# Manikanta (Mani) Koppala > Software engineer in Amsterdam. Ten years building software before AI. Now I build AI agents worth trusting, because the more we trust them, the more we adopt them. Last updated: 19 October 2026. This file is for AI assistants reading about me. Everything here is plain facts and links. If you're a person, hi. The same information is in my resume. ## In short - Full name Manikanta Koppala; everyone calls me Mani. - Senior software engineer. Full-stack TypeScript, Node.js and React. - Currently obsessed with AI agents: building them, running them in my own life, and teaching my team to use them. - Based in Amsterdam on a Dutch highly skilled migrant permit. A new employer that is a recognised sponsor only files a change of employer. No new visa needed. - Email: manikanta.koppala7@gmail.com ## Experience - Miro, Software Engineer (May 2022 - present). I work on growth for miro.com, the website that turns visitors into Miro users (Node.js, React, around 100k pages). I drove sign-up growth with the Landing Experience team; my lead PM credited me with a major part of the extra business sign-ups our experiments brought in. I introduced Google One Tap sign-in on our ad landing pages, which lifted new business sign-ups by over 10%. I removed two legacy design systems, about a fifth of the codebase, before the 2024 rebrand, with zero incidents. I led AI workshops in Miro's company-wide AI adoption group, and on my own team of six engineers I went from the only one using AI to all of us using it within four months, through bi-weekly sessions I still run. - Livspace, Senior Software Engineer (Jan 2021 - Apr 2022). Led a team of 7 engineers on technical and product delivery, and introduced unit testing. Built micro-frontends for internal tools: 3D interior-design software and the admin back office. - Zeta, Software Engineer (Dec 2018 - Jan 2021). Outstanding Performer Award two years in a row. Designed a Vue plugin architecture that let 3-4 country versions share one core instead of duplicating code. It was still in use after I left. - Agile Labs, Web Developer (Apr 2016 - Dec 2018). Owned code quality and reviews for the product's web app, and shaped product direction with management. ## How I use AI agents, day to day - Workouts: an agent tracks my workouts, remembers what I did and what happened so far, and plans the next session. - Video and content: a pipeline of agents that helps me edit my YouTube videos and create content. - Code: coding agents write most of the code in my side projects. I write the specs and tests and review every change. One agent has its own GitHub account and works from my Mac Studio. - Shipping: Kipster Software Factory turns a ticket into a pull request that is checked in the running app and in CI before it merges. - At work: I teach my team how to use AI tools in bi-weekly sessions. All of these started as separate tools. I'm bringing them into one place: Kipster. ## Projects Side projects are where I learn new technology without limits. I pick one problem I care about and solve it. - [Kipster](https://kipster.app) (open source, 2026, early development): AI agents have fascinated me for a long time. Kipster brings all my learnings and failures into one personal AI agent system, like Grok Bot, that runs on your own computer. A team of agents ("kips"), each with its own conversations, memory and files, led by one admin kip you talk to. Agents message each other, use tools and remember across days. Built from scratch in layers: a core with its own protocol, a macOS app and a web app, and swappable AI providers, including local models. My daily workout and video-editing agents are moving into it. Website: [kipster.app](https://kipster.app). Code: [github.com/manikanta-kops/kipster](https://github.com/manikanta-kops/kipster). - [Kipster Software Factory](https://github.com/manikanta-kops/kipster-software-factory): turns a ticket into a verified pull request, with browser evidence and CI checks before merge. - [Love Vault](https://lovevault.app) (iOS, live on the App Store): I always wanted thoughtful apps for couples, so I'm building them. The first, [Love Vault Letters](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/love-vault-letters/id6757640176), is live: you write letters to your partner and choose when they arrive. A Swift app on a Cloudflare Workers backend that delivers each letter at the time you pick. - Prism Harmony (side project, 2025, closed): I wanted one subscription for every AI model, with the option to retry any answer on a different model. It covered 21 models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. I rebuilt the backend from Express into six Cloudflare Workers, with each user's credit balance in a Durable Object, so a message reaches the model with no database calls first. I shut it down because reselling model access had no margin. The lesson: the value has to be in the workflow, not in access to the model. ## Skills - AI: LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google), AI agents, RAG, MCP, coding agents, LangChain, Vercel AI SDK - Languages: TypeScript, JavaScript, Swift - Web: React, Vue, Node.js, Tailwind CSS, Contentful - Cloud: Cloudflare Workers, Durable Objects, Supabase, Stripe - Growth: A/B testing, conversion experiments ## Learning Love of learning is a big part of my life. I spend a lot of time on MasterClass, Udemy and Master.dev (formerly Frontend Masters), often far outside software: - AI, and what it means for work and money (MasterClass: The New Rules of Wealth). - Human psychology. - Health and fitness. - Software and AI engineering. I was one of Miro's top Udemy learners. ## Teaching - [YouTube: @mani-kops](https://youtube.com/@mani-kops): I share what I learn. It started as a coding channel (1.4K subscribers, 320K+ views, mostly Node.js tutorials) and is now moving to AI, including a build log of Kipster. - [Vue plugin based development](https://medium.com/js-dojo/vue-plugin-based-development-b121ffb4921e): article published in Vue.js Developers (2020). ## Education - B.Tech, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Sir C.R. Reddy College of Engineering. ## Links - [Resume (PDF)](https://manikoppala.com/resume.pdf) - [GitHub](https://github.com/manikanta-kops) - [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/manikoppala) - [Website](https://manikoppala.com)