Nikhil Yakkala

About Nikhil Yakkala

Hi, I’m Nikhil, a software engineer with a deep passion for developing innovative and scalable solutions. I have a strong foundation in web development and backend technologies, working with frameworks like React.js, Node.js, and TypeScript, along with extensive experience in Python, SQL, and cloud platforms like Azure and AWS. My academic journey includes a Master’s degree in Computer Science from DePaul University and a Bachelor’s degree from Geethanjali College of Engineering and Technology, where I honed my skills in designing and building software systems that solve real-world problems. I thrive on tackling complex challenges, whether it\'s optimizing system performance or designing robust architectures. Beyond coding, I enjoy trekking, traveling to new places, and exploring the latest trends in AI and big data. I’m always looking for new experiences, whether that’s in my professional career or personal life.

Experience

1. Software Engineer

   Kofax

   Jun 2024 — Present

   Developed core features for a cloud-native SaaS platform handling daily transactions, contributing to 99.5% uptime.• Contributed to the design and development of 4+ microservices using Spring Boot and deployed via AWS EKS, with integration to 3rd-party APIs for data ingestion and processing.• Assisted in setting up containerized and event-driven architecture using Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS SNS/SQS, improving system scalability and async workflows.• Built frontend components using React for a customer dashboard, implemented authentication with AWS Cognito and JWT, enabling secure access and real-time status monitoring.• Collaborated with DevOps to define IAM roles, configure VPCs, and apply basic encryption strategies (KMS, TLS) for ensuring application security and environment isolation.• Integrated Grafana dashboards with CloudWatch and Prometheus metrics to improve visibility and alerting, helping reduce incident resolution time during peak usage.• Created Jenkins/GitHub Actions-based CI/CD pipelines to streamline deployments and manage infrastructure using Terraform, improving release frequency and rollback safety.• Advocated for code quality by adopting TDD in critical components and doing regular code reviews, which improved team-wide defect detection and onboarding of new devs.• Improved backend performance using Kafka for asynchronous tasks and Redis caching, leading to better throughput during peak loads.

Education

• DePaul University

  Master of Science - MS

  2022 — 2024

• Geethanjali College of Engineering and Technology

  Bachelor of Technology - BTech

  2017 — 2021