Ian Paine

Battle/London, United Kingdom

mail mail@ianpaine.com
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Executive Summary

Cloud & Data Platform Architect with 20+ years’ experience leading the transformation of legacy estates into scalable, AI-ready cloud platforms.

I specialise in architecting Google Cloud environments that modernise infrastructure, optimise cost through disciplined FinOps governance, and enable clean, well-governed data foundations for analytics and Generative AI. My background spans hands-on engineering through to strategic technology leadership, allowing me to bridge operational reliability with modern cloud-native agility.

I have led full-scale migrations from Windows/IIS/MS SQL environments to automated, containerised GKE platforms, reducing deployment times from days to minutes and cutting infrastructure costs by 70%. My focus is not simply cloud adoption, but designing resilient, cost-efficient architectures that align technology strategy with measurable business outcomes.

I bring deep experience across GCP, Kubernetes, Terraform, BigQuery and data pipeline design, with a particular interest in building AI-enabled platforms that scale intelligently without uncontrolled cost growth.

Core Competencies

Signature Project

The Cloud Transformation Led a multi-year initiative to modernise a legacy Windows/IIS/MS SQL estate into a fully automated Linux-based GKE platform.

• Outcome: Reduced deployment times from days to minutes via CI/CD.
• Impact: Cut infrastructure costs by 70% through aggressive FinOps governance, removing expensive licensing and rightsizing.
• Tech Stack: GCP, Kubernetes, Terraform, BigQuery.

Professional Experience

Upskill People | 2017 – Present

A leading e-learning platform provider.

Head of Technology | Jan 2021 – Present

• Strategic Modernisation: Directed the complete architectural pivot from on-premises Windows servers to a cloud-native Google Cloud estate, enabling global scalability.
• FinOps: Established strict cost-control frameworks, utilising BigQuery analysis to monitor spend and prevent budget overrun.

Lead Application Developer | May 2017 – Jan 2021

• The Bridge: Led the critical database migration from MSSQL to MySQL on Linux, removing licensing bottlenecks and enabling the cloud shift.
• Legacy Refactoring: Deprecated legacy ASP codebases, rewriting core services in modern frameworks to support containerisation.
• Availability: Stabilised the legacy platform during the transition, ensuring zero downtime for enterprise clients during the migration window.

Ian Paine IT Consultancy | 2010 – 2017

Self-Employed Senior Consultant

• Scope: Delivered full-stack infrastructure and development services for SME clients, specialising in stabilising legacy web estates and early virtualisation.
• Key Achievement: Managed end-to-end lifecycle for web applications, bridging the gap between “Rack-and-Stack” hardware management and early cloud adoption (GCP pilots).

Early Career History

• Web Developer | XRX Limited | 2005 – 2010
• Junior Web Developer | School Showcase Limited | 2002 – 2005

Certifications & Professional Development

Google Cloud Certified

• Professional Data Engineer (PDE) (Target: February 2026)
• Professional Cloud Database Engineer (PCDE) (Target: March 2026)
• Professional Cloud Architect (PCA) (Target: April 2026)
• Generative AI Leader (GAIL) – Issued 2026
• Associate Data Practitioner (ADP) – Issued 2026
• Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) – Issued 2025

Technical Skills

• Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Terraform, Docker, GCP.
• Data: BigQuery, Cloud SQL, MySQL.
• Data Pipelines: Datastream, Dataflow, Cloud Functions, Pub/Sub.
• AI & ML: Vertex AI, Generative AI, LLM Integration.
• Development: Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, SQL, Bash.

Community Leadership & Interests

• Founder – Sussex Trail Runners | 2021 – Present | Founded and lead a thriving trail running community, organising events across Sussex, raising funds for the Campaign Against Living Miserably: Suicide Prevention Charity.