About

A leader who still reads the code

Eight years from engineer to co-founder and CTO — leading teams and technology without stepping away from the code.

  • Zaragoza, Spain
  • Co-Founder & CTO
  • PhD candidate
Cristina Berrocal Elu
Cristina Berrocal Elu Co-Founder & CTO · Technology Leader

01 Who I am

I'm a technology leader with an engineer's background: 8+ years from writing the code to co-founding a company and leading its technology — and the teams that build it.

That background is what makes the leadership work. My core is TypeScript and modern frontend work — React, Next.js, Angular, Vue — sitting on Node.js backends, REST APIs and microservices deployed with Docker and CI/CD across AWS, GCP and Azure. I care about the parts that only show up in production: performance at scale, honest testing, observability, and code the next person can read.

I've done that work in very different settings: cloud DICOM viewers at IdoniaHealth, enterprise e-commerce and mobile at Hiberus, athlete platforms funded by NextGenerationEU at the Spanish Royal Judo Federation, as remote CTO for TennisDNA in the US, and — since 2022 — as co-founder and CTO of Oniria Studios, where I lead the technology and the team and still write code alongside them.

AI runs through both sides of that. I integrate and orchestrate LLMs inside the products I build, and I use Claude, GitHub Copilot and Cursor as part of everyday development. My ongoing PhD in explainable AI applied to biomechanics keeps me honest about what these models can and cannot be trusted to do.

02 Journey

How I got here

Five steps from student to founder — each one added a layer I still use.

  1. 01 2015 — 2021

    Two degrees, two ways of thinking

    Computer Engineering (2020) and Video Game Design & Development (2021, with distinction) at Universidad San Jorge. Systems on one side, users and interfaces on the other.

  2. 02 2018 — 2021

    Consultancy: where the habits formed

    Three years at Hiberus — one in e-commerce, two in mobile for enterprise clients. Agile delivery, CI/CD, REST integration, and learning to estimate honestly.

  3. 03 2021 — 2022

    Tech lead in health tech

    Frontend architecture for cloud DICOM viewers at IdoniaHealth, under GDPR and clinical data-security constraints, plus CDTI-funded R&D bringing AI into the imaging pipeline.

  4. 04 2022 — present

    Co-founder & CTO

    Oniria Studios: technology strategy, a team to lead and mentor, and cloud-native delivery for clients. Alongside it, technology direction at the Spanish Royal Judo Federation and a remote CTO role for a US company.

  5. 05 Now

    A leader who still engineers

    Full-stack in TypeScript and Python across AWS, GCP and Azure. Lecturing at Universidad San Jorge, and a PhD in explainable AI that keeps me sceptical about what models can be trusted to do.

03 Toolkit

The stack, filtered

Pick an area to see only what belongs to it. Everything listed is something I've shipped with, not read about.

Languages

TypeScriptJavaScriptPythonSQLHTML5 & CSS3SASS

Frontend

ReactRedux & ContextNext.jsAngularVueResponsive SPAsAccessibility

Backend & APIs

Node.jsREST APIsAsync servicesMicroservicesThird-party integrations

Cloud & DevOps

AWSGCPAzureDockerCI/CDGit

AI

LLM orchestrationOpenAI & Claude APIsRAGExplainable AI — SHAP, LIMECopilot · Cursor

Quality & practice

Code reviewsPlaywrightTesting & QAObservabilityScrum

04 Education & languages

Where it started

  1. 2024 — present

    PhD in progress — Explainable AI applied to Biomechanics

    Universidad San Jorge
  2. 2021

    MSc in Teacher Training (Secondary Education)

    Universidad de Zaragoza
  3. 2021

    BSc in Video Game Design & Development — with distinction

    Universidad San Jorge
  4. 2020

    BSc in Computer Engineering

    Universidad San Jorge

Spoken languages

Spanish Native
English B2
French Basic

Collaboration

Looking for a technology leader?

Open to engineering management and executive technology roles — Engineering Manager, Head of Engineering, Director of Technology or CTO.

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