FAQ
The questions I get asked the most.
Compiled after ~30 recruiter / client conversations in 2025 — 2026. Honest answers, current as of 24/05/2026. If your question isn't here, write to me.
Availability & format
Are you available for a permanent (full-time) role?
Yes. Permanent Lead Engineer / .NET Architect / AI Engineer / AI Solutions Architect, indicative band €65 — 95k gross / yeardepending on role, equity, architecture scope. Remote France & Europe, or hybrid in Occitanie / Île-de-France. Immediate start.
What's your freelance day rate?
€600 — 900 ex. VAT / daydepending on context, duration and criticality. €600 ex. VAT on long missions (> 6 months) in full remote with clear scoping. €900 ex. VAT on short scoping / audit / architecture engagements. Listed on Malt.
Where are you based? Are you willing to travel?
Based in Lunel (34, Occitanie). Remote-first, hybrid OK in Occitanie or Île-de-France. Occasional travel across France and Europe possible for scoping / kickoff / workshop sessions.
When can you start?
Immediatelyfor a freelance mission or a permanent role. No current notice period. The only delay is the client's own paperwork (contract, KYC, system access) — typically 1 to 2 weeks on the client side.
What mission format do you prefer?
For build work, I have a strong bias for missions of 3 to 12 months where I can own the architecture over time. For audit / scoping, short sprints of 1 to 4 weeks with a precise deliverable (architecture report, POC, costed refactoring plan).
Skills & positioning
What do you bring that's different in 2026?
The unique peak: integrating GenAI natively in a .NET codebase (Semantic Kernel, MEAI, OpenAI/Claude SDK, ML.NET, RAG on pgvector) without standing up a Python service on the side. Most .NET architects outsource to Python; most AI engineers don't touch .NET. I hold both fronts.
Are you more of a Lead Engineer or an AI Engineer?
Lead Engineer first, with a GenAI / AI architecture specialty. My profile is not a Data Scientist — I don't do research or fine-tuning. I'm an architect who knows how to integrateAI into production systems. That's what companies are looking for in 2026: not a researcher, but a Lead who can say yes or no on AI architecture choices and ship.
Why not Python like everyone else for GenAI?
Because large French enterprises have a massive .NET legacy. Doubling the stack with a Python service doubles operating costs, doubles the profiles to hire, doubles the bug surface. Microsoft is pushing the opposite in 2026: Microsoft.Extensions.AI in .NET 10, Semantic Kernel, Agent Framework, official OpenAI / Anthropic SDKs. It's the winning angle for French IT services firms and large enterprises.
Have you worked with LangChain?
On the Python side, yes — for comparison purposes. In production I prefer Semantic Kernel because I work in .NET — the integration with an ASP.NET Core backend is trivial. LangChain remains excellent on pure Python.
And ML model deployment? Can you do fine-tuning?
Yes, but pragmatically: LoRA / QLoRA with PEFT on the HuggingFace side. For 90% of business cases, I prefer to use an existing model via API (OpenAI, Claude, Mistral) with RAG + function calling — equivalent results, infrastructure 10× simpler. Fine-tuning has its place when you need a very specific style or to reduce long-term costs.
Proof & references
The Rockstar framework — is that really you?
I was co-founder and CTO of V-Multi (2016 — 2021), a C# / C++ multiplayer framework. I left the project in 2021. The technology was merged with a competitor and then acquired by Rockstar Games in 2023 — after I had left. I was not employed by Rockstar. I designed and operated the technology with 15 people for 5 years before the acquisition.
What exactly are your CodersRank rankings?
CodersRank analyses the public GitHub history of about 5 million developers and ranks them by language and framework on the basis of shipped code (lines, complexity, longevity). No manual input. My rankings are verifiable in real time at profile.codersrank.io/user/hectorlayak: Top 0.9% C# globally, Top 0.7% TypeScript, Top 5 France Entity Framework Core.
You shipped 9 products in under a year as a freelance — is that for real?
Yes, and it's documented on GitHub with commit dates. Out of those 9 products, 4 are not strictly client projects — they are personal SaaS and open-source libraries I built to crystallise reusable patterns (cf. Portfolio Engineering, Poisson Engine, aiSelector, GeopolAI). The other 5 are full products I invested 2 to 6 weeks on each. It's not a stunt, it's a system — Claude Code and Cursor make this pace possible.
Do you have verifiable client references?
Across the 6 listed companies (Rockstar Games acquisition, Gecko Alliance, EXFO, TECHFORM, V-Multi, MDP Qualité), the acquisitions and deployments (150K IoT systems/year, 250K technicians) are verifiable publicly. For former colleague / manager contacts: I share 2 — 3 names privately after a first call, on explicit request.
Process & method
What does a typical mission look like?
Week 1: scoping (code, architecture, constraints, actual pain point). Weeks 2 — 3: targeted prototype on the hot path. Following weeks: short iterations (1 — 2 weeks), regular demos, architecture documentation delivered in parallel. My goal is always skill transfer — I turn down missions where I would be the only one able to understand what runs.
Which methodologies do you apply?
Pragmatic Agile (Scrum / Kanban depending on team context), TDD where the domain lends itself to it, Clean Architecture / DDD on multi-tenant SaaS, Event Sourcing when business traceability demands it. Not dogmatic — method serves the product, not the other way around.
Do you work with a team or solo?
Both. Solo on scoping / audit / POC missions. Ideally in a team (3 to 15 people) on long-term build — that's where my CTO experience (15 people over 5 years) pays full dividends. I can also onboard and mentor juniors / mid-levels.
Which productivity tools do you use?
AI-augmented stack: Claude Code + Cursor day-to-day, GitHub Actions for CI, Linear for tickets, Notion for the knowledge base. Full breakdown on /uses.
Miscellaneous
Why haven't you found a permanent role in the past 6 months?
I deliberately chose freelance as soon as I left Gecko (July 2025) for two reasons: validating solo velocity in AI-augmented mode, and structuring my native GenAI in .NET expertise. The French permanent Lead Engineer / .NET Architect market was slow in H1 2026 (lengthened cycles, frozen budgets). I am now active on the permanent pool in parallel with freelance — not as a replacement. More detail on the strategy on /en/about.
Do you accept a trial period on a permanent contract?
Yes, the legal trial period is a standard. I usually propose a 30-day check-in to validate mutual fit — shorter and more actionable than the standard 4 months.
Do you work with IT services firms / agencies, or only direct?
Both. Direct (Malt, personal outreach) or via IT services firms / recruitment agencies. For agencies: I prefer to lock down the day-rate ticket at the first call to avoid back-and-forth on commission.
Are you open to expatriation?
Not in the next 12 months — I just came back to France after 2 years in Quebec. But open to remote from anywhere in Europe / CET ±2 h time zone.
Question not listed?
Write to me — reply within 24 h. I add the questions that come up often right here.
Available — full-time, freelance or consulting