Burak Kalafat

Lead technical modernization initiatives across major financial institutions, serving as technical advisor and GitHub Copilot champion:

Akbank - Large-Scale Legacy Modernization:

• Led large-scale legacy COBOL mainframe modernization to modern C# and Java backend services in 3 months, achieving 6-8× acceleration through AI-assisted development
• Provided technical leadership through architectural guidance, coding standards establishment, and team mentorship on Clean Architecture principles
• Delivered 3 company-wide presentations on GitHub Copilot Enterprise adoption to management, establishing AI-assisted development best practices organization-wide
• Implemented Spec-Driven Development (SDD) methodology using GitHub Copilot Agent and custom modes, eliminating hallucinations and ensuring zero scope drift
• Applied Repository, Unit of Work, Facade, and Strategy design patterns to ensure maintainable, testable codebase

Turkiye Finans - Internet and Mobile Banking Backend:

• Developed robust banking backend systems using MVC, WCF, and MSSQL with comprehensive unit testing coverage

Technologies: C#, .NET Core, Java, MVC, WCF, MSSQL, GitHub Copilot Enterprise, Prompt Engineering, Design Patterns (Repository, Unit of Work, Facade, Strategy), GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps

• Contributed to architecture, design, and implementation of backend-focused features using C#
• Collaborated within an international, remote-first environment
• Delivered scalable, maintainable solutions

Technologies: C#, .NET Core, Backend Architecture

Led technical modernization and architecture initiatives across major Turkish banks with code review responsibilities and team mentorship:

Halkbank - Mobile Banking Backend Transformation:

• Architected and led migration from legacy .NET Framework to Clean Architecture using .NET Core
• Increased concurrent user capacity 5-6× per server through asynchronous programming patterns and thread optimization strategies
• Developed scalable REST APIs with EF Core and MSSQL, deployed via Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines
• Implemented Repository and Unit of Work patterns for maintainable data access layer

Turkiye Finans - Technical Leadership and Code Review:

• Owned code review process for development team, ensuring code quality, best practices, and architectural compliance
• Mentored development team through regular code reviews and architectural guidance sessions
• Developed enterprise-level corporate customer solutions using WinForms and WCF services
• Established coding standards and review guidelines, improving code quality and reducing bug rates

Akbank - Payment System Full-Stack Development:

• Led Payment System campaign as Full-Stack Developer using TypeScript, Knockout.js, C#, and Java Spring
• Integrated frontend and backend systems with Oracle 12c database, ensuring transactional consistency

Technologies: .NET Core, REST APIs, EF Core, MSSQL, Clean Architecture, Asynchronous Programming, TypeScript, Knockout.js, Java Spring, Oracle 12c, Azure DevOps, Design Patterns (Repository, Unit of Work)

• Utilized Java and APDU protocols to write high-level security EAC SAC data to smartcard passport chips
• Contributed to secure government identification systems

Technologies: Java, APDU, Smartcard Technology

• Transformed legacy systems to service-oriented architectures for CRM and Collections teams
• Implemented MVVM pattern with WPF and WCF services
• Developed database solutions using Oracle 11g and PL/SQL

Technologies: .NET, MVVM, WPF, WCF, Oracle 11g, PL/SQL

• Developed custom widgets using ASP.NET for Turkcell SharePoint environment
• Contributed part-time while completing university studies

Technologies: ASP.NET, SharePoint