VG

Preparing the journey

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Varun Goel

User Interface Specialist

High-performance trading applications · AI engineering

LinkedIn

The story so far

I build the screens where fast decisions get made. For fifteen years I have turned complicated systems into interfaces people trust under pressure, from hybrid mobile platforms in Pune and hackathon-winning demos at Adobe to a global credit-trading command centre in Singapore.

Today, from Abu Dhabi, I lead UI architecture for front-office trading and portfolio platforms at ADIA, set the UI strategy for the teams around me, and bring AI-driven engineering to legacy systems.

  • 15+Years building UI
  • 6Companies
  • 4Cities
  • 3Hackathon wins
  • 10Certifications

Experience

Level 01 · Pune, India

Systems Engineer

Tata Consultancy Services · TRDDC

Apr 2011 – Jun 20132 yrs 2 mosFull-time

Began at the Tata Research Development and Design Centre, prototyping a way to build hybrid mobile apps at speed. That prototype matured into TCS Hy5 Canvas.

  • Prototyped rapid hybrid-mobile app generation at TRDDC
  • Prototype matured into TCS Hy5 Canvas: an HTML5 platform generating OS-agnostic apps for Android, iOS and more from one codebase
  • Java
  • Phonegap
  • ExtJs
  • HTML
  • JavaScript
  • CSS

★ Star of the Batch · Top Performer

Level 02 · Pune, India

Software Professional

Extentia Information Technology

Jun 2013 – Jun 20141 yrFull-time

Modernised banking software for SunGard (now FIS) and shipped an offline-first app for oil and gas plants.

  • Built a web-based suite of banking products at SunGard (now FIS), moving a legacy codebase to HTML5 and AngularJS
  • Delivered an offline-first data-collection app for oil and gas plants: runs fully offline, stores locally, syncs when connectivity returns
  • HTML5
  • CSS3
  • AngularJs
  • ES5
  • IndexedDB
  • SQLite
  • Application Cache

★ Hackathon13 finalist, SunGard global coding challenge

Level 03 · Noida, India

Tools Developer

Adobe · Global Services

Jun 2014 – Jul 20162 yrs 1 moFull-time

Built the demo apps and internal tools global sales consultants used to show what Adobe could do, and won the company hackathon.

  • Built platform-agnostic demo mobile apps (Phonegap, Ionic) showing design experiences, usage analytics and engagement via Adobe Mobile Services and AEM
  • Key owner of AGSInsight, an internal desktop app built with web technology that helps management track sales activity
  • AEM
  • AEM Mobile
  • Adobe Mobile Services
  • Phonegap
  • Ionic
  • BackboneJs
  • AngularJs
  • NodeJs

★ Overall Winner: Adobe Hackathon & Google IO Extended

Level 04 · Singapore

Senior Developer

Standard Chartered Bank

Jul 2016 – Jan 20181 yr 6 mosContract

Gave client-engagement staff a holistic 360-degree view of every client, across every product segment.

  • Developed modules of an enterprise workbench for a 360° client view across all product segments
  • Contributed to the component library and built reusable components used widely across the workbench
  • EmberJs
  • ES6
  • HTML5
  • CSS3
  • Google Material Design
  • NodeJs

Level 05 · Singapore

Senior Frontend Developer

Aviva · Digital Garage

Jan 2018 – Sep 20191 yr 8 mosFull-time

Built the reusable component library that every global Aviva website stands on.

  • Built a UI component library consumed directly by all global Aviva sites: accessible, testable, fully responsive
  • Reviewed pull requests across teams to keep fortnightly deliverables on quality
  • Ran weekly UI meetups to spread best practice, performance wins and automation
  • Shipped Aviva Singapore, Aviva Corporate and Aviva UK from standalone, composable components
  • ReactJS
  • ES6
  • HTML5
  • CSS3
  • AEM
  • NodeJs
  • Gulp
  • Webpack
  • WebdriverIO
  • Jasmine

Level 06 · Singapore Boss

User Interface Specialist

Standard Chartered Bank

Sep 2019 – Mar 20255 yrs 6 mosFull-time

Built the UI framework for Cognitive Algorithmic Trading (CAT), a greenfield digitalisation of global credit trading that puts front-office data and functions into one command centre.

