Erkan Ege’s path to code: Pivoting from industrial engineering to web development for AI innovation

If there’s a common thread in Erkan Ege Senli’s career, it would be this: he likes building things. A year into his move from Turkey to Canada, Erkan Ege decided he still wanted to pursue this passion, but now he wanted to do it in digital spaces. Enter web development. Erkan Ege set his sights on a career change, successfully trading building systems as an Industrial Engineer for building the web as a Full-Stack Engineer. From long days as a bootcamp student to now leading innovation at a startup focused on optimizing AI-powered search, Erkan Ege details how he’s built his career, block by block.

Laying the foundation for a career in tech

While in Turkey, Erkan Ege graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering. He spent nearly a year working in this field until he decided to move to Canada in 2021. Initially, he began working as an Inventory Specialist at a logistics firm, but web development was calling his name, and he began to explore. “I self-taught web development and freelanced on small brochure sites and web apps built with WordPress and other CMS platforms,” he shares.

In doing so, he quickly realized that web development played to his strengths. “My creative side and engineering mindset naturally met in software,” he explains. After 3 years of freelancing, Erkan Ege was ready to deepen his knowledge and build more complex projects faster. He came across several learning options, but he ended up choosing the Lighthouse Labs part-time, flex Web Development Bootcamp. As he describes, it was the right fit because it was accelerated learning without sacrificing depth of knowledge. “While comparing Canadian programs, Lighthouse Labs kept popping up—especially on Reddit—for its rigorous, project‑based curriculum and strong alumni outcomes, so I chose it.”

Navigating the bootcamp blueprint

The bootcamp felt intense. Over the course of 8 months, Erkan Ege learned everything from go-to industry tools and standards to best practices and real-world insights. He went from lectures to pair programming to group projects. In his words, it all “stacked up fast” (pun intended). Yet because it was the flexible version of the program, he was still able to work. “As a recent immigrant who needed to keep supporting my family, that could have been impossible,” he explains. “But the flex option let me balance paid work and study.”

Juggling the two wasn’t easy, but Erkan Ege finds that pursuing both became his fuel to power through and reach the finish line on time. And the knowledge he acquired was worth it because once he finished, he felt ready for web development in the real world. “This pushed me far beyond tutorial-level coding and built real confidence,” he notes. “The biggest win was graduating with production-ready skills.”

Equipped with skills in React, Node, SQL/NoSQL, DevOps Fundamentals, and Agile teamwork, Erkan Ege decided to take nearly a year off after graduation to enhance his experience. During that time, he started putting together the outstanding portfolio that he continues to build today. He also highlights that Lighthouse Labs’ Career Services kept in touch the entire time, supporting him with mock interviews, resume reviews, and job-match introductions. “That support ultimately led me to my current role, and the technical foundation from Lighthouse Labs made every interview problem feel familiar rather than intimidating,” he emphasizes.

Coding a new chapter

As a Full-Stack Engineer at Azoma, a fast-growing startup leveraging AI to improve search for marketing and e-commerce platforms, Erkan Ege is putting his skills to good use and learning more every day. His work involves designing and building integration modules that pull and synchronize clients’ catalogue data into Azoma’s platform, doing so across marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and others.

He also notes that being someone who switched careers has perks, such as extra tools in his toolbox. “My industrial‑engineering Excel chops still come in handy for complex data wrangling for custom integrations,” he points out. Speaking of perks, Erkan Ege also gets to work fully remotely, with optional office days where he enjoys meeting up with colleagues in person.

But perhaps more meaningful than the technical stuff and perks: Erkan Ege has found a career he’s genuinely excited about. As he puts it, it’s the perfect “blend of challenge and possibility.” For this engineer, every ticket that lands on his desk is a fresh new puzzle that allows him to problem-solve and use his creativity. “The creative expression is rewarding—writing code means I can take an idea from a spark in my head to a polished feature in production, end‑to‑end,” he says.

Erkan Ege also finds that the room for growth feels infinite. “Because tech evolves nonstop, the growth feels limitless: one week I’m refining system‑design patterns, the next I’m experimenting with AI integrations,” he reflects. “There’s always another layer to peel back, another tool to master, and that perpetual learning cycle keeps the work exciting and my skill set expanding.”

Up next: More growth, more code, fewer bugs

So what’s next for Erkan Ege? He plans to continue learning new skills and driving his career forward—and help others while he’s at it. “Over the next 12 months, I’m doubling down on DevOps & AWS Cloud skills and aiming for a technical‑lead position where I can guide architecture decisions and mentor juniors,” he shares.

Erkan Ege has no plans to slow down (and if you’re curious, you can keep up with him on GitHub!). He also advises against waiting for the “perfect moment” to pursue career moves. “Begin studying, building, and networking today,” he says. “Each tutorial finished, bug fixed, or connection made multiplies your momentum and propels you closer to your goals.”

He also insists that those who change careers bring unique backgrounds and voices to tech, and they’re very much needed. Looking back, Erkan Ege is glad he took the chance and made the leap, expressing gratitude for the support he found at Lighthouse Labs. “If I am where I am right now, it's because of my mentors, Career Services, and the whole Lighthouse Labs family. Thank you for the shot!”

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