Zsolt Szalai

Curriculum Vitae

About me

I'm a Software Engineer, a dynamic personality with over 6 years' experience building scalable data systems and delivering solutions for on-premises and cloud technology.

Currently living in the greater Toronto area, and working in a Senior Data Engineer role at SEON.

I consider myself to be a professional and lifelong learner in the data field across multiple domains. Skilled in data warehousing, data modeling, automation, and leveraging available technologies in my arsenal to drive business value. Also passionate about engineering, artificial intelligence, collaborating across global teams, and advancing sustainability initiatives.

I love spending time on my computer or outdoors, and sometimes both.

Work Experience

SEON Technologies

Data Engineer

2025/10 – Present

Developed big data API event driven data processing pipelines with dynamic schema evolution for analytics and AI (Spark, Iceberg, Glue, Airflow)

Modeled and implemented a multi-region Snowflake DWH from Data Vault 2.0 to Medallion and Star Schema, improving data analytics (Snowflake, dbt)

Enabled data ownership and best-practices by adapting data governance tools, company-wide roles in a cross functional setting (Snowflake, Atlan)

Deployed, and enabled data processing and cloud infrastructure in new geographical regions on AWS using IaC (Terraform)

Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions

Data Engineer

2023/11 – 2025/08

Data modelling, ETL and universe development, retiring old systems (SAP Business Objects, Power BI, Azure)

Oracle on-prem Data Warehouse migration into lakehouse architecture (Azure, Databricks, DBT)

Deveoped a high security data & interface management and archival system and built supporting data centric restful web applications (Oracle Apex, Kestra, KV stores, API integration)

Leveraged delta lake for scalable orchestrated pipelines and data workflows for B2B projects (Azure Data Factory, PySpark)

Allianz Technology

Data Infrastructure Engineer

2022/01 – 2023/11

Designed, implemented, automated and optimized data acquisition pipelines using SQL, Shell scripts, PL/SQL and Python

Built semantic layer for analyzing large volumes of actuarial finance data in an enterprise DWH setting (Oracle, Redshift)

Automated data quality checks for actuarial datasets and downstream analytics on AWS (using services such as Lambda, Glue, S3)

Platform and interface management across multiple systems using shell scripts and sas jobs

IBM Data Storage Systems Kft.

Database developer

2018/09 – 2021/12

Automated data warehousing solutions for BI, using Oracle and PL/ SQL .

Data driven restful bi web application development with Oracle APEX, APIs and Postgres.

Assisted in multi cloud projects for containerized application and database deployment (MCMP, Docker).

Automated data piplelines and onboarded service management systems (ServiceNow)

Development and implementation of plug-and-play SaaS product catalog (Fivetran)

What I'm bringing to the table

Transforming Data Into Business Value with:

Modern scalable data stack

Atomation with pipelines

Cloud-native solutions

Technical skills

Technical Skills

Cloud Platforms

Azure

AWS

Databricks

Snowflake

Data Engineering

Spark

Terraform

Kafka

DBT

Apache Iceberg

Orchestrators

Data Analytics

Oracle

PostgreSQL

DuckDB

Power BI

SAP

ETL/ELT

Certifications

Azure Cloud Fundamentals

AZ-900

Microsoft Certified

Azure Fundamentals

Achieved: 2024

Distributed computing
Networking
Cloud storages

Soft Skills & Professional Attributes

Personality traits

Core Strengths

Analytical Thinking Applied at Allianz for actuarial dataset analysis and automated data quality checks

Problem Solving Oracle DWH migration to lakehouse architecture at Deutsche Telekom, resolved multi-cloud deployment challenges at IBM

Fast-Paced Adaptability Transitioned across 3 major companies with different tech stacks: IBM (Private Multi-Cloud), Allianz (AWS), Deutsche Telekom (Azure)

Proactive Approach Initiated automation of data pipelines, proactively retired legacy SAP systems at Deutsche Telekom

Cross-Functional Collaboration Delivered B2B projects using Azure Data Factory, collaborated across global teams

Adaptation Worked across financial services, telecommunications, and technology sectors over 6+ years

Work Style & Values

Continuous Improvement Modernized SAP Business Objects to Azure/Power BI, migrated Oracle DWH to modern lakehouse architecture

Data-Driven Decisions Implemented data quality checks for actuarial datasets ensuring accurate downstream analytics at Allianz

Stakeholder Communication Delivered B2B projects and managed service integrations with ServiceNow for multiple stakeholders

Agile Mindset Adapted to rapid technology changes: Shell scripts to AWS Lambda, on-premise to cloud migrations

Quality & Documentation Built RESTful data delivery tools with Oracle APEX, implemented automated data frameworks

Knowledge Sharing Onboarded service management systems and shared expertise across global teams at all three companies through cross collaboration

Domain Expertise

Financial Data Analytics 2 years at Allianz working with actuarial datasets, risk analytics, and financial data pipelines

Insurance Analytics Specialized in actuarial data processing and automated quality checks at Allianz Technology

Telecommunications Experience at Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions developing telco-specific data solutions and infrastructure

SaaS Platforms Developed SaaS product catalog at IBM, integrated ServiceNow for service and business workflow management

Data Governance Used Unity Catalog in Databricks, Implemented high-security data migration to hybrid private cloud with API integration at Deutsche Telekom

ML Ops Understanding Leveraged PySpark for scalable pipelines, dabbled in vector databases such as Pinecone

What drives me forward?

Creating something new every day. I love building digital solutions that help people and businesses to grow and thrive. I believe "the best project you'll ever work on is you," which keeps me constantly learning and exploring new ways to solve challenges.