Hi, I'm Matthew Ratcliffe. I build the systems that outlive the hype cycle.
Matt to almost everyone. Over 20 years across the technology stack — from greenfield builds to gnarly brownfield rescues. These days I focus on AI, healthcare and high-risk data (PII / PCI), integrations that actually stay integrated, and product strategy that survives contact with reality.
Technical resource, investor & strategic advisor
I'm Matthew Ratcliffe — Matt to almost everyone. I invest in and advise on digital technology, guided by four key principles. That means building independent product suites of my own, and advising businesses and enterprises on digital strategy and architecture. My specialism is healthcare integration — HL7 and FHIR, and I have a particular interest in designing secure systems and protecting high-risk data, and in building AI that behaves predictably around it. Based in Ballarat, I work with clients across Australia and internationally, and I love tackling all sorts of problems, at all sorts of scales. What will we solve together?
More about Matthew Ratcliffe →
My 4 guiding principles
Brings Joy
Solving problems that bring a genuine smile to the user's face.
Positive Impact
A meaningful, positive effect on people and communities.
Interesting Problems
Rich, complex problem spaces worth digging into.
Commercially Viable
A real, sustainable business — not just a good idea.
Life outside the terminal
Home base is Ballarat, Victoria, where Matt lives with his wife, their two boys, and Minnesota — a puppy with considerably more energy than any of them (just kidding — she's quite old and only moves for about an hour a day! The rest of the time she's asleep, but if you're on a call with Matt, you might just catch a cameo). Being a great dad and husband is Matt's #1 priority — everything else comes second. Weekends are a mix of chai lattes, hanging with the fam and the doggo, and volunteering in various roles at his local church. Matt also holds an RAAus pilot's licence and is an aspiring keyboard player. Matt also enjoys being the deliberate oddball in the room — think a banana taped to his shirt (a nod to Cattelan's "Comedian") and drinking out of his favourite Bunnings bucket, filled with full cream or almond milk depending on the day's whimsy. It's the same instinct that drives the work: show up, contribute where it counts, start a conversation, and build something that lasts.
What Matt does
A strong architecture and product management background across healthcare, finance and AI — spanning multi-million dollar portfolios and multiple industry verticals.
Technology Investor
I invest in and own several brands and products in the technology space, and understand what it takes to make a successful product in today's market.
Strategic Advice & Architecture
A strong architecture and product management background across multiple industries and multi-million dollar portfolios — from technical strategy through to software architecture and delivery.
Contract/Permanent
Contract Matt into your team for hands-on delivery across greenfield builds, brownfield uplift and everything between.
Limited capacity available currently — contact Matt for more information.
AI & Healthcare Systems
Deep experience designing and shipping AI-enabled and healthcare platforms that handle high-risk data (PII / PCI) responsibly and at scale.
Speaking & Mentoring
Hackathon facilitation, mentoring and speaking — sharing two decades of architecture and product lessons with teams and communities.
Where you'll find my work
I've been blessed to have my work deployed all across the world — systems and platforms I've designed, built or advised on, live and running across these locations.
Past Projects
A sample of the problem spaces I've worked in — architecture, product uplift and platform builds across healthcare and beyond.
Core Banking Deployment Process for a Major Retailer
Designing a controlled deployment process for a new core banking platform, packaged so another team could run every release themselves from documentation alone.
Product Fulfilment APIs for a Major Electronics Retailer
Building fulfilment, omnichannel pickup, and stock visibility APIs for a large retail estate, under a hard mandate to maximise revenue while extending existing systems rather than rebuilding them.
Internal Knowledge Portal for a Financial Services Firm
Building a central knowledge base and document hub for staff at a financial services firm, and getting people to actually leave shared drives and email behind for it.
Critical Hosting Architecture for Financial Planning Software
Designing high-availability hosting for financial planning software used across all major Australian banks, serving around 20,000 users under both steady-state and bursty peak load.
Products I build
Independent products I own and actively develop, alongside the advisory and contract work.
Nimbus Secure
Encrypted point-to-point secure data transfer over the public internet.
MarketPOS
Point-of-sale and commission-splitting solution for large format second-hand and antique markets.
AffidavitWriter
AI-powered client conversations to facilitate risk management and affidavit writing.
EnterCalc
Enterprise calculator building and publishing.
What it's like working with Matt
A few words from people I've worked with, managed, mentored or delivered for.
I've had the pleasure of working with Matt and can confidently say he's one of the strongest Technology and Data leaders I've worked alongside. Matt has an exceptional ability to combine deep technical expertise with a practical, client-foc…
I had the pleasure of working with Matt and was consistently impressed by his technical expertise, professionalism, and commitment to delivering high-quality solutions. Matt has a strong ability to translate complex business requirements in…
I had the opportunity to work with Matt. His ability to balance strategic thinking with a practical approach makes him an effective leader. His guidance during requirement gathering, stakeholder management, solution design helped the team c…
I had the privilege of working with Matt during my tenure at Journey 2, where we worked on numerous projects across both government and private sector clients. Matt’s focused approach to problem-solving and his ability develop innovative so…
Working with Matt has been a great experience. I highly recommend his professionalism, realibility and commitment to excellence. One of the most valuable lessons I've learned from him is the simple but powerful principle of always showing u…
Matt's the full package. Strong technical skills, leadership, practicality, and great communication skills. He's easy to work with, genuinely cares about the business outcomes, and is able to form a balanced view of what a solution should l…
Popular articles
A Timestamp Is Not Proof Something Changed
Systems that infer change from a timestamp instead of the content itself will eventually do expensive, silent work based on a signal that was never actually telling the truth.
A Wrong Comment Is Still A Bug
When code review finds a comment that misdescribes correct code, fix the explanation and prove the real invariant with a test, because the next person will trust the comment over the logic.
Listen to my YouTube radio station
I turn learnings and interesting parts of my day into songs using AI agents, then publish them here across a handful of bands and projects. Hit play below, or head over to the music page for the full catalogue, lyrics and a player that follows you around the site.
Upwork, Expert360 & Intch
If you'd rather engage through a platform that already handles contracts, milestones and escrow, my Upwork and Expert360 profiles are the quickest way to get started — hourly or fixed price, with the paperwork, payments and time tracking taken care of for you. I'm on Intch as well, if that's where you already do your networking.
Matt Ratcliffe — Software Architect & Engineer
Same work, same standards — architecture reviews, brownfield rescues, AI and integration builds — just booked through Upwork instead of a direct contract.
Matt Ratcliffe — Expert360
Also listed on Expert360 for Australian enterprise engagements — consulting, architecture and delivery work contracted through their marketplace.
Matt Ratcliffe — Intch
On Intch too, for fractional and part-time work and for the introductions that come before a contract does — a good place to start a conversation rather than a scope.
Elevate your digital presence today
Whether it's a hands-on architecture review or a Contract/Permanent resource for your team — let's talk about what you're building.
Contact MattLet's talk
Send a message and I'll get back to you — whether it's a project, an advisory engagement, or just a question.