  • Micro-application architecture: granular components that combine into complex custom layouts
  • React + Openfin desktop app on a high-performance Solace messaging bus into financial market systems
  • Server-Driven UI: layout and data controlled server-side, cutting turnaround time for new apps
  • Multi-desktop workspaces users can save, restore and share with peers
  • ReactJS
  • TypeScript
  • Material-UI
  • Openfin
  • Solace
  • Highcharts
  • Ag-Grid
  • Java
  • Azure

★ Boss level: the CAT platform

Level 07 · Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Boss

Senior Specialist

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority · ADIA

Mar 2025 – Present1 yr 7 mosFull-time

Leading UI architecture for front-office trading and portfolio management, and bringing AI into legacy systems.

  • Lead UI architecture for front-office trading and portfolio management platforms
  • Set the UI development strategy so every project shares consistent design and best practice
  • Modernise legacy systems with AI-driven capabilities
  • Enable and mentor teams to build high-performance modern web applications
  • TypeScript
  • React
  • AI Engineering
  • Agentic workflows
  • Design systems

★ Present day

Skills

Front-end Core

  • TypeScript
  • JavaScript
  • React
  • Redux
  • HTML5
  • CSS3
  • Accessibility
  • UX

Trading Systems

  • Openfin
  • Solace EDA
  • Ag-Grid
  • Highcharts
  • Low latency
  • Server-driven UI

Platforms & Tooling

  • Material-UI
  • Ember
  • Angular
  • Backbone
  • Node.js
  • Webpack
  • AEM
  • Ionic

Cloud & Data

  • Azure
  • Java
  • IndexedDB
  • Tableau
  • Git

AI Engineering

  • Agentic AI
  • GenAI
  • Voice agents
  • AI modernisation
  • LLM tooling

Side quest: SightSpeak

Built with a teammate at an AI Tinkerers hackathon: one click to interact with any webpage by voice. Speak naturally to ask for information, navigate, scroll, click, fill forms and run multi-step workflows.

  • OpenAI Agents
  • CopilotKit
  • OpenRouter
  • Exa
  • Auth0
  • Trigger.dev

Honors & awards

  • Overall Winner · Google IO Extended Hackathon Adobe, May 2016
  • Overall Winner · Adobe Hackathon Adobe, Apr 2016
  • Multi Channel Award · Adobe Hackathon Adobe, Apr 2016
  • Finalist · Hackathon13, SunGard global coding challenge Extentia
  • Bit Fighter, 2nd prize · ISTE university-level competition Kurukshetra University
  • Techyard, 2nd prize · ISTE competition Kurukshetra University
  • Star of the Batch · Tata Consultancy Services TCS
  • Top Performer · TCS training period TCS
  • Social Media Ambassador · Adobe Adobe

Certifications

  • Elastic GenAI Associate · Elastic Mar 2025
  • Data Storytelling & Visualisation for Finance · Tertiary Infotech Academy Sep 2023
  • Powerful Storytelling & Cut Through Communication · Eagles Flight Asia Pacific Jan 2023
  • Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate · Microsoft Jul 2022
  • Hands-on Practical Applications of Blockchain · Singapore Management University Dec 2021
  • Advanced Certificate in Blockchain for Business · Singapore Management University Nov 2021
  • Solace Certified EDA Practitioner · Solace Jun 2021
  • Internet of Things: Technology & Applications · Singapore Management University Dec 2020
  • Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals · Microsoft Jul 2020
  • Mobile Web Specialist · Google Sep 2019

Let’s build something

Open to conversations about UI architecture, trading platforms and AI engineering.

Connect on LinkedIn

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) · Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates · English (full professional) · Hindi (native)