Tiago São José
Self-taught engineer · multi-venture founder · engineering leader.
01 — How I got here
In 2012 I moved from Portugal to the Netherlands and took a job on the Shapeways production floor — cleaning, post-processing, packing and shipping 3D-printed parts. No software background, no plan to switch careers.
To make the work faster, I started teaching myself to code. Within a year I was shipping production code every day, and I never looked back.
I loved the idea of building a piece of code that could make someone’s working life easier and better.
That arc carried me through Industrial Engineering, into the software group, and up every layer of the stack — junior dev to senior, staff engineer leading the AWS migration, engineering manager, and today Head of Engineering & co-owner of Shapeways. Alongside that I co-founded Lulu Systems back in 2017 and, since 2024, have been actively running Amify, Piqe and Airbolt — products that ship and serve real customers.
It’s why every engineer who joins my team spends their first week in production before writing a line of code. When you’ve packed the boxes, you build better software — and you decide better, too.
02 — Ventures
Five ventures running today, one from 2017. Each one ships real product, not slide-decks — across additive manufacturing, AM adoption enablement, B2B go-to-market, and AI-code security.
Co-owner & Head of Engineering
ActiveDigital & additive manufacturing platform
After 13 years inside, I co-own and lead engineering at Shapeways. Led the 2024 relaunch from a B2C single-model storefront to a full B2B quoting platform serving enterprise customers globally. ~40-service microservices estate on k3s, organised around customer experience, ops efficiency, and scalability.
shapeways.com
Co-founder & CTO
ActiveExpertise, everywhere — the AM adoption platform
“ASML credits this methodology with moving them from isolated experiments to company-wide AM capability.”
As Co-founder & CTO, I’m building Amify — the adoption platform that scales additive manufacturing capability across enterprises. AM knowledge gets trapped in a handful of experts; Amify’s structured programs (AM Boost workshops, Mindset Incubator, Learning Ladder, Showcase Library, Supplier Spotlight) spread mindset and maturity across whole organisations. Born from ASML’s real challenges, with €5M+ in cost savings delivered to date.
amify.me
Founder
ActiveDone-for-you B2B lead generation
“Your next 1,000 customers already exist.” A managed lead-generation engine for B2B companies in the Netherlands — Piqe maps the market, scores the best prospects, writes outreach that sounds human, and runs the whole pipeline end to end. Clients just close.
getpiqe.com
Founder
ActiveLaunch-ready security for AI-built code
As more software is generated by AI, more of it ships without a second look. Airbolt scans “vibe-coded” projects for the issues that matter before launch, so developers can ship with confidence. Built and launched on Product Hunt.
airbolt.dev
Also
Director and majority shareholder of my Dutch holding company — the vehicle for consulting and independent product development.
Independent full-stack development and consulting engagements.
Co-founded an early-stage retail analytics startup aimed at democratising access to advanced in-store analytics — bringing technology previously reserved for large retailers to smaller operators. Led the technical build as CTO.
lulusystems.io
03 — How I work
“Most CTOs stop writing code. I never did — and four shipping products are proof it pays off.”
04 — Career
A rare long arc inside one company — seven Shapeways roles spanning every layer of the stack — running in parallel with founder and CTO chairs across Lulu Systems, Amify, Piqe and Airbolt. Scroll to walk it.
Founder track
Jan 2026 → Present
Piqe · Eindhoven
Built a managed lead-generation engine for B2B companies in the Netherlands — done-for-you market mapping, prospect scoring, outreach and pipeline.
Founder track
2025 → Present
Airbolt.dev · Eindhoven
Built and launched a security scanner for AI-generated (“vibe-coded”) projects, so developers can ship to production with confidence.
Founder track
Aug 2024 → Present
Amify · Eindhoven
Co-founded Amify, the adoption platform that scales additive manufacturing capability across enterprises through structured training, workshops, and learning programs.
Chapter 04
2024 → Present
Shapeways · Eindhoven
Lead engineering and co-own Shapeways, a digital & additive manufacturing platform, following its 2024 relaunch.
Chapter 05
Jun 2023 → 2024
Shapeways · Eindhoven
Led the Platform and IT departments — Cloud Platform Engineers, SREs and IT personnel.
Chapter 06
Apr 2023 → Jun 2023
Shapeways · Eindhoven
Championed a strategic two-year AWS migration from dual on-prem datacenters to cloud infrastructure.
Chapter 07
Apr 2021 → Apr 2023
Shapeways · Eindhoven
Modernised the core platform and led its move to a service-oriented architecture.
Chapter 08
Oct 2017 → Apr 2021
Shapeways · Eindhoven
Maintained Shapeways.com and the bespoke ERP system, shipping core e-commerce services.
Founder track
2017 → 2018
Lulu Systems · New York · remote
Co-founded an early-stage retail analytics startup making advanced in-store analytics affordable for smaller operators.
Chapter 10
Nov 2014 → Oct 2017
Shapeways · Eindhoven
Drove process optimization and automation at the forefront of 3D printing technology.
Chapter 11
Nov 2012 → Nov 2014
Shapeways · Eindhoven
Started on the production floor at a leading 3D printing firm — where the move into code began.
05 — Capabilities
Engineering leadership, cloud platform at scale, AI agents, additive-manufacturing domain expertise. Most leaders pick a lane; I work across all of them, which is what makes the venture portfolio possible.
06 — Background
Self-taught Software Engineer
Architecture
Portuguese
English
Dutch
Shapeways Team Spotlight: Tiago Sao Jose, Head of Engineering · Shapeways · YouTube · Sep 2025
07 — Contact
Based in Eindhoven, Netherlands, reachable globally. Pick the channel that suits you.