Explore Michael Bastos

    Interactive resume where you choose what matters most. Filter by tech stack, domain expertise, or leadership experience to create a tailored view of my 20+ years in engineering and defense technology.

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    "Michael is an amazing thought leader, hands-on engineer, and team member. Whether the topic was related to our Reference Architecture, Software Implementation, User Experience, Testing, or Software Accreditation, Michael was able to provide feedback rapidly and execute engineering tasks that resulted in fantastic product outcomes. I would support any team that Michael was on - he is an outstanding professional and an incredible engineer."

    Rob Murtha

    Rob Murtha

    Founder of Adjective, ADJ.AI

    "Bastos is a 'get it done' leader. We worked together on the USAF/DoD's BIZINT application. He listens to the users' needs, then crafts several options to meet their needs. I always appreciated the way Bastos provided options—it made A/B testing fast and helped us provide the best experience to our users. Bastos tackled several difficult 'how do we…?' requests—I highly recommend his work!"

    Karen Landale

    Karen Landale

    Deputy Director of Contracting, AFLCM

    "During the more than three years I worked with Bastos, I was continually impressed with his professionalism, passion and get it done attitude. Bastos is extremely talented both as an engineer and as a client facing manager. Michael is an asset to any organization that's looking to accelerate its product development, culture or both."

    Travis Sorensen

    Travis Sorensen

    CEO @ Oddball

    "Michael embodies everything it means to be a leader. He's always available. He's always willing to teach. He is determined to set a great example for his team by bringing a positive attitude to work every single day. When you have problems, have questions or are seeking advice, Michael is always ready to lend his ear and he will make sure that you are successful no matter what you are doing. He brings immense knowledge and experience with him and makes sure to spread it to his peers."

    Sharon Pikovski

    Sharon Pikovski

    Software Engineer @ LibLab

    "I only briefly got to work with Bastos, but he made a tremendous impact during his brief tenure with our team as our lead DevOps engineer. He set up a dozen pipelines for our microservice architecture, enabling seamless CI/CD functions, and prepared us for deployment to a constrained environment. His hands-on approach to creating and implementing a robust testing strategy was instrumental in achieving our integration goals. Highly recommend!"

    Nick Lundin

    Nick Lundin

    Product Owner @ Clarity

    "Michael is a great developer and leader. He's a creative problem solver that will take on any technical challenge. He's a pass-the-credit-take-the-blame leader that will advocate for his team, the organization, and the users. And he's an avid reader that understands business management and financials. In short, Michael is somebody that gets stuff done."

    Bill Feinberg

    Bill Feinberg

    Senior Software Developer @ Shopify

    "When asked to name someone who truly embodies leadership, my answer is Michael Bastos. Michael's ability to lead a team, guide an organization, develop excellent products, and still make time share his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and mentor team members is nothing short of inspiring. Providing direction is the essence of leadership, and he does so while fostering an environment that's high in cooperation and low in ego. It was a joy to learn from him, and I endeavor to bring the values he exhibits through my own work."

    Gina Fitzgerald

    Gina Fitzgerald

    Software Developer @ Hnry

    "Michael joined our startup and immediately started making our lives better. While he was developing new features he also turned our rickety-old deployment process into a rock-solid and very safe one. Because of that we were all able to start deploying new features faster. He's not just a good coder, he's a force multiplier, and that's kind of person you want on your team."

    Justin McGuire

    Justin McGuire

    Programmer & Software Architect @ PropelAuth

    "Michael loves data. Period. His topic of conversation before, during and after work is about data. Don't be fooled by his back end expertise. His creative juices flourish when there opportunity of content is discussed. A joy to work with, he also cares about his teammates and goes the distance to connect with each person. A gem of a human being and colleague."

    Eric Villarama

    Eric Villarama

    Product Design Manager @ Paylocity

    Customize Your View

    Select the technologies, domains, and roles that matter most to you. Watch the resume and blog posts adapt in real-time.

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    Filtered Experience

    10 experiences match your current filters.

    Director of Engineering

    zCore Group • Jan 2023 - Present

    Director
    Team Lead

    Harden DevSecOps for a USAF TSC program on Platform One, GitLab CI across 8 Go micro-services, Embedded LLM workflows (prompt libraries, guardrails, auto-test stubs) that doubled developer throughput and increasing test coverage 30%.

