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Svetlana Burninova
Co-Founder & CTO · WeOrda

AI Compliance for 15M Frontline Workers.

Svetlana Burninova · Finance Expert turned Cloud Architect

15+ million Americans in school transportation, home care, trucking, and cleaning still run their daily compliance on paper. WeOrda replaces those paper checklists with a 60-second mobile workflow: workers tap through their shift while GPS, timestamps, and photos are captured automatically, and operators get a real-time, audit-ready dashboard. I built the platform, and the production infrastructure behind it also powers YPA Finance.

Finance meets Infrastructure: I know what auditors look for, because I used to prepare for them. I know what production systems need, because I run them. 15 years in finance, then CKA, CKAD, AWS Solutions Architect, and Terraform certifications earned while working full-time as a DevOps Engineer.

See What We're Building Read My Articles
AWS · Kubernetes · Terraform 98% On-Time Compliance, up from ~65% on Paper NJ Commissioner Recommending to 60+ Operators iOS & Android Live First Paid Contract Converts Aug 2026
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Projects

Key projects showcasing my expertise in fintech innovation, technical leadership, and scalable infrastructure solutions.

WeOrda logo

WeOrda: Proof of Work, for the People Who Do the Work

Launched: 2026 | Status: Live

AI-powered compliance platform for regulated field industries, replacing paper workflows with digital proof in 60 seconds. Co-Founder & CTO. I designed and built the full cloud-native platform from zero to production: a mobile app that captures inspections, GPS, and photos as workers tap through their shift, and a real-time audit dashboard for operators.

School bus driver completing a WeOrda pre-trip inspection checklist on his phone
Key Achievements:
  • 60-second vehicle inspections with automatic photo capture and GPS tagging
  • 98% on-time compliance, 70% less paperwork, 2 hours saved per driver per week
  • Live tracking dashboard with parent notifications, no app install required
  • Audit-ready reports generated automatically for schools, districts, and commissioners
  • iOS and Android apps launched and live on app stores
iOS Development Android AI/ML Cloud-Native DevSecOps Serverless Offline-First Sync GPS Tracking Compliance

YPA Finance: Smarter Finances. Human Touch.

Launched: 2025 | Status: Live

The first multilingual, AI-powered finance app built for everyone still finding their way in money. Simple tools. Real help. In your language. Co-Founder & CTO, combining financial expertise with technical innovation to empower 52M+ immigrants in the U.S. to take control of their finances in their native language.

YPA Finance: all your money, one app, across all your banks
Key Achievements:
  • iOS and Android apps launched and live on app stores
  • Enterprise integrations: Plaid, Equifax (via Array), Stripe
  • Multilingual AI supporting multiple languages
iOS Development Android AI/ML Plaid API Stripe Equifax FinTech Multilingual

EKS Monitoring Stack

Updated: September 13, 2025

Production-ready monitoring solution for Amazon EKS using Infrastructure as Code with Terraform and custom Helm charts for comprehensive observability.

Key Features:
  • Infrastructure as Code with Terraform
  • Custom Prometheus and Grafana monitoring stack
  • Production-grade security and high availability
  • Multi-AZ deployment with automated troubleshooting
Terraform Kubernetes Prometheus Grafana AWS EKS Helm
View on GitHub

Symfony Kubernetes Deployment

Updated: June 9, 2025

Deployed Symfony Demo app on k8s with containerization, database integration, and horizontal scaling using Redis and HPA. Designed for local use with Docker Desktop.

Key Features:
  • Dockerized Symfony app with Apache & PHP 8.2
  • MySQL integration with schema migrations
  • Redis caching and HPA-based scaling
  • Kubernetes YAMLs with ConfigMaps, Secrets, and Probes
Symfony Docker Kubernetes MySQL Redis
View on GitHub

Cloud Architecture Design

Updated: April 21, 2025

Designed a scalable and secure GCP-based infra for a startup web app using modern DevOps and Kubernetes best practices.

