Anaheim, California, United States
I’m an engineering leader with 18+ years of experience building product engineering teams, AI-enabled platforms, and production systems that connect technical execution to business outcomes. At Blackbird.AI, I lead engineering across enterprise AI products, platform delivery, quality, performance, security, and cross-functional execution. My work sits at the intersection of product strategy, AI systems, architecture, delivery operations, and team development. I’m strongest in environments where speed, ambiguity, and technical depth all matter: growth-stage companies, AI products moving from prototype to production, and engineering teams that need clearer systems for execution without losing product velocity. My background includes engineering leadership, product architecture, founder experience, patents, enterprise delivery, and hands-on production AI work across LLM applications, data pipelines, retrieval systems, observability, and platform reliability.
As Director of Engineering at Blackbird, I lead and inspire a talented Fullstack and QA team, driving technical excellence and innovation. I am responsible for upholding engineering standards, defining project scopes, and shaping the architecture and roadmap to align with business goals. In addition to strategic oversight, I remain hands-on by contributing code and fostering collaboration across teams to deliver high-quality solutions. My role involves balancing technical leadership with strategic vision to ensure the successful execution of initiatives that drive value for the company and its stakeholders.
Led cross-functional teams across frontend, backend, and QA to develop and launch innovative features and products aligned with business objectives. Architected and implemented an end-to-end application integrating LLM and generative AI systems to assess claim validity, driving technical innovation and scalability. Established foundational testing frameworks, including a comprehensive test suite to enable early bug detection and enforce performance standards, such as load times. Promoted and maintained high-quality code standards, fostering excellence across engineering teams. Acted as a key liaison between engineering and product/design teams, ensuring alignment of requirements, scalability, and code quality. Directed release deployments, enhancing infrastructure reliability by up to 80% and supporting rapid iteration through close collaboration with product and design teams. Partnered with the executive leadership to translate strategic concepts into high-quality, scalable products while mentoring and building high-performing teams. Championed a culture of collaboration, innovation, and excellence to reflect company values and drive success.
Contributed to the development of an industry-leading product designed to protect organizations from narrative attacks, mitigating financial and reputational risks. Delivered four end-to-end features from concept to production, ensuring high-quality code, robust testing, detailed documentation, and seamless QA support. Enhanced company standards and processes, driving organizational efficiency and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Developed a new product during a holiday initiative, enabling growth and expansion into new business verticals. Played a critical role in delivering innovative solutions that aligned with company objectives, leveraging technical expertise to address complex challenges and deliver measurable impact.
Led frontend and mobile development teams, providing mentorship, direction, and guidance to ensure the successful delivery of high-quality projects. Collaborated closely with the CTO to translate strategic concepts into efficient, scalable, and user-centric products. Acted as a bridge between engineering and product/design teams, actively contributing to project scope, requirements, and user experience discussions. Maintained a hands-on approach by contributing to the codebase, debugging, and architecting new features, while promoting best practices in coding standards and scalability. Leveraged expertise in frontend and mobile technologies, including React, Next.js, Node.js, CSS, and Cypress, to design, implement, and maintain complex state management systems, real-time user events, and intricate UI/UX requirements. Built and led high-performing engineering teams focused on delivering scalable, reliable, and user-focused applications. Fostered a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement by promoting agile methodologies, driving rapid iteration, and maintaining alignment with evolving project goals.
Coached and mentored a team of engineers, fostering professional growth, collaboration, and a culture of goal-oriented success. Led the development and integration of Ethereum social features (Polygon) into a cutting-edge Web3 NFT messaging system, enhancing user experiences and driving innovation. Spearheaded pioneering NFT messaging campaigns, leveraging strategic insights and industry best practices to deliver exceptional results and contribute to business growth. Implemented streamlined client development processes, reducing turnaround time from 2.5 days to under an hour, while maintaining high quality and client satisfaction. Actively contributed as a hands-on manager, providing technical guidance and expertise to ensure successful project execution and efficient team performance. Transformed team productivity with a 3x increase by establishing efficient processes, fostering a positive work culture, and promoting accountability. Consistently delivered innovative features, architected robust systems, and maintained high-performance standards for both the team and the organization, demonstrating a strong commitment to excellence and operational success.
Led a high-performing team of developers to identify complex client challenges, design and prototype innovative solutions, and collaborate closely with stakeholders throughout iterative development cycles. Modernized legacy systems and developed a new suite of enterprise-grade REST and GraphQL APIs—including AI and data-driven products—within 4 months, significantly improving data accessibility and unlocking millions in revenue from Fortune 500 clients while expanding into new market segments. Created an award-winning suite of fraud detection products by identifying key data signals, prototyping ML models, working cross-functionally with data science, and productizing solutions through rigorous testing, customer feedback, and strategic launch execution. Leveraged a robust cloud and big data stack—including AWS, Hadoop, Athena, and Snowflake—to deliver scalable, high-performing platforms aligned with company roadmaps. Championed a feedback-driven development approach that improved product performance, reduced risk, and drove innovation across enterprise integrations. Combined hands-on engineering leadership with agile management practices to streamline delivery, ensure consistency, and foster a culture of technical excellence and collaboration.
Drove the development and iteration of 30 prototypes annually, addressing customer pain points and delivering significant cost savings while enhancing product offerings and driving revenue growth. Orchestrated the successful launch of a hybrid mobile app, streamlining the sales process for over 1,000 customers by eliminating friction points and expediting sales conversions. Championed Agile methodologies within cross-functional teams, resulting in a threefold increase in productivity and more efficient project delivery. Pioneered the adoption of Google Venture-inspired design sprints, aligning team efforts with customer and product owner requirements to ensure successful innovation and product development. Conducted in-depth research on emerging technologies and techniques, leveraging insights to develop proof of concepts and ready-to-launch products, contributing to a culture of continuous innovation at Experian. Led initiatives in technology, standards, and process improvement, including the implementation of the Robot framework for automated testing, resulting in a fivefold improvement in product quality and significant cost reductions.
Founded and led a successful development company, delivering over 40 web applications for startups, corporations, celebrities, and international governments. Focused on iterative collaboration, engaging clients throughout the design and development process to create innovative, high-quality products that exceeded expectations. Developed more than 30 rich interactive websites, HTML5 games, and applications for iconic brands such as DC Comics, Discovery Channel, Cindy Crawford, Disney, Dr. Seuss, Goosebumps, and PBS Kids. Actively contributed to design and art direction, ensuring exceptional user experiences. Witnessing kids engage with and enjoy the games we created—and improving them in real time—made the work especially rewarding. Provided exceptional account and project management with a reputation for clarity, flexibility, and reliability. Built a glowing reputation that drove business growth exclusively through word-of-mouth referrals. Designed, developed, and launched innovative mobile applications: -Baby Tracker App: A predictive AI-powered hybrid mobile app helping parents anticipate their baby’s needs. Achieved over 5,000 active users and revenue generation within four months, leveraging Ionic, Angular, Firebase, and Google Compute. -QuakeShake: A hybrid mobile app that quickly informs users about recent earthquakes. Delivered a prototype within three hours and launched to production within a week, gaining a loyal user base. Built using Ionic and Angular. Combined technical expertise, creative vision, and a passion for problem-solving to deliver exceptional results and create products that made a tangible impact for clients and users alike.