    Key Achievements:

    • Product-managed & shipped Guardian One (iOS/Android) in 120 days; now 3K+ MAU and 4.8★
    • Secured CTF in 41 days and praise from USSF leadership
    • Led team to 1st place at 2023 VA FSC ML Data-Thon
    • Azure ML + Databricks model improving VA supply-chain forecast accuracy 22%

    Case Study:

    Led the complete development and deployment of Guardian One, the official USSF mobile app, from concept to app stores in just 120 days. The app now serves 3K+ monthly active users with a 4.8-star rating and has received praise from USSF leadership.

    Technologies

    Go
    TypeScript
    Python
    GitLab CI
    Azure ML
    Databricks
    Flutter
    NextJS

    Domain

    DevSecOps
    LLMOps
    Mobile Development
    AI/ML
    Government/Defense

    Engineering Manager

    LibLab • Aug 2022 - Dec 2022

    Engineering Manager
    Team Lead

    Authored a Terraform Provider Generator, OpenAPI → Go + auto-tests, cutting customer coding effort 75% and publishing automatically to the Terraform Registry.

    Key Achievements:

    • Launched TypeScript SDK generator (Java, Python, TS) with CI-driven stages
    • Eliminated 90% style defects pre-review
    • Automated publishing to Terraform Registry
    • Reduced customer coding effort by 75%

    Case Study:

    Pioneered 'code-that-writes-code' abstractions from OpenAPI standards to generate clean, linted, test-covered SDKs across multiple languages, dramatically reducing customer implementation time.

    Technologies

    Go
    TypeScript
    Java
    Python
    Terraform
    NextJS

    Domain

    DevSecOps
    SDK Development
    Code Generation

    Senior Software Engineer

    LibLab • May 2022 - Aug 2022

    Individual Contributor
    Architect

    Pioneered 'code-that-writes-code' minimum lovable version code-gen abstractions from OpenAPI, Swagger, Postman and GraphQL standards to generate clean, linted, test-covered TypeScript, Python and Java SDKs.

    Key Achievements:

    • Created SDK generators for TypeScript, Python, and Java
    • Implemented OpenAPI, Swagger, Postman, and GraphQL standards support
    • Generated fully functional SDKs following language preferences
    • Established automated testing and linting for generated code

    Case Study:

    Developed revolutionary code generation platform that automatically creates production-ready SDKs from API specifications, transforming how developers integrate with external services.

    Technologies

    TypeScript
    Java
    Python
    OpenAPI
    GraphQL

    Domain

    SDK Development
    Code Generation
    Full-Stack Development

    Fractional CTO & Advisor

    The Nifty, JPTC Energy • Jan 2018 - Jun 2022

    CTO
    Consultant

    Built TheNifty.com a real-time NFT price-trend dashboard with Hotwire; gated premium content behind NFT-based access control.

    Key Achievements:

    • Shipped Discord bots that detect mint/buy/sell events
    • Improved trading alerts accuracy by 40%
    • Enhanced JPTC Energy Django trading platform
    • Deep-dived into power-market data pipelines

    Case Study:

    Built real-time NFT analytics platform with advanced on-chain data enrichment, providing traders with accurate market signals and premium insights gated by NFT ownership.

    Technologies

    Ruby on Rails
    TypeScript
    Django
    Hotwire
    PostgreSQL

    Domain

    FinTech
    Data Engineering
    Full-Stack Development

    Engineering Technical Lead → Principal Investigator

    Oddball • Oct 2018 - Nov 2021

    Technical Lead
    Principal Investigator

    Won $1.3M SBIR (Kinderspot D2P2) and $1.5M (BIZINT Ph 1–2); built cross-functional teams and delivered both apps to DoD stores.

    Key Achievements:

    • Engineered developer.va.gov Benefits Intake API (40K claims/mo)
    • Consolidated 500+ forms into one service
    • First ML contention-classification prototype at the VA
    • Delivered apps to DoD app stores

    Case Study:

    Led successful SBIR proposals totaling $2.8M, building innovative mobile solutions for DoD including BIZINT (business intelligence mapping) and Kinderspot (military family daycare sharing).

