# Hélder Vasconcelos > CTO and co-founder at LayerX, in Porto. Agentic workflows, LLM inference and high performance systems. - Role: Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder at [LayerX](https://layerx.xyz) - Location: Porto, Portugal - Website: https://hvasc.dev ## About **Chief Technology Officer** and **Co-Founder** at [LayerX](https://layerx.xyz). Building AI systems that make it past the demo and into production. Working on **Agentic Workflows**, **Agentic Harnesses**, **LLM inference** and **High Performance Systems**. Running and fine-tuning small models on Apple Silicon and Cuda, and putting agents to work inside real engineering pipelines. Most of what I write about lives in the gap between a model that works in a notebook and a system somebody has to operate on a Monday morning. Nearly two decades of real-time systems underneath. Trading engines at Euronext processing millions of orders, then DeFi protocols securing on-chain capital. Latency, throughput and correctness under load turn out to be the same problem whether you are matching orders or serving tokens. Shipped [Ardaven](https://layerx.xyz/ardaven), [TAIKAI](https://taikai.network), [TAIKAI Garden](https://garden.taikai.network), [Luzia API](https://luzia.dev), [BakerFi](https://bakerfi.xyz), and other open source products. Published *"Asynchronous Android Programming"* (Packt, 2016). Master's in Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering from University of Aveiro. *Perfectionist by Choice* 💎 ## Side Projects ### [Luzia](https://github.com/luziadev) Language: TypeScript Price and Market Data Crypto API for Developers: Real-time pricing for centralized exchanges (Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, OKX), on-chain DEX markets (Solana, Ethereum), and tokenized stocks & real-world assets — all through a single unified API. ### [uberSKILLS](https://github.com/uberskillsdev/uberSKILLS) Language: TypeScript Design, test, and deploy Claude Code Agent Skills through a visual, AI-assisted workflow. ### [picogpt-mlx](https://github.com/hvasconcelos/picogpt-mlx) Language: Python A minimal, from-scratch decoder-only GPT in MLX trained on Tiny Shakespeare on Apple Silicon. Inspired by nanoGPT. ### [postwoman](https://github.com/King-Bong-Software/postwoman) Language: Swift PostWoman 💅 is a lightweight Postman alternative designed specifically for macOS ### [libmlxforge](https://github.com/hvasconcelos/libmlxforge) Language: C++ Embeddable, batched MLX LLM engine for Apple Silicon, one C ABI, bound from Node, Swift & Rust. Continuous batching, streaming, JSON-constrained structured output, and embeddings. ### [pictor](https://github.com/hvasconcelos/pictor) Language: C++ On-device image generation for Apple Silicon: a C++17 inference engine for FLUX.2 klein 4B on MLX (Metal). Text-to-image, instruction editing, multi-reference — 4-step distilled, stable C ABI, CLI + OpenAI Images API server. ### [banannate](https://github.com/hvasconcelos/banannate) Language: TypeScript The easiest way to generate images with Google Gemini from your Terminal. Fast, efficient, and 4K ready. 🙊🙈🙉 ## Writing - [Enterprise AI Governance: The Layer Between AI and Your Data](https://layerx.xyz/blog/enterprise-ai-governance) — LayerX Blog, 2026 - [How to Control LLM Output: Temperature, Top-P & Beyond](https://layerx.xyz/blog/llm-temperature-sampling-guide) — LayerX Blog, 2026 - [Coding with AI Agents: the 20% nobody talks about](https://layerx.xyz/blog/ai-coding-agents-lessons) — LayerX Blog, 2026 - [Giving our blog a voice: how we turned posts into audio with open models, locally, on a Mac](https://layerx.xyz/blog/audio-narration-with-mlx-and-open-source-tts) — LayerX Blog, 2026 - [Fine-Tuning a Small LLM for Customer Support Pt. 1](https://layerx.xyz/blog/fine-tuning-small-llm-customer-support) — LayerX Blog, 2026 - [Are We Building the Perfect Finance Infrastructure for Machines?](https://layerx.xyz/blog/web3-finance-infrastructure-for-ai-agents) — LayerX Blog, 2026 - [Who Watches the Bots? Building Infrastructure for Agentic Trading at scale](https://layerx.xyz/blog/deploy-monitor-scale-trading-bots) — LayerX Blog, 2026 - [The Agentic Shift: How AI Transformed LayerX Engineering Workflow](https://layerx.xyz/blog/ai-agentic-shift-at-layerx) — LayerX Blog, 2025 - [Inside BakerFi: Launching a Composable and Secure DeFi Vault Platform](https://layerx.xyz/blog/bakerfi-case-study) — LayerX Blog, 2025 - [How to launch a Secure DeFi Protocol in 120 Days](https://layerx.xyz/blog/how-to-launch-secure-defi-protocol-in-120-days) — LayerX Blog, 2025 - [Inside the Garden Token Factory - Reinventing Token Launch Stack](https://taikai.network/blog/inside-garden-token-factory) — TAIKAI