Most days, my schedule doesn't look like anyone else's. I might spend the morning weaving through Cebu traffic delivering food, then spend the afternoon reviewing AI-generated images pixel by pixel, checking bounding boxes against strict accuracy standards. It's an unusual combination, but it's the one that's shaped who I am right now: a BSIT student building a career at the intersection of technology, precision, and hustle.
I'm John Paolo Cabaluna, and here's a bit about how I got here, and where I'm headed next.
Learning reliability, one delivery at a time
Since April 2023, I've worked as a rider for foodpanda here in Cebu. It's easy to overlook this kind of work, but it taught me something I now carry into every job I do: consistency matters. Every order is a small promise that something will arrive on time and in good shape. That habit of showing up and taking small details seriously became the foundation for everything that came after.
Finding my footing in AI
In October 2025, I started working as a Data Annotation Specialist, and this is where my interest in AI turned into something concrete. Day to day, that means:
Evaluating generative image outputs for aesthetic authenticity, hunting down synthetic patterns, artificial textures, and the small visual artifacts that give away a fake
Reviewing model outputs against complex prompts for RLHF and prompt alignment, catching semantic inconsistencies, structural distortions, and subtle visual errors
Doing pixel-level QA on 2D bounding boxes for computer vision datasets, holding annotations to strict IoU standards, including the genuinely hard cases with heavy occlusion
This work is detail-heavy by nature, and I've grown to love it for exactly that reason. Every review sharpens how I think about what models actually "see," and where they still fall short.
Shipping interfaces people actually use
Between January and April 2026, I worked as a contract Frontend Developer for Manevera GmbH, building and maintaining responsive interfaces for their enterprise-grade digital audio delivery systems. I implemented state management to keep data flowing smoothly and interactions responsive, all while balancing performance, usability, and audio quality. It was a good complement to my annotation work: instead of reviewing what a model produced, I was building something people used directly.
Working at the edge of trading and tech
Since July 2026, I've also worked as an Introducing Broker with Vantage, helping retail and institutional traders access liquidity, execution tools, and multilingual support, while supporting the growth of the broader trading network. It's a more relationship-driven role than my technical work, but it's rounded out my understanding of how technology and finance intersect.
Giving back to Cebu's tech community
Alongside all of this, I volunteer as a Finance Volunteer with DevCon Cebu, supporting the budgeting and financial reporting behind their community tech initiatives. It's my way of contributing to the same community that's been part of my own growth.
Still learning, always
This year alone, I placed 2nd in SolutionsFest Cebu 2026 (hosted by The Sandbox Foundation), completed Google Developer Group's Build with AI program, finished Google Cloud's Essential Google Cloud Infrastructure: Foundation course, and earned a Lean Six Sigma White Belt certification. None of these were required. I just like knowing more than I did last month.
What's next
I'm still a few years from graduating with my BSIT from Don Bosco Technical College, but I already know the direction I want to head: deeper into full-stack development with React, ASP.NET Core, and PostgreSQL, while staying close to the AI annotation and QA work that first pulled me toward machine learning. If my path looks a little unconventional right now, I think that's kind of the point. Every one of these roles is teaching me something the others can't.
If you're working on something in AI, web development, or just want to compare notes on juggling too many things at once, I'd love to connect on LinkedIn.
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