    Technologies

    Flutter
    Ruby on Rails
    Node.js
    AWS
    Kong API Gateway
    Dart

    Domain

    Mobile Development
    Government/Defense
    AI/ML
    Full-Stack Development

    Head of Engineering & Data

    RealSavvy • Aug 2017 - Aug 2018

    Head of Engineering
    Team Lead

    Unified Rails + Ember + React stacks into a single UX; Real Estate MLS ingestion throughput +60% and duplicate listings −90%.

    Key Achievements:

    • Devised proprietary SEO algorithm
    • Lifted organic traffic for 400 agent and broker sites by double-digit %
    • Increased MLS ingestion throughput by 60%
    • Reduced duplicate listings by 90%

    Case Study:

    Transformed fragmented tech stack into unified platform, dramatically improving data quality and SEO performance for hundreds of real estate professionals.

    Technologies

    Ruby on Rails
    Ember.js
    React
    React Native
    PostgreSQL

    Domain

    Real Estate
    Data Engineering
    Full-Stack Development

    Chief Technology Officer

    LocalStack • Aug 2016 - Oct 2017

    CTO
    Architect

    Migrated on-prem to AWS and used Spot instances for web scraping; infra OpEx −50% and page-load time −45%.

    Key Achievements:

    • Reduced infrastructure OpEx by 50%
    • Decreased page-load time by 45%
    • Implemented AWS Spot instances for cost optimization
    • Led complete cloud migration strategy

    Case Study:

    Orchestrated complete infrastructure transformation from on-premises to AWS cloud, achieving significant cost savings and performance improvements through strategic use of Spot instances.

    Technologies

    AWS
    Ruby on Rails
    PostgreSQL

    Domain

    Cloud Architecture
    Data Engineering
    Full-Stack Development

    Senior Data Engineer

    LocalStack • Sep 2014 - Aug 2016

    Individual Contributor
    Data Engineer

    Built national ad-arbitrage engine and Social API ingesting 5M businesses daily; deployed sentiment scoring that lifted ad ROAS 25%.

    Key Achievements:

    • Processed 5M businesses daily through Social API
    • Implemented sentiment scoring increasing ad ROAS by 25%
    • Built scalable data ingestion pipelines
    • Optimized PostgreSQL performance with PGBouncer

    Case Study:

    Engineered high-scale ad arbitrage platform processing millions of business records daily, with advanced sentiment analysis driving significant ROI improvements.

    Technologies

    Ruby on Rails
    PostgreSQL
    PGBouncer
    AWS
    React

    Domain

    Data Engineering
    FinTech
    Full-Stack Development

    Mid Level Contract Software Engineer

    SPAWAR (NAVWAR) • Jun 2013 - Aug 2014

    Individual Contributor
    DevOps Engineer

    Delivered a Rails app for USMC logistics with near-100% BDD coverage; stood up VMWare + Jenkins DevSecOps lab adopted across SSC Pacific.

    Key Achievements:

    • Achieved near-100% BDD test coverage
    • Established DevSecOps lab with VMWare + Jenkins
    • Solution adopted across SSC Pacific
    • Delivered critical USMC logistics application

    Case Study:

    Built mission-critical USMC logistics application with comprehensive BDD testing and established DevSecOps practices that became standard across the organization.

    Technologies

    Ruby on Rails
    Jenkins
    Cucumber
    VMWare

    Domain

    Government/Defense
    DevSecOps
    Full-Stack Development

    Personnel Manager & Logistical Sergeant

    United States Marine Corps • Sep 2001 - Mar 2009

    Team Lead
    Individual Contributor

    Managed 120+ Marines' admin/logistics; led maintenance-data software initiative referenced in III MEF readiness briefs.

    Key Achievements:

    • Managed 120+ Marines administration and logistics
    • Led maintenance-data software initiative
    • Deployed in Al Anbar (2005 and 2006 Surge)
    • Served aboard USS Bonhomme Richard for tsunami relief

    Case Study:

    Led critical maintenance data software initiative that was referenced in III MEF readiness briefs, while managing logistics for 120+ Marines during combat deployments in Iraq.

    Technologies

    Military Systems
    Logistics Software

    Domain

    Military Leadership
    Logistics
    Government/Defense

    Your Customized Resume

    Based on your filters, here's a tailored view of relevant experience and skills.

