I've spent more than twenty years chasing one question: how do you build technology that genuinely moves a business forward?
That question took me from a Portuguese startup to Microsoft, then to co-founding Maincheck — acquired by FARFETCH in 2013 — and on to FARFETCH itself. I lead Technology as a single, connected discipline — Product, Engineering, Research, and Infrastructure working as one — behind a platform that brings the world's best luxury boutiques to customers in more than 190 countries.
I joined FARFETCH in 2013 and have grown with the company, from leading a small technology team to now CTO. Throughout this journey, I have focused on the key factors that determine a platform's success: solid architecture, prioritizing performance, scalability, security, and reliable data, and building a culture where everyone on the technology team can do their best work.
My interest in mobile technology began well before smartphones became common. I developed my skills at MobiComp, a Braga-based startup that Microsoft acquired in 2008, and I was part of the team that won the first Google Android Developer Challenge for the first Life360 app on Android. I studied Computer Science at the Universidade do Minho, and I still love learning, most recently about deep learning and machine learning engineering.
FARFETCH
2013 — present
I lead Technology at FARFETCH end to end — Product, Engineering, Research, and Infrastructure under one roof. The mandate is simple to say and hard to do: set the platform's long-term direction, keep engineering excellent as it scales, and make sure technology is always serving the business and the customer.
FARFETCH
earlier years
I joined as FARFETCH was finding its feet and helped it sprint. I set the architectural direction during the company's steepest growth, and shaped the engineering principles and practices that let a young platform scale without losing its way.
The company I started with others: a consultancy working exclusively on software quality management and testing. We ran independent application-lifecycle assessments, stood up test labs, and took on the work teams tend to postpone — performance, security, automation. I led internal research and product development, and worked as principal consultant on application lifecycle management. It came from a conviction I still hold, that quality isn't a phase bolted on at the end but part of how software gets built. FARFETCH bought the company in January 2013 — which is how I arrived there — and I stayed on its board until April 2015. Founding something put me on the other side of the table, a different education from any job.
Microsoft
2008 — 2011
When Microsoft acquired MobiComp in 2008, I joined to help stand up Microsoft's first mobile-services R&D centre in Europe, based in Braga. It was a front-row seat to the mobile revolution as it was happening — building cloud-connected services for a world that was only just going wireless.
Life360
early mobile
I was part of the team behind the first Life360 application for Android — work that won a Google Android Developer Challenge, one of the platform's earliest global accolades. Building for Android when the SDK was brand new taught me how to ship on shifting ground.
MobiComp
2001 — 2008
Where it all began. I grew up as an engineer at MobiComp, a Braga startup, rising from developer to architect and helping drive product innovation across mobile operator data and video services, mobile banking platforms, and retail solutions — until Microsoft came knocking in 2008.
The themes I keep coming back to — in the work itself, and in what I'm still learning.
Putting deep learning to work on real problems — discovery, search, the customer experience, and the everyday intelligence that keeps a business sharp.
Systems that are resilient today and easy to change tomorrow. The best architecture buys you speed later — not just stability now.
Trust is earned in the design, not bolted on at the end. I treat security, governance, and compliance as part of how good engineering is done.
Quietly reliable, fast infrastructure carrying millions of transactions across time zones — the kind customers never have to think about.
Data is only an asset if you can believe it. Quality, lineage, and accountability are what turn dashboards into real decisions.
Giving back to the ecosystem we all build on, and keeping a steady investment in research so we're ready for what's next.
A few of the talks, pieces and conversations I've shared over the years.
A Drapers analysis of how the industry is putting AI to work on inventory and disruption, with FARFETCH among the businesses examined alongside Hugo Boss, Pentland Brands and others.
Press · DrapersA panel on how AI is reshaping personalisation — what customers see, when, why and how. My argument: hyper-personalisation and generative media are what lift the customer journey, but creativity, strategy and ethics are not the parts to automate.
Panel · Portugal Digital SummitThree days of webinars and workshops with Google on where AI genuinely earns its place in luxury retail — virtual try-on, marketing and asset creation, video generation — and what it takes to adopt it deliberately rather than bolt it on.
Video · FARFETCH × GoogleWinner with the team behind the first Life360 app for Android — among the very earliest projects recognised by Google as the Android platform was finding its feet.
Completed the full Coursera Deep Learning Specialisation — neural networks, hyperparameter tuning, structuring ML projects — alongside Google Cloud's Big Data & ML Fundamentals. Proof that the student never really graduates.
Weekend builds — the best way to understand new tools is still to ship something with them.
A personal Claude Code marketplace that scaffolds engineering standards — security, compliance and performance tooling — into new or existing repositories.
Open source · GitHubA FIFA World Cup 2026 Panini sticker tracker — a family project for keeping up with our collection and trading with friends. Running live at ffwc26.luismc.net.
Open source · GitHubThis website — the page you're reading right now — kept as an open repository. Built and evolved in conversation with Claude Code.
Open source · GitHub