About

Sylvan Smit

I help small engineering teams build the technical, process, and human foundations to deliver beyond their size. The same foundations I lacked as an engineer, and learned to build as a manager.

I'm originally from South Africa, with a BSc in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Cape Town. I'm now based in Berlin.

My first job was at Plentify in Cape Town, where I was the first engineer helping take HotBot from an idea into thousands of homes. I felt every gap a small team has to live with. No software development life cycle, no testing frameworks, no monitors, no alarms. No team lead, no 1:1s, no growth path.

I then joined AWS, first as an engineer on EC2's hypervisor, then as manager of an 8-person Security team. I built the project management, reporting, and operations the team needed to mitigate 50+ embargoed security events with zero breaches. That's where I learned what's needed first, and what can wait.

I am deeply curious about team dynamics, and this curiosity has pushed me to try to improve every team I have been a part of. This shows up in my professional life, and in my approach to sport. I play competitive Ultimate Frisbee, having won South African, German, and All-African Championships. I now coach Berlin Wall City, the second-best men's team in Europe in 2025. I love working with teams and finding inefficiencies to correct.

If this resonates, book a call.