Alex Burrows

Enterprise platforms built to last.

CTO and Solution Architect. Over 20 years designing and building critical systems for large organisations — TypeScript, React, Next.js, Drupal, and Laravel.

Contact details

Clients

Organisations that need to get it right.

Architecture and delivery for regulated industries and high-traffic public platforms — often where downtime or security failures are not an option.

PwC
Professional services
Worldpay
Financial technology
BBC
Media and broadcasting
Pfizer
Pharmaceutical
Toyota
Automotive
IHG
Hospitality
Met Police
Public sector
National Grid
Energy and utilities
Coty
Cosmetics
Travelopia
Travel

Expertise

Leadership, architecture, and delivery.

Twenty years means knowing what works at scale — and what causes expensive problems later.

  1. 01

    Technical leadership

    Engineering standards, mentoring, and architectural decisions that stand up in production.

  2. 02

    Solution architecture

    Systems that are secure, scalable, and maintainable when requirements are complicated.

  3. 03

    Full-stack delivery

    I write code as well as design systems — frontend, backend, and infrastructure.

  4. 04

    Enterprise operations

    Performance, security, compliance, and DevOps for platforms that run reliably every day.

Services

How I work with clients.

I advise at leadership level and I build things. Usually on projects where the stakes are high.

CTO as a service
Interim or ongoing technical leadership — roadmaps, team structure, vendor choices, board communication.
Solution architecture
System design for platforms that scale, fit existing estates, and meet security requirements.
Enterprise development
Full-stack delivery for complex applications, new builds, and legacy modernisation.Drupal · Laravel · React · Next.js
AI and automation
Language models, internal tooling, and automation where it saves time or improves outcomes.

Available for consulting, contract leadership, and selective development. Happy to have a straight conversation.

Drupal

Specialist since 2007.

  • Module contributor
  • Drupal 8 Blueprints author
  • DrupalCamp organiser

17+ yrs · 100+ projects

Drupal has been central to my work for nearly 20 years — module development, migrations, and architecture for busy public-facing sites.

Services

Custom development
Modules, themes, integrations, and workflows.
Maintenance and support
Security updates, performance, monitoring for live sites.
Migration services
Upgrades from Drupal 5–11 and other CMS platforms.
Architecture and audit
Technical reviews and design for large Drupal estates.

Community

  • DrupalCamp London — organised and led the community's main event (400+ attendees)
  • Contrib modules — 15+ modules focused on APIs and performance
  • Drupal CWG — 5+ years on community governance
Drupal.org profile

AI

Practical use, not hype.

I use AI where it solves a clear problem — saving time, improving a workflow, or making data easier to use. The aim is production software, not a demo that never ships.

Integration
GPT, Claude, LLama, and other models in existing products with sensible guardrails.
Automation
Document handling, data extraction, internal support workflows.
Knowledge
Search over your own data with RAG and vector storage where needed.
Strategy
Working out where AI is worth the effort — and where it is not.

OpenAI · Claude · LangChain · vector DBs · RAG · fine-tuning · prompt engineering

Technology

Stack.

What I use on client work and internal products. Chosen for the project, not preference.

Languages
TypeScript, JavaScript, PHP, GraphQL, HTML, CSS, Bash
Frontend
React, Next.js, React Native, Nuxt.js, Tailwind CSS, SASS, Astro
Backend
Drupal, Laravel, Node.js, Strapi
Cloud and DevOps
Upsun, AWS, Google Cloud, Firebase, Vercel, DigitalOcean, Nginx, Apache, Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions
Databases
MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, Elasticsearch
Tools
Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Yarn, Git

Writing

Drupal 8 Blueprints

Technical guide to building professional Drupal 8 applications — architecture, module development, API integration, and performance. Published by Packt.

Covers enterprise patterns, module development, API integration, performance optimisation, and real-world examples.

View on Amazon

Contact

Get in touch.

Hampshire, United Kingdom

Open to enterprise projects, technical leadership, and consulting. If you have a platform problem and want someone who has been there before, drop me a line.