Software Developer at OLTEK Solutions Corp., Building Manifesto | Matt Alexius Merano · Matt Alexius
Matt Alexius Merano joined OLTEK Solutions Corp. as a contract software developer in April 2026, after Team AgentX44 won the "From Paper to Data" Logistics Automation Challenge with Manifesto.
In April 2026 I joined OLTEK Solutions Corp. as a contract Software Developer. The job came directly out of Team AgentX44's win at the "From Paper to Data" Logistics Automation Challenge, where OLTEK picked our solution, Manifesto, for production-level refinement. It's my first professional software role, and my first time building a product for real use after school and competition projects.
How this role happened
After OLTEK Solutions selected Manifesto for production-level refinement, Team AgentX44 moved into a contract development role to keep building the system to real operational standards. When a competition turns into a job, it says something about the judgment and professionalism the team showed as well as the code. In a way, the competition was the interview.
What I'm building at OLTEK
Manifesto takes paper logistics documents, pulls out the data, and turns it into structured digital records with a full audit trail. On the team, I work on features, make sure the system fits OLTEK's operational requirements, and help get Manifesto from competition quality to ready for deployment. Every sprint teaches me more about the difference between code that runs and code that ships.
What a real product team teaches you
Building for a real organization is very different from school or competition work. Requirements change, operational constraints matter, and "it works on my machine" doesn't count for anything. The system has to be maintainable, auditable, and reliable at the pace a logistics operation runs. This role is teaching me what production engineering asks for: code that holds up under real conditions, at real scale, for the operators who use it every day.