"Google Me": Transforming my Career into a Google Search Experience

#devchallenge #googleaichallenge #gemini #devnewyear2026

New Year, New You Portfolio Challenge Submission

This is a submission for the New Year, New You Portfolio Challenge Presented by Google AI

About Me

I am Diego Martinez, a Systems Engineer and Google Product Expert with a passion for blending high-level engineering with intuitive user experiences. This portfolio is more than just a CV; it is a showcase of my identity as a "Google-native" professional and a bold statement of my career-long dream: to officially join the ranks as a Googler. My goal was to transform the familiar, minimalist interface of Google search engine into a narrative tool that guides recruiters through my education, experience, and technical skills in a way that feels both nostalgic and creative.

Portfolio

Try Out here

I added the label: --labels dev-tutorial=devnewyear2026

How I Built It

My tech stack was chosen to mirror the speed and reliability of Google’s own tools:

AI Development with Google AI Studio: I leveraged Google AI Studio to prototype, prompt-engineer, and refine the core intelligence of the portfolio. This allowed me to fine-tune the model's behavior and ensure high-quality responses before integration.
AI Integration: I integrated Gemini 3 Flash Preview to power the "AI Mode" button. This feature acts as a virtual career assistant, answering specific questions about my background using RAG over my professional career.
Deployment: Hosted on Google Cloud Run, ensuring global scalability and performance.
Design Decisions: 1) Constrained Search UX: To prevent users from mistaking it for a general web search, the box search was implemented focused strictly on my professional data. When a user types anything, it directs them to my professional career path, thus avoiding distractions and focusing them on the relevant aspects of my portfolio. 2) Available in only 3 languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese.

What I'm Most Proud Of

I'm really proud of the "AI Mode" button. It's not just a gimmick; it represents the transition from static portfolios to interactive experiences. When activated, the interface transforms from a classic search results page into a space for spoken/written interaction with generative AI. Furthermore, in my opinion, the "I'll contact you" button (a playful nod to Google's "I'm feeling lucky") adds a touch of personality that aims to spark positive conversations with hiring managers.

I really enjoyed creating this portfolio; I'll probably add easter eggs like askew, gravity, or "do a barrel roll" to it at some point just for fun.