Key Features:
  • Proposed a 3-project architecture (dev, staging, prod) with private GKE clusters, VPC-native networking, and a GitOps-based CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions and Terraform.
  • Integration Cloud SQL with HA configuration, secret management via Secret Manager, and observability tooling using Prometheus and Cloud Monitoring.
GCP GKE Terraform Cloud SQL Prometheus
View on GitHub

3-Tier Application Deployment

Updated: April 20, 2025

Comprehensive CI/CD deployment framework for a containerized 3-tier application multi-stage deployment across isolated AWS accounts for dev, staging, and prod.

Key Features:
  • Automated CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions with OIDC authentication
  • Environment-specific Helm configurations for Kubernetes deployments
  • Dynamic secret injection with AWS Secrets Manager and CSI driver
  • Complete environment isolation using separate AWS accounts
AWS EKS GitHub Actions Helm DocumentDB
View on GitHub

Karpenter Autoscaling Solution

Updated: April 19, 2025

Terraform-based deployment of an Amazon EKS cluster with Karpenter autoscaling, supporting multi-architecture workloads and Spot instance orchestration.

Key Features:
  • Multi-architecture autoscaling with Karpenter (AMD64 & ARM64/Graviton)
  • Spot and On-Demand instance support for cost-efficiency
  • Spot interruption handling via EventBridge and SQS queue
  • Environment-specific deployments using .tfvars files
AWS EKS Karpenter Terraform Spot Instances
View on GitHub

Skills & Expertise

Every skill here is tied to something I shipped, cut, or published.

Cloud & Infrastructure

6 years
AWS Google Cloud Kubernetes (EKS, GKE) Terraform Docker Helm Karpenter Infrastructure as Code CI/CD
  • Cut AWS compute costs 70% with a multi-arch EKS cluster and Karpenter. Read how
  • Built and run the production infrastructure behind two live platforms, WeOrda and YPA Finance, from zero to production.
  • Certified: CKA, CKAD, AWS Solutions Architect, HashiCorp Terraform. Verify on Credly

Security & Compliance

5 years
DevSecOps Zero Trust Multi-Tenant Isolation Secrets Management RBAC Encryption at Rest & in Transit Audit Logging Container Security
  • Ran a real Zero Trust migration and published what the vendors do not tell you. Read how
  • Built bank-grade security for a fintech serving immigrants, and wrote up what broke first. Read how
  • Engineered compliance-grade audit logging and multi-tenant data isolation for WeOrda.

Product & FinTech

2 years
iOS & Android Plaid Equifax Stripe AI/ML Integration Offline-First Sync Multilingual Platforms RegTech
  • Shipped two apps to the App Store and Google Play, both live today.
  • WeOrda’s first customer runs it daily: 98% on-time compliance, up from ~65% on paper.
  • Designed secure integrations with Plaid, Equifax, and Stripe for live financial workloads.

Finance & Leadership

15 years
Financial Analysis P&L Budgeting & Forecasting Financial Controls Data Analysis Team Leadership Technical Due Diligence
  • Fifteen years in finance before engineering: accountant, financial controller, financial analyst, data analyst.
  • Led a team of 3 financial controllers at Compulink Group, promoted from controller to head.
  • I know what auditors look for, because I used to prepare for them.

Professional Experience

My comprehensive career journey spanning fintech entrepreneurship, DevOps engineering, data analysis, and financial leadership.

YPA Group · WeOrda logo

Co-Founder & CTO

Feb 2026 - Present Co-Founder YPA Group · WeOrda
New York City Metropolitan Area

WeOrda is an AI-powered compliance platform for regulated field industries, replacing paper-based workflows with a mobile app for workers and a real-time audit dashboard for operators.

