York, it was like being thrown into the deep end. With a new consul coming in, the first two years were intense - 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM shifts until the head consul left. But this challenge became my greatest teacher. I worked closely with teams across different departments - customer service, documentation, administrative staff - learning from everyone while also serving at the front desk. This cross-functional collaboration taught me that the best solutions come from understanding every stakeholder's perspective, from the stressed customer waiting in line to the clerk processing hundreds of documents daily.
The Pivot That Changed Everything. At Celebrity Home Loan, I was initially hired for frontend work on a new project. But life had other plans - I ended up collaborating closely with the data and security teams, working hand-in-hand to manage databases and their AWS cloud infrastructure. This collaboration taught me invaluable lessons about cross-team communication and how frontend decisions impact backend performance. Working with security experts showed me how user-friendly interfaces could actually compromise or enhance security. Sometimes the best growth comes from embracing unexpected team dynamics.
Today's Mission. Now, as a freelance consultant, I help businesses integrate AI into their workflows through collaborative partnerships. I work closely with business owners, their teams, and end users to understand their real needs. I've guided over 15 clients through AI adoption by facilitating workshops with their staff, built chatbot systems with restaurant teams that increased customer retention by 15%, and collaborated with newsroom editors to create AI-powered platforms that reduced journalists' work time by 40%. Every project reinforces that the best technology solutions emerge from genuine collaboration between developers, business stakeholders, and the people who will actually use the system.