    Michael Bastos

    Director of Engineering & Technology Leader

    michael@michaelbastos.com | michaelbastos.com
    LinkedIn:/in/michaelbastos| GitHub:@bastosmichael

    Professional Summary

    Versatile technology leader with proven experience in DevSecOps, LLMOps, Mobile Development. Demonstrated ability to scale teams, architect robust systems, and deliver innovative solutions across diverse technical domains. Strong background in both individual contribution and leadership roles.

    Core Technologies

    Go
    TypeScript
    Python
    GitLab CI
    Azure ML
    Databricks
    Flutter
    NextJS
    Java
    Terraform
    OpenAPI
    GraphQL
    Ruby on Rails
    Django
    Hotwire
    PostgreSQL
    Node.js
    AWS
    Kong API Gateway
    Dart
    Ember.js
    React
    React Native
    PGBouncer
    Jenkins
    Cucumber
    VMWare
    Military Systems
    Logistics Software

    Professional Experience (10 positions)

    Director of Engineering

    Jan 2023 - Present

    zCore Group

    Harden DevSecOps for a USAF TSC program on Platform One, GitLab CI across 8 Go micro-services, Embedded LLM workflows (prompt libraries, guardrails, auto-test stubs) that doubled developer throughput and increasing test coverage 30%.

    • Product-managed & shipped Guardian One (iOS/Android) in 120 days; now 3K+ MAU and 4.8★
    • Secured CTF in 41 days and praise from USSF leadership
    • Led team to 1st place at 2023 VA FSC ML Data-Thon

    Engineering Manager

    Aug 2022 - Dec 2022

    LibLab

    Authored a Terraform Provider Generator, OpenAPI → Go + auto-tests, cutting customer coding effort 75% and publishing automatically to the Terraform Registry.

    • Launched TypeScript SDK generator (Java, Python, TS) with CI-driven stages
    • Eliminated 90% style defects pre-review
    • Automated publishing to Terraform Registry

    Senior Software Engineer

    May 2022 - Aug 2022

    LibLab

    Pioneered 'code-that-writes-code' minimum lovable version code-gen abstractions from OpenAPI, Swagger, Postman and GraphQL standards to generate clean, linted, test-covered TypeScript, Python and Java SDKs.

    • Created SDK generators for TypeScript, Python, and Java
    • Implemented OpenAPI, Swagger, Postman, and GraphQL standards support
    • Generated fully functional SDKs following language preferences

    Fractional CTO & Advisor

    Jan 2018 - Jun 2022

    The Nifty, JPTC Energy

    Built TheNifty.com a real-time NFT price-trend dashboard with Hotwire; gated premium content behind NFT-based access control.

    • Shipped Discord bots that detect mint/buy/sell events
    • Improved trading alerts accuracy by 40%
    • Enhanced JPTC Energy Django trading platform

    Engineering Technical Lead → Principal Investigator

    Oct 2018 - Nov 2021

    Oddball

    Won $1.3M SBIR (Kinderspot D2P2) and $1.5M (BIZINT Ph 1–2); built cross-functional teams and delivered both apps to DoD stores.

    • Engineered developer.va.gov Benefits Intake API (40K claims/mo)
    • Consolidated 500+ forms into one service
    • First ML contention-classification prototype at the VA

    Head of Engineering & Data

    Aug 2017 - Aug 2018

    RealSavvy

    Unified Rails + Ember + React stacks into a single UX; Real Estate MLS ingestion throughput +60% and duplicate listings −90%.

    • Devised proprietary SEO algorithm
    • Lifted organic traffic for 400 agent and broker sites by double-digit %
    • Increased MLS ingestion throughput by 60%

    Chief Technology Officer

    Aug 2016 - Oct 2017

    LocalStack

    Migrated on-prem to AWS and used Spot instances for web scraping; infra OpEx −50% and page-load time −45%.

    • Reduced infrastructure OpEx by 50%
    • Decreased page-load time by 45%
    • Implemented AWS Spot instances for cost optimization

    Senior Data Engineer

    Sep 2014 - Aug 2016

    LocalStack

    Built national ad-arbitrage engine and Social API ingesting 5M businesses daily; deployed sentiment scoring that lifted ad ROAS 25%.

    • Processed 5M businesses daily through Social API
    • Implemented sentiment scoring increasing ad ROAS by 25%
    • Built scalable data ingestion pipelines

    Mid Level Contract Software Engineer

    Jun 2013 - Aug 2014

    SPAWAR (NAVWAR)

    Delivered a Rails app for USMC logistics with near-100% BDD coverage; stood up VMWare + Jenkins DevSecOps lab adopted across SSC Pacific.