  • Designed and built the full cloud-native architecture from zero to production
  • Implemented DevSecOps practices end-to-end: automated CI/CD, container security, secrets management, and role-based access controls
  • Deployed serverless containerised microservices supporting real-time data ingestion and offline-first mobile sync across iOS and Android
  • Engineered secure multi-tenant architecture with data isolation, encryption at rest and in transit, and compliance-grade audit logging
  • Built fully automated infrastructure-as-code provisioning with zero-downtime deployments
  • Maintained 99.9% uptime for field-critical operations through observability and automated alerting
Cloud-Native Architecture DevSecOps Serverless Microservices Terraform CI/CD Multi-Tenant Security Audit Logging Observability iOS/Android Platforms
YPA Group · YPA Finance logo

Co-Founder & CTO

Jun 2024 - Jan 2026 Co-Founder YPA Group · YPA Finance
New York, United States

YPA Finance: AI-powered finance app built for everyone still finding their way in money. Simple tools. Real help. In your language.

  • Co-define technical strategy and architecture for YPA Finance
  • Architect and maintain production infrastructure on GCP (GKE, Cloud Run, Cloud SQL)
  • Drive system reliability, scalability and security for live fintech workloads
  • Design and implement secure third-party integrations (Plaid, Equifax, Stripe)
  • Lead DevOps practices: IaC, CI/CD, automated deployments, observability
  • Ensure platform readiness for compliance and performance benchmarks
GCP GKE Cloud Run Terraform CI/CD Plaid Stripe DevOps iOS/Android Platforms

DevOps Engineer

Sep 2021 - Jun 2024 Contract Deel
New York, United States · Remote
  • Implemented GitOps using GitHub Actions and Terraform
  • Provisioned and managed k8s clusters on AWS (EKS and Kops) with custom Terraform modules
  • Developed and deployed microservices using Docker, AWS ECR, and custom Helm charts for dev, staging, and production
  • Built and automated CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions
  • Automated database deployment (SQL/NoSQL) with Terraform modules and establish secure network connectivity
AWS Kubernetes Terraform Helm Charts Docker CI/CD GitHub Actions EFK Stack Prometheus Grafana
Absolute Investment Group logo

Associate DevOps Engineer

Jun 2019 - Aug 2021 Full-time Absolute Investment Group
Limassol, Cyprus
  • Provisioned and maintained AWS resources using Terraform custom modules
  • Developed and implemented Ansible playbooks
  • Created custom Packer templates
  • Implemented logging solutions with EFK (Elasticsearch, Fluentd, Kibana) and monitoring solutions using Prometheus and Grafana
Terraform AWS Ansible Packer EFK Stack Prometheus Grafana
Absolute Investment Group logo

Data Analyst

Dec 2016 - Jun 2019 Full-time Absolute Investment Group
Limassol, Cyprus
  • Analysed large financial and operational datasets to identify trends, risks, and opportunities
  • Prepared reports and dashboards for management to support strategic decision-making
  • Assisted in budgeting and forecasting processes, improving accuracy and insight into company performance
  • Developed automated models to streamline reporting and data visualisation
  • Collaborated with cross-functional teams to ensure data-driven insights informed business strategies
Data Analysis Financial Modeling Reporting Dashboards Forecasting
Absolute Investment Group logo

Financial Analyst

Jun 2012 - Dec 2016 Full-time Absolute Investment Group
Moscow, Russia
  • Conducted detailed financial analysis, including P&L, balance sheets, and cash flow reports
  • Supported management with budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning
  • Identified key financial metrics to improve operational efficiency and business performance
  • Assisted in implementing financial reporting tools and processes, enabling faster and more accurate decision-making
  • Collaborated with stakeholders to provide actionable insights from financial data
Financial Analysis P&L Cash Flow Budgeting Financial Planning
Compulink Group logo

Head of Financial Controllers

Nov 2010 - May 2012 Full-time Compulink Group
Moscow, Russia
  • Successfully built and led team of 3 financial controllers
  • Optimized financial control and reporting processes, significantly reducing preparation time
  • Advanced from Financial Controller to Head role through demonstrated excellence
Team Leadership Process Improvement Financial Control Reporting
RayCom logo

