About
I’m Matthew — a British software engineer based in Tokyo. I’ve lived in Japan for ten years and speak advanced / professional Japanese (JLPT N1). I’ve been writing software since I was fourteen. Today I’m Tech Lead at Archaic, an AI company in Tokyo, where I own design, architecture, delivery, and small engineering teams across client products.
My path runs through a BSc in Software Engineering (University of the West of England), a year at CERN, several years as a software engineer at GE in the UK, full-time Japanese study, lead engineering at PORTERS, and then Archaic. At Archaic I specialise in turning AI ideas into reliable products: chatbots that search company knowledge, voice assistants on the shop floor, APIs for insurance and healthcare apps, and computer-vision systems for buildings and exams.
Background & interests
- AI safety and governance — how production AI is designed, evaluated, and used responsibly. I’m actively considering paths in that direction (see Opportunities).
- AI product work — chatbots, voice, OCR, document search, and ML services clients can run day to day.
- Philosophy, especially ethics and practical topics — how ideas meet everyday decisions.
- Martial arts — aikido black belt. I volunteered as an instructor at Rising Sun Aikido for nearly a decade, teaching children and adults before moving to Japan.
- Japan for 10 years — advanced / professional Japanese (JLPT N1).
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For several years I ran Debate & Current Affairs at
The Student Room
— the world’s largest student forum — as section leader. As a Political Ambassador I put
students’ questions to party leaders and interviewed UK politicians, including
Norman Lamb MP (then a cabinet minister).
Interviewing Norman Lamb MP on mental health policy
What I’m strong at
- Leading delivery end to end — requirements, architecture, coding, reviews, and rollout.
- Backend and cloud work in Python, PHP/Laravel, SQL, Docker, and AWS.
- Shipping AI that clients can run day to day — chatbots, document OCR, voice APIs, and ML when rules aren’t enough.
- Working with Japanese stakeholders in Japanese — weekly client meetings, on-call support, and documentation.
Side work
I built Kanpeki Study, a Japanese learning platform (Laravel / Vue on AWS) with 300+ registered users and over $1000 in sales. Smaller public utilities live on GitHub — DNS and AWS IP helpers, backup scripts, and similar ops tools.
Opportunities
Alongside Archaic I’m open to freelance and head-hunting opportunities — AI product work, paths into AI safety and governance, and roles with relocation (including the UK; I’m a British national). Please reach out for a chat via the contact form or LinkedIn if you have something that might be a fit.