I build software and automation, and I write about it most days.
I do three things: project management, custom development, and automation. Teams of any size, from a single freelancer to a whole company. Most people arrive with the third one, some process eating hours every week that they want gone. It rarely stops there. I automate it, teach the team to run it themselves, or build custom software when nothing off the shelf fits. Whatever actually solves the problem. Two decades in technology and management have mostly taught me to look for the smallest change that fixes the real bottleneck.
I founded Skillful Sardine in 2019 and went independent. The name is deliberate. The sardine is a Portuguese symbol, and it stands for resourcefulness, getting more from less. That is how I approach every project. I'm based in Lisbon, and I publish new articles daily at manueltgomes.com. You can reach me at manuel at that domain.
Python is where I'm most at home: FastAPI, SQLAlchemy, and Pydantic over PostgreSQL, with Celery and Redis for the background work, shipped in Docker and running on Kubernetes. Swift when the problem belongs on a Mac or an iPhone. Power Automate, n8n, SharePoint, and Apple Shortcuts on the automation side. That's a sample, not the whole list. Two decades in, the honest answer is that I pick up whatever the problem needs. I like clean architecture, small sharp tools, and shipping things end to end.
I'm not a huge social person, but I'm always happy to talk shop and learn something new. Reach out.
Find me on Mastodon, Bluesky, X, Threads, Instagram, LinkedIn, GitHub, YouTube, and Reddit.
Taking on new work. Teams and individuals.
For companies
- Project management
- Custom development
- Automation workflows
Individuals and freelancers
- Get your work organised
- Automate repetitive work
- Fix what you are stuck on