Matan Gilat
Professional Summary
Technology executive with 20+ years leading global R&D teams (up to 150+ engineers), delivering SaaS, fintech, AI, and IoT platforms. Expert in scaling distributed systems supporting tens of millions of devices, achieving enterprise-grade reliability (99.999% uptime), and accelerating delivery cycles 10x through Agile, DevOps, and CI/CD transformations. Skilled in cloud architecture, generative AI, security, and compliance.
Core Expertise
- Leadership & Scaling: CTO, VP R&D, org growth 150+, product strategy, global delivery
- Cloud & Infrastructure: SaaS, PaaS, Distributed Systems, Kubernetes, Kafka, Elasticsearch, AWS, GCP
- AI/ML: Generative AI, LLM strategy, OpenAI, HuggingFace, LangChain, Gemini
- Security & Compliance: IAM, encryption, GDPR, SOC2, ISO 27001
- DevOps & Reliability: CI/CD, IaC, observability, test automation, release acceleration
Professional Experience
CTO | Leeway (formerly Antic) – Fintech / E-commerce 2023 – Present
- Built and scaled multi-tenant split group payment platform supporting crypto-native and traditional rails
- Transitioned product from prototype to enterprise-ready with GCP Identity Platform and full data encryption
- Reduced payment provider integration from 2–3 weeks to 3 days, accelerating merchant adoption
- Implemented automated end-to-end testing covering all edge cases, improving reliability and reducing incidents
VP R&D, CTO & Co-Founder | Koaa.io – AI-Powered Competitive Intelligence 2022 – Present
- Founded Generative AI platform delivering market insights using LLMs (OpenAI, HuggingFace, LangChain, Gemini)
- Designed AI-driven analysis to anticipate competitor moves and uncover emerging trends
- Led full-stack development on AWS, GCP, and Firebase, creating MVP
- Balanced engineering leadership with business development to secure early adopters
AVP R&D, Cloud Software | SolarEdge Technologies – SaaS & IoT Cloud 2019 – 2022
- Directed global team of 150+ engineers managing tens of millions of IoT devices in energy-critical SaaS systems
- Achieved 99.9% uptime while increasing engineering velocity 10x, scaling from weekly deployment to 100+ daily deployments
- Implemented CI/CD and DevOps pipelines, cutting release cycles from months to weeks and improving reliability 30%
Sr. Director, R&D & Engineering Escalations | Dell EMC (RecoverPoint) – Enterprise DR/CDP 2010 – 2018
- Scaled R&D from 50 → 150+ engineers, leading 12 global scrum teams delivering enterprise-grade DR/CDP solutions
- Achieved 99.9999% uptime, setting industry benchmarks and improving NPS
- Led three product transformations: Server-based → Storage-based → VMware → Cloud DR/CDP orchestration
- Championed Agile adoption, CI/CD, and test automation, cutting release cycles from months to weeks
Earlier Roles | INFINIDAT, Dell EMC², Kashya, BATAM Communications 2000–2019
- Progressed from kernel developer to R&D manager, building distributed systems, networking protocols, and real-time OS components
- Managed global 24/7 support at INFINIDAT, improving enterprise customer satisfaction through automation and process optimization
Education
Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) – Computer Engineering coursework, 1995–2000 (not completed)
Volunteer Work
Volunteer leader in youth mentorship, environmental protection, and community safety initiatives