Tom Smykowski is a seasoned ERP integration engineer and product-minded technical leader with nearly two decades of experience in product delivery, from initial discovery through to production. He is the ideal hire for companies seeking to connect disparate systems, modernize legacy ERP platforms, or build API-first integrations that scale. His background spans industrial ERP systems, multi-tenant SaaS architecture, and complex data workflows, making him uniquely equipped to handle the intricate challenges of enterprise integration.
Successful ERP integration is more than just connecting APIs. It requires a deep understanding of business processes, data integrity, and long-term system evolution. Tom approaches integration projects with a blend of hands-on engineering, product thinking, and technical leadership. He has worked with major organizations like DeLaval, GE Healthcare, Unilever, and Bunge, where robust, reliable integrations are critical to operations. His work ensures that new systems enhance, rather than disrupt, core business functions.
Based in Poland, Tom works remotely with teams across the EU, UK, and US, offering flexible engagement models. Whether you need a full-time integration lead, a part-time consultant for a specific project, or a technical partner to architect your integration strategy, he provides the expertise to bridge your technology gaps and future-proof your enterprise architecture.
The Role of a Modern ERP Integration Engineer
The landscape of Enterprise Resource Planning has evolved from monolithic, on-premise software to a complex ecosystem of cloud-based SaaS applications, custom platforms, and legacy systems. A modern ERP integration engineer must be a versatile problem-solver, capable of designing interfaces that are not only functional but also maintainable, secure, and scalable. This role involves mapping business logic across systems, ensuring real-time or batched data synchronization, and creating APIs that serve both internal and external consumers.
Tom's experience is rooted in this holistic view. His early career work with industrial ERP at Insoft Serwis provided foundational knowledge of core business processes like supply chain, manufacturing, and inventory management. This domain expertise is crucial; it allows an engineer to ask the right questions and design integrations that align with actual operational needs, not just technical specifications. He understands that a failed integration can halt production or cripple financial reporting, so reliability and error handling are paramount in his designs.
Today's integrations often follow an API-first philosophy, treating the integration layer as a product in itself. This means designing clear contracts, versioning strategies, and comprehensive documentation. Tom's work with companies like Printify, where he contributed to systems serving over 10 million merchants, demonstrates his ability to build at scale. He focuses on creating integration frameworks that other teams can use independently, improving overall developer experience and accelerating future projects.
Key Technical Skills for Complex Integration Projects
Building durable integrations requires mastery across several technical domains. An effective engineer must be proficient in backend development, API design, data modeling, and often, frontend development for associated admin panels or dashboards. Tom's full-stack proficiency with technologies like TypeScript, Vue.js, and Supabase allows him to own the entire integration lifecycle, from the database schema to the user interface that monitors data flows.
A significant part of integration work involves data transformation and validation. Different systems often represent the same entity (like a 'customer' or 'product') with varying fields and formats. Tom's experience with complex data grids and business logic, such as his work with AG Grid at Websoul, is directly applicable here. He builds robust validation layers and reconciliation tools that give business users confidence in the data's accuracy. This attention to detail prevents the 'garbage in, garbage out' scenario that plagues poorly planned integrations.
Furthermore, modern integrations must be observable and maintainable. Tom emphasizes building in monitoring, logging, and alerting from the start. This operational mindset ensures that issues can be diagnosed quickly and that the integration's health is transparent to the team. His approach reduces mean time to resolution (MTTR) and builds trust in the integrated system as a whole. This is especially critical when working with remote, cross-time-zone teams, as clear system observability enables effective async collaboration and support.
From Legacy Modernization to Greenfield API Design
Integration projects generally fall into two categories: modernizing legacy ERP connections or building new, greenfield API ecosystems. Tom has deep experience in both. Legacy modernization often involves working with older protocols, undocumented APIs, and brittle point-to-point connections. The goal is to incrementally refactor these into a more centralized, manageable integration hub or middleware layer. This requires careful planning to avoid business disruption, a challenge Tom is familiar with from his work in industrial and corporate environments.
For greenfield projects, such as building a new multi-tenant SaaS platform that needs to integrate with external ERPs like NetSuite, SAP, or Microsoft Dynamics, the focus shifts to foundational design. Here, Tom applies principles of clean architecture and domain-driven design to create flexible, scalable integration points. His role as a staff engineer at Croissant, a workplace platform, involved solving complex compliance and collaboration problems through well-architected integrations. This experience is invaluable for SaaS companies whose value proposition often hinges on seamless connectivity with a customer's existing stack.
Whether dealing with legacy or new systems, Tom's product thinking ensures the integration delivers tangible business value. He collaborates closely with founders, product managers, and stakeholders to prioritize integration endpoints based on impact, not just technical ease. This results in a roadmap that delivers quick wins to build momentum while laying a solid foundation for future expansion, ensuring the integration work directly supports business growth and operational efficiency.
Industry Experience: From Agriculture to Fintech SaaS
Tom's integration expertise is not theoretical, it's battle-tested across diverse industries. Each sector presents unique data models, compliance requirements, and performance demands. For example, his work with agribusiness giants like DeLaval and Bunge involves integrations that handle supply chain data, sensor information from IoT devices, and logistics coordination. These integrations must be robust and often operate in environments with variable connectivity, requiring smart caching and offline capabilities.
In the healthcare sector, through engagements with GE Healthcare, integrations must adhere to strict data privacy regulations like HIPAA or GDPR. Tom's approach includes building security and compliance into the integration layer's DNA, implementing proper data encryption, audit trails, and access controls. Similarly, his project for the Institute of National Remembrance required handling sensitive historical data with the utmost integrity, demonstrating his ability to work with high-stakes, regulated information.
His founder experience with Websoul, a marketing automation and fintech SaaS platform serving 32,000+ businesses, showcases his ability to build and scale integration-heavy products from the ground up. This involved creating connectors for payment gateways, CRM systems, and e-commerce platforms, which are the lifeblood of a SaaS business. This direct experience of building a product reliant on integrations gives him exceptional empathy for SaaS founders and CTOs who are navigating similar challenges.
Why Hire a Remote Integration Specialist from Poland?
Hiring a remote ERP integration engineer like Tom offers significant advantages, especially for EU, UK, and US-based teams. Poland has become a hub for top-tier engineering talent, offering a strong overlap with both European and US East Coast business hours. This facilitates real-time collaboration for stand-ups, planning sessions, and urgent issue resolution without the burden of extreme time-zone differences that can delay projects.
Tom is adept at the communication practices essential for successful remote work, including async documentation, clear ticket writing, and proactive status updates. His background in technical writing, authoring books, and public speaking means he can articulate complex integration concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. This skill is vital for ensuring everyone, from developers to executives, understands the integration strategy, progress, and any trade-offs involved.
Furthermore, engaging on a B2B contract basis provides flexibility. Companies can scale his involvement up or down based on project phases, accessing senior-level expertise without the long-term commitment of a full-time hire until it's the right fit. Tom's remote setup is professional and reliable, equipped to handle the demands of integrating critical business systems, making him a seamless addition to any distributed team focused on enterprise connectivity.
When This Is a Good Fit
Engaging Tom as your ERP integration engineer is an excellent fit if you are a founder, CTO, or technical leader at a company navigating a complex integration landscape. This includes startups building a SaaS product that must plug into common ERPs, mid-size companies modernizing a legacy system mosaic, or larger enterprises needing a seasoned specialist to lead a critical integration program. If you value ownership, strategic thinking alongside execution, and a partner who understands that technology must serve the business, then this collaboration will drive meaningful results for your organization.