    • Achieved near-100% BDD test coverage
    • Established DevSecOps lab with VMWare + Jenkins
    • Solution adopted across SSC Pacific

    Personnel Manager & Logistical Sergeant

    Sep 2001 - Mar 2009

    United States Marine Corps

    Managed 120+ Marines' admin/logistics; led maintenance-data software initiative referenced in III MEF readiness briefs.

    • Managed 120+ Marines administration and logistics
    • Led maintenance-data software initiative
    • Deployed in Al Anbar (2005 and 2006 Surge)

    Domain Expertise

    DevSecOps
    LLMOps
    Mobile Development
    AI/ML
    Government/Defense
    SDK Development
    Code Generation
    Full-Stack Development
    FinTech
    Data Engineering
    Real Estate
    Cloud Architecture
    Military Leadership
    Logistics

    Education

    Bachelor of Science, Computer Science

    2009 - 2012

    National University

    GPA: 3.5

    Student ACM President, Semantic Web Crawler Founder

    Military Training & Leadership Development

    2001 - 2009

    U.S. Marine Corps

    Logistical Maintenance Management, Human Resources, Leadership, Diversity, Communications, and Lean Six Sigma Process

    Thoughts & Opinions

    26 posts match your current filters.

    Inside Windsurf's Acquisition Drama: A Startup Saga

    5 min read

    July 17, 2025

    How Windsurf's founders made billions, Google paid big, and Cognition snagged the leftovers in an unprecedented acquisition saga.

    Startup
    Acquisitions
    Tech Industry
    AI
    Mergers

    Did AI Really Slow Developers by 19 %? A Closer Look

    4 min read

    July 15, 2025

    A deep dive into the study behind the "AI slows devs by 19 %" headline and what it really says about shifting workflow bottlenecks.

    AI Coding Assistants
    Developer Productivity
    Workflow Optimization
    METR Study
    GitHub Copilot

    Coding vs Engineering in the LLM Era

    7 min read

    July 14, 2025

    LLMs can crank out code, but lasting software still demands architecture, tests, and human judgment, forcing developers to redefine their role.

    LLM
    Software Engineering
    AI Tools
    System Design
    Developer Identity

    Layoffs, Automation, and the Road to Reinvention

    5 min read

    July 13, 2025

    History shows that waves of automation often spark the next era of smarter, more resilient industries.

    Layoffs
    Automation
    Future of Work
    Tech Industry
    Manufacturing
    Reskilling
    AWS
    Python

    AWS's Copy-and-Scale Strategy: Innovation or Imitation?

    6 min read

    July 12, 2025

    AWS now mirrors Apple’s playbook: wait for an open-source hit, fork it, and monetize at scale. Is this savvy pragmatism or stifled innovation?

    AWS
    Open Source
    Cloud Services
    Innovation
    Cloud Architecture

    Future-Proofing Junior Devs in the LLM Era

    6 min read

    July 11, 2025

    LLMs won’t kill programming jobs, they refocus them on testing, security, and robust system design.

    LLM Tools
    Software Engineering
    Career Advice
    Education
    AI in Development

    Automating Weekly Releases with GitHub Actions

    6 min read

    July 10, 2025

    Set up a workflow that tags and publishes releases every week, regardless of your stack.

    GitHub Actions
    CI/CD
    Automation
    Release Management
    DevOps

    Survivor Bias and the Myth of Shipping Without Tests

    5 min read

    July 9, 2025

    Skipping tests and CI may work for unicorns, but for most teams disciplined guardrails beat chaotic heroics every time.

    Survivor Bias
    Best Practices
    CI/CD
    Testing
    Software Discipline

    From Vibe Coding to Testing for Juniors

    6 min read

    July 8, 2025

    Senior engineers anchor every LLM‑assisted change with tests, you can too, by writing them first.

    Vibe Coding
    LLMs
    Test-Driven Development
    Software Testing
    Junior Developers
    TypeScript
    React
    Jenkins

    Three decades of Execution Over Dogma

    6 min read

    July 7, 2025

    Thirty years of shipping software prove that the only metric that matters is whether you can deliver.