Head of Financial Group

Jun 2006 - Nov 2010 Full-time RayCom
Moscow, Russia
  • Promoted from Accountant to Head of Financial Group
  • Negotiated favorable loan terms and banking products
  • Successfully implemented salary payment systems
Leadership Development Banking Project Management Financial Systems

Accountant

May 2004 - Jun 2006 Full-time SKM GROUP
Moscow, Russia
  • Managed daily accounting operations and financial record-keeping
  • Prepared financial statements and reports
  • Ensured compliance with accounting standards and regulations
Accounting Financial Records Compliance Reporting

Certificates

Professional certifications that validate my expertise in cloud technologies and infrastructure.

Kubernetes Administration

Certified Kubernetes Administrator
The Linux Foundation
Skills Verified:
  • Kubernetes cluster architecture
  • Installation & configuration
  • Workloads & scheduling
  • Services & networking
View Credential

Kubernetes Development

Certified Kubernetes Application Developer
The Linux Foundation
Skills Verified:
  • Core concepts
  • Pod design & configuration
  • Services & networking
  • State persistence
View Credential

AWS Architecture

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
Amazon Web Services
Skills Verified:
  • Designing resilient architectures
  • Performance optimization
  • Cost optimization
  • Security implementation
View Credential

Terraform

Terraform Certified Associate
HashiCorp
Skills Verified:
  • Infrastructure as Code
  • Terraform workflow
  • Resource implementation
  • State management
View Credential

Get In Touch

Feel free to reach out for collaboration opportunities or just to say hello!

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Email

Send Me a Message

[email protected]

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Phone

Call Me Directly

+357 95581173

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Schedule a 30-minute call with me

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CV on Request

Available on Request

Email me and I'll send it over

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Publications & Media

Articles, interviews, and blog posts featuring my expertise and insights in cloud technology and DevOps practices.

Bank-Grade Security for Immigrants

May 5, 2026
We Built Bank-Grade Security for Immigrants. Here's What Broke First.

How we built bank-grade security for the 45 million immigrants the US financial system ignores, what broke along the way, and what I got wrong.

Published on HackerNoon
Read Article

Zero Trust, Six Months In

April 29, 2026
We Thought Zero Trust Would Take 3 Months. Six Months In, We're Still Migrating.

Zero Trust takes longer and costs more than vendors claim. The reality of the migration, and what actually works for small fintech teams.

Published on HackerNoon
Read Article

TechBullion Interview

April 2026
From Financial Systems to AI Infrastructure: Engineering Financial Clarity at Scale

Interview on the journey from building financial systems to designing AI-powered infrastructure, and how engineering discipline drives financial clarity at scale.

Published on TechBullion
Read Interview

YPA Finance blog

April 2026
Is It Safe to Connect My Bank Account to a Finance App?

Worried about linking your bank account to a financial app? Here's exactly what happens when you connect, what data is accessed, and how to know if an app is trustworthy.

Published on YPA Finance
Read Interview

Security Audit as a Fintech CTO

April 2026
What I Review in Every Security Audit as a Fintech CTO

A practical breakdown of the security checklist I run through on every fintech audit — from IAM posture and secrets management to network segmentation and compliance controls.

Published on Medium
Read Article

AWS Secrets Manager Integration

April 27, 2025
AWS Secrets Manager Integration with Kubernetes in EKS: A Practical Guide

If you're working with Kubernetes and care about securing your workloads — this guide is for you!

Published on Medium
Read Article

Kubernetes Autoscaling

2024
Traditional Kubernetes autoscaling is not enough anymore

A deep dive into advanced autoscaling strategies for Kubernetes clusters, comparing traditional approaches with modern solutions like Karpenter.

Published on HackerNoon
Read Article