Blog, 2025 - [10 Key Metrics for Software Development Teams](https://taikai.network/en/blog/10-key-metrics-software-development-teams) — TAIKAI Blog, 2023 - [Smart contracts explained: What are they and how do they work?](https://taikai.network/blog/smart-contracts-explained) — TAIKAI Blog, 2022 - [Choosing the Right Technology Stack for your SaaS startup](https://taikai.network/en/blog/right-stack-to-saas-product) — TAIKAI Blog, 2021 - [5 Reasons to Host an Internal Hackathon for Your Organization](https://taikai.network/en/blog/5-reasons-to-host-an-internal-hackathon?ref=hackernoon.com) — TAIKAI Blog, 2021 - [What’s The Real Cost of Running a DApp on an EOS Blockchain](https://taikai.network/blog/running-a-dapp-on-eos) — TAIKAI Blog, 2020 - [Choosing the Right Technology Stack for your SaaS startup](https://taikai.network/en/blog/right-stack-to-saas-product) — TAIKAI Blog, 2021 - [How to Capture Disruptive Ideas with Open Innovation Challenges or Hackathons](https://taikai.network/blog/capture-disruptive-ideas) — TAIKAI Blog, 2020 - [Asynchronous Android Programming (Author) - Second Edition](https://www.packtpub.com/product/asynchronous-android-programming-second-edition/9781785880165) — Packt Publishing, 2016 ## Music ### [e:4c](https://www.discogs.com/artist/514224-e4c) Laptop duo from Porto with José Diogo Correia. Experimental and ambient electronics built from field recordings and software sound generation. - [Technical Unwanted Signals Vol. 1](https://www.discogs.com/release/1018601-e4c-Technical-Unwanted-Signals-Vol-1) — Test Tube, 2007 · 22 tracks - [Data Platform](https://www.discogs.com/release/874132-e4c-Data-Platform) — Enough Records, 2006 · EP, 4 tracks - [Documents](https://www.discogs.com/release/687289-e4c-Documents) — Test Tube, 2006 · 2 tracks ### [Re:Axis](https://www.discogs.com/artist/1006555-ReAxis) Minimal techno and tech house, released on Autist, Recycle Records and Monocline Records. - [Everything Is Going To Be Amazing](https://www.discogs.com/master/2864353-ReAxis-Everything-Is-Going-To-Be-Amazing) — Monocline Records, 2009 · 8 tracks - [Random Box EP](https://www.discogs.com/master/2554496-ReAxis-Random-Box-EP) — Autist, 2009 · EP, 4 tracks - [Archetype](https://www.discogs.com/release/1404176-ReAxis-Archetype) — Autist, 2008 · 3 tracks - [Outsider](https://www.discogs.com/release/1404183-ReAxis-Outsider) — PiSo Records, 2008 · 2 tracks - [Re:Axis EP](https://www.discogs.com/release/1404192-ReAxis-ReAxis-EP) — Recycle Records, 2008 · EP, 4 tracks ## Experience ### LayerX — Chief Technology Officer Nov 2018 - Present · Porto, Portugal · Hybrid · Full-time Building TAIKAI, Bepro , BakerFi, ChainCast and other web3 products. Technologies: TypeScript, C++, Kubernetes, LLM, Node.js, Python, MLX ### Euronext — Tech Lead Nov 2016 - Nov 2018 · Porto e Região, Portugal · Full-time Optiq Commercial Tech Lead. Building Optiq, a realtime trading engine for the European Stock Exchange. Technologies: C++11/14, FIX, Apache Kafka, High Frequency Trading, Linux, Docker ### Axway — Senior Software Engineer Jan 2014 - Oct 2016 · Dublin, Ireland · Full-time Implementation, design and development of features for Axway APIGateway and API Manager. APIGateway application tuning for high level of demand usage scenarios. Cryptography and OpenSSL Programming. APIGateway Java and C/C++ integration with cryptographic external HSM devices. Technologies: C++, Java, HSM, JNI, Docker, OpenSSL, API Gateway ### Airtel ATN — Senior Software Engineer Oct 2012 - Jan 2014 · Dublin, Ireland · Full-time Contributed to ATN (Aeronautical Communication network) CM, CPDLC and ADS-C Test Tools by designing/developing several new features and resolving existing bugs. Technologies: C/C++, Tcl/Tk, Ruby, Aviation ### PT Inovação — Telecommunications & Software Engineer Sep 2007 - Oct 2012 · Aveiro, Portugal · Full-time Designed and Developed IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), SMS and Mobile software solutions to Portugal Telecom Group. Supported other interns in various development and learning tasks. Collaborated with 24/7 support team solving production issues. Technologies: C/C++, Java SE, Ruby+RoR, SIP ### Monocline Records — Record Label Manager Mar 2008 - Jun 2011 · Aveiro e Região, Portugal · Part-time Product Management and Web Development. Technologies: Brand Management, Audio Production, Marketing & Promotion ## Education - Universidade de Aveiro — Master in Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering (2000 - 2006) ## Elsewhere - [GitHub](https://github.com/hvasconcelos) - [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/heldervasc) - [Twitter](https://x.com/heldervasc) - [TAIKAI](https://taikai.network/heldervasc)