About Me
Hello! I'm Sheldon Hart, a solutions architect with over 15 years of experience creating innovative technology solutions. My professional journey began after completing my BSc Computer Science degree, and then joining First National Bank (FNB), one of South Africa's biggest financial institutions. What started as a graduate developer position evolved into a fulfilling career as a solutions architect, where I now design and implement enterprise-scale systems that balance technical excellence with business value.
Certifications
Skills
Architecture & Design
Programming Languages
Frameworks
Databases
Application Servers
Tools
Professional Experience

FNB (First National Bank)
Solutions Architect
Systems Architect
Java Developer
Projects
FNB Connect

Implemented key enhancements for FNB Connect's telecommunications offering, developing both backend services and frontend web interfaces. This provided banking customers with complimentary ADSL data allocations when selecting FNB Connect as their ISP. Additionally, there was a VoIP solution featuring a mobile application that enabled free peer-to-peer calling, complemented by a flexible minute-based billing system for external network communication (GSM, PSTN).
FNB Banking App

Implemented and later architected a comprehensive suite of banking application frameworks and microservices architecture that powers FNB's digital banking platform. This enterprise-scale system serves millions of customers throughout Africa, maintaining robust performance while processing tens of thousands of concurrent sessions. The architecture incorporates high-availability principles, distributed data management, and advanced caching strategies to ensure 99.99% uptime for critical financial transactions.
OCEP (Omni Channel Enablement Platform)

Designed and implemented an enterprise-grade application framework (OCEP) that revolutionized cross-functional software development within the organization. This architectural solution empowered individual business units to independently develop and maintain their domain-specific application flows while ensuring UI consistency and adherence to brand standards through centralized governance. By adopting a microservice approach with clear boundaries, teams could deploy their features independently, significantly reducing release dependencies and improving time-to-market for critical banking features while maintaining the cohesive user experience essential for the FNB brand.
FNB App Messaging

Architected and implemented FNB App messaging platform. At first this consumed the existing real-time notification system for banking transactions and account activities (inContact), but using push notifications instead of SMS. Saving FNB millions in network fees. Subsequently enhanced the platform by enabling secure authenticated conversations between customers and banking representatives (Secure Chat). The final evolution incorporated a peer-to-peer chat and payment capability, allowing customers to conduct financial transactions directly with contacts through a secure communication channel.
FNB App Chat Bot

Architected and implemented an AI-powered conversational banking solution using Amazon Lex, enabling automated customer service for routine banking inquiries and transactions. The architecture integrated with the existing FNB App Messaging platform through a API layer, providing contextual handoffs between automated and human support channels. By extending the OCEP architectural principles, the solution featured a modular framework that empowered business units to independently develop and deploy domain-specific conversation flows while maintaining centralized governance.
nav» Earth

Architected nav» Earth, a sustainability offering within FNB's banking ecosystem that enables customers to quantify their carbon footprint based on transaction history. Designed a comprehensive technical architecture comprising API services and well-designed database models. The solution applies sophisticated categorization algorithms to transaction data, mapping financial activities to their corresponding environmental impact. The offering includes interactive educational components, cand a donation mechanism allowing customers to contribute directly to verified environmental organizations for carbon offsetting.
nav» Payroll

Architected nav» Payroll, an enterprise-grade payroll management solution for FNB's commercial banking clients. Designed a comprehensive technical architecture featuring secure API services and well-designed database models. The system enables businesses to efficiently create and manage customizable payroll schedules (monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly), process bulk payments with automated tax calculations, and generate comprehensive compliance reports. Implemented robust validation rules ensuring adherence to South African tax regulations and labor laws, while maintaining seamless integration with FNB's banking infrastructure for secure payment execution.
From The Hart - Teaching resources

Designed and deployed a scalable e-commerce website (fromthehart.co.za) for educational resource distribution. Implemented a WordPress solution with WooCommerce integration and Payfast payment gateway for seamless transactions. Architected a high-availability AWS infrastructure leveraging EC2 with auto-scaling capabilities, RDS for database management, Application Load Balancer for traffic distribution, and CloudFront CDN for optimized content delivery. This enabled my wife, who is a teacher, to sell her teaching resources online.
From The Hart - Tech

Architect, designed and developed this website as a professional portfolio and technology showcase, combining modern front-end architecture with cloud-based infrastructure. Leveraging Vue.js/Nuxt for component-driven development and AWS for scalable hosting. The implementation features responsive design principles and optimized performance. Explore the blog section for more info behind this project's development.
Education

Bachelor of Sciences in Computer Sciences
Hobbies and Interests
When I'm not working or being a parent to two amazing girls, I enjoy gaming, reading books and comics, and watching a variety of shows, movies, and anime.