Carlos Blanco
Available for new engagements

Hello, I'm Carlos!

I'm a Fractional Chief Technology Officer and Independent Consultant with over 15 years of experience in software engineering.

I help entrepreneurs launch faster by providing hands-on technical input, guidance and expertise as a service, on your terms.

How I Can Help

I work alongside you to build sustainable, evolutionary solutions that align with your vision—whether you're validating an idea, building your first MVP, or scaling an established product.
Work with me in 🇬🇧 English or 🇪🇸 Spanish.

Fractional CTO

Strategic technical leadership without the full-time commitment

  • Technical strategy & vision
  • Team building & hiring
  • Cost optimization

Technical Co-founder

Hands-on partnership from idea to product-market fit

  • Find product-market fit
  • MVP delivery & iteration
  • Build on early momentum

Technical Assessment

Fixed-scope assessment to guide your technical strategy

  • Technical debt & architecture audit
  • Performance & security baseline
  • Technical Due Diligence

Flexible pricing to match your stage and budget

Work With Me Across Borders & Time Zones

Native 🇬🇧 English and 🇪🇸 Spanish speaker with roots in both North American and European startup ecosystems. Flexible across time zones, fluent in cross-cultural team dynamics.

Flexible across time zones Native English & Spanish Cross-cultural team building

Technical Expertise

I bring hands-on technical leadership with deep expertise across modern tech stacks, cloud infrastructure, and emerging AI technologies—backed by 15+ years building systems at enterprise scale.

Hands-on Leadership

Staff Engineer who architects and builds—not just advises

  • Modern web (Astro, Next.js, Node.js)
  • Enterprise Java ecosystems
  • Microservices & APIs

Cloud & DevOps

Proven track record reducing costs and accelerating delivery

  • AWS, GCP, Cloudflare, Digital Ocean
  • CI/CD & Infrastructure as Code
  • 25% cost reduction achieved

AI/ML & Emerging Tech

Practical AI integration and strategic guidance

  • LLM integration & strategy
  • Synthetic AI (Text-to-Speech)
  • Applied AI product development

Enterprise Scale

Built systems processing millions of daily transactions

  • Fintech & financial services
  • High-volume transaction systems
  • Regulated industries expertise

Recent Clients I've Worked With

Trusted by startups across different domains from Edtech, Fintech and sustainability sectors

My Story

I've spent over 15 years in software engineering where I've taken on a diverse set of roles. I started out as a software developer and over the first decade of my career learnt what it takes to build systems that process millions of transactions, building backend systems, leading DevOps transformations, and eventually managing product teams. I experienced software development from different angles - operations, product management, and hands-on engineering - which taught me how to bridge the gap between business goals and technical execution.

In recent years I've helped founders, especially non-technical founders, make their vision a reality. I've worked with startups through prestigious accelerator programs including Google for Startups, Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab, Centech, Logistics 4.0 Barcelona, and Sherpa Tribe in Zaragoza. Technology advancements have lowered the barrier to entry and as more people enter the space with ideas, my passion for helping make tech relatable and easy to understand has grown. I've successfully helped founders bring on their first investor, built or rebuilt their initial MVP all the while being a sound and approachable presence to provide the technical leadership needed. I've worked with clients across Canada, Spain, and Germany and in multiple languages (English & Spanish).

I'm a hands-on CTO who's always looking to understand the most relevant tech to help founders support their ambitions. I provide mentoring for leadership teams, technical strategy, technical best practices, and growth planning to ensure you're set up for the long term.