Carlos Zapata
I build finance, operations and AI systems around how institutions actually run.
Fractional CTO and technology partner to schools and businesses.
Background
I spent ten years running multi-million-dollar hospitality operations: teams, guests, owners and the P&L. Now I build the billing, payments and AI operating systems that help schools and businesses get paid faster and run with fewer hands. I run three companies and work as a technology partner to organisations that need the same.
Operator first
Co-founded and launched a restaurant and bar from zero, then led service operations for up to 400 guests a day in $5-20M operations, including The French Laundry (three Michelin stars) and Vail Resorts. Owned P&L review, payroll accuracy and daily finance reporting; implemented and integrated POS, accounting, purchasing and scheduling systems.
A Michelin star, and the first systems
Led management and operations of Esme Chicago, a $2M+ restaurant that earned a Michelin star in its first year. Built the restaurant's membership programme and season-ticket system myself, which sold $350K+ in season tickets in its first four months, and the restaurant's websites. Completed MIT xPRO's Full Stack Development programme alongside.
Founder and technology partner
Founded StudentFlow from inside schools, sitting with the finance team and shipping what mattered. The same approach produced Aptus Collect and Dist Corpus, and a consulting practice where I embed with a team, build what it needs, train the people and stay in it after go-live.
MIT xPRO, Full Stack Development, 2022 - 2023/University of Iowa, BBA, Entrepreneurship & Management, 2014 - 2017
Companies
Four companies, each with its own product, customers and website.
The operations platform for everything outside the classroom.
Enrollment, billing, payments, programmes and dismissal run as connected workflows on one family record, for PK-12 schools.
- $1.8M+ in payments processed
- 80+ hours saved per billing cycle
- Billing up to 6 weeks faster
- Four products on one platform
Founder & CEO, since Mar 2024
Aptus CollectCollections on autopilot.
Reminders, one-tap payments, payment plans, recovery and reconciliation, sent in the client's name and voice. One invoice export becomes live, reconciled accounts.
- Multi-channel reminder engine, SMS and email
- Deterministic matching of every payment to its invoice
- API-first, integrates with or replaces existing billing
Founder, since Oct 2026
Aptus HospitalityMembership, ticketing and events for restaurant groups.
Branded websites, members portals and marketing automations for restaurant groups. Its Aptus Booking platform runs the Esme Chicago membership and season tickets, $350K+ sold in four months.
- $350K+ in season tickets in four months
- Michelin-starred flagship client
- Websites for four restaurant brands
Founder, since 2022
Dist CorpusLive with multiple Illinois public school districts. Every answer cited to the page.
The AI file clerk for school districts. It reads budgets, audits, levies, board minutes and state reports page by page and answers in seconds with a link to the exact page. Finance offices set it up themselves in minutes. Co-founded with Herbert de Bruyn.
- Live in multiple Illinois districts
- Figures from a validated facts registry, never guessed
- Works inside Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini
- Set up by a finance office, unassisted, in minutes
Founder, since Aug 2026
What I believe, and how every system I build shows it
- 01
Software adapts to the operation, never the reverse
Most software ships one way of working and the client bends to fit it. I build the other way around, on your rules, your sessions, your billing logic.
- 02
Outcomes, not software you have to operate
You buy a result. The system runs without anyone remembering to start it, and the record writes itself as a by-product of the work.
- 03
Proof over promise
A claim earns its place with a number, a page or a demo. Anything that cannot be proven does not get said.
- 04
Correctness is a supply chain
Rules, data models and validated facts sit underneath the AI. Bad data cannot enter, so it cannot ship, and every figure traces to its source.
- 05
Sit alongside what already runs
Nothing to replace, nothing to migrate. I plug into the tools you already use, and if you ever leave, you leave with all of it.
- 06
Straight to the key pain, live in days
Discovery first, biggest outcome first, a working prototype in front of you early. Then we widen the scope.
- 07
You stay the authority and the voice
I am the engine. Every message goes out in your name, every decision stays yours, and I never speak for you.
- 08
Built by an operator who ran the numbers
Ten years at the seam of operations, finance and leadership is why the software trusts the operation and the buyer trusts the software.
Milestones
- Jan 2020
Esme Chicago opens; Michelin star in year one.
- Jan 2023
MIT xPRO Full Stack Development completed.
- Mar 2024
StudentFlow founded in Chicago.
- Nov 2024
Esme season tickets launch on Aptus Hospitality's booking platform; $350K+ sold in four months.
- Nov 2025
StudentFlow payment rails go live; $1.8M+ processed since.
- Nov 2025
StudentFlow Clubs Portal ships; $330K collected in the first three weeks.
- May 2026
StudentFlow Camp Portal ships; accelerated collections up to 6 weeks over the prior system.
- Jun 2026
Agentic-AI training delivered for an Illinois high-school district.
- Aug 2026
Dist Corpus launches; now live with multiple Illinois public school districts.
- Sep 2026
StudentFlow Campus Store goes live with payments.
- Oct 2026
Aptus Collect launches as a standalone product.
Clients
- Nord Anglia Education
International schools group
- Illinois public school districts
Collections, district records, finance and AI training for staff
- TwoByFive Hospitality
Websites and membership for four restaurant brands
Every engagement milestone delivered on schedule. References available on request.
The consulting practice
Alongside the companies, I work as a fractional CTO and technology partner, not a supplier. Engagements start at the key pain point, launch the foundation first, and widen scope as the business grows.
Finance and payments
Billing, accounts receivable, collections, reconciliation and finance-compliance reporting.
Operations systems
Workflow and back-office systems built around how the organisation already runs.
Agentic AI
Document reading, validated facts, assistants that answer from the record, and the support and ticketing around them.
Run and support
Hosting, security, monitoring, help desk, fixes and a monthly service report. Problems are ours to fix.
Industries: Schools and districts, Hospitality, Healthcare practices, Consumer brands, Public institutions. Milestones and deliverables agreed up front; updates within scope are included, not billed by the hour.
The company
StudentFlow LLC
Illinois limited liability company, United States. Based in Chicago, Illinois.
The legal entity behind StudentFlow, Aptus Collect, Dist Corpus and the consulting practice. Contracts, invoices and data-processing agreements are signed by StudentFlow LLC. Aptus Hospitality is held separately.
- Registered address
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Data
- Client data is hosted in the client's own region. UK clients' data stays in the UK.
- Founder
- Carlos Zapata on LinkedIn
Team
- Carlos Zapata
Founder and technical lead
LinkedIn ↗ - Herbert de Bruyn
Co-founder of Dist Corpus and AI engineer. Previously Qualcomm, ASML, BTG Pactual and Purdue University.
LinkedIn ↗ - Filip Koźlicki
Frontend engineer
LinkedIn ↗
Engineering capacity scales per engagement; the people above lead every build. Engineering portfolio and GitHub activity.