    Software Engineering
    Developer Productivity
    Career Advice
    LLMs
    Self-Taught
    Formal Education
    GitLab CI
    Jenkins

    Why Founders Trade Equity for Credibility

    5 min read

    June 12, 2025

    YC isn't about capital or advice; it's about instant credibility in a noisy startup ecosystem.

    Startup Ecosystem
    Y Combinator
    Entrepreneurship
    Attention Economy
    Business Psychology
    AWS
    ChatGPT

    Why the Tech Debt vs Tech Asset Metaphor Still Holds

    6 min read

    May 26, 2025

    Responding to the objections, I describe stakeholders as creditors and why repaying technical debt fuels innovation.

    Technical Debt
    Technical Assets
    Stakeholders
    Software Management

    The Myth of Endless Dev Jobs

    7 min read

    February 10, 2025

    Tech never promised limitless roles only fierce competition. Here’s how to navigate the ebb and flow of software careers.

    Job Market
    Software Engineering
    Career Advice
    Economic Cycles

    Stop Blaming AI: The Real Reasons Behind Tech Layoffs

    6 min read

    December 6, 2024

    AI isn’t eliminating jobs by itself, failed R&D bets, tax quirks, and global hiring shifts drive most tech layoffs.

    AI and Jobs
    R&D Strategy
    Workforce Trends
    Global Hiring
    Economic Policy
    Business Strategy

    Employers Pay Problem-Solvers, Not Encyclopedias

    4 min read

    November 21, 2024

    Employers hire, and rehire, the people who repeatedly diagnose and fix real problems faster and better than the competition.

    Problem Solving
    Career Development
    Workplace Skills
    AI Tools
    Continuous Learning

    Why YAML Matters in the Age of LLMs

    5 min read

    November 13, 2024

    LLMs favor YAML's lean token footprint, keeping the format relevant, and cost-effective despite developer gripes.

    YAML
    LLMs
    Developer Tools
    Tokenization
    Cost Optimization

    High-Agency Careers Are Freedom for Parents

    5 min read

    October 23, 2024

    True freedom as a parent means controlling your career and life, choosing high-agency over comfort to shape your family's future.

    High Agency
    Parenthood
    Career Change
    Quality of Life
    Entrepreneurship

    Beware the Strategic Turtles: Why Gartner Risks Nothing

    7 min read

    October 5, 2024

    Consultancies thrive on advice they never have to implement, here’s how to spot the risk‑free pitch and demand real skin in the game.

    Vendor Risk
    Gartner
    Skin in the Game
    Enterprise IT
    Cloud Architecture

    Tabs vs Spaces: Has AI Finally Ended the Debate?

    5 min read

    September 18, 2024

    AI code tools blur the tabs‑versus‑spaces divide, but only if your project stays consistent and models are trained accordingly.

    Code Formatting
    Tabs vs Spaces
    AI Coding Tools
    Style Guides

    Non-Technical Executives Try To Replace Software Engineers

    6 min read

    September 12, 2024

    Many corporate leaders try to swap out software engineers for AI or cheap labor not just to cut costs but to avoid roles they don’t understand.

    Engineering Leadership
    AI
    Executive Mindset
    Hiring
    Software Industry
    Python
    AWS
    Jenkins

    Self-Taught Engineers Often Outperform

    6 min read

    August 27, 2024

    Great mentors help, but purposeful tinkering and grit tend to forge the strongest software engineers.

    Self-Teaching
    Software Engineering
    Mentorship
    Career Growth
    Nassim Taleb

    Encourage Engineers to Build Side Projects

    5 min read

    August 16, 2024

    Allowing engineers to pursue side projects cultivates creativity, engagement, and even long-term loyalty.

    side projects
    engineering culture
    employee retention
    management
    creativity

    Why Startups Lead in Adopting New AI Developer Tools

    4 min read

    July 19, 2024

    Startups embrace AI tools quickly due to flexible mindsets, while enterprises lag due to procurement constraints.

    AI Tools
    Cursor
    GitHub Copilot
    Startups
    Enterprise Adoption
    TypeScript
    Python
    AWS

    Blocking ChatGPT Isn’t Security, It’s Just Employee Distrust

    4 min read

    June 18, 2024

    Why banning tools like ChatGPT won't fix your security risks, it'll just push them underground.

    Security
    Trust
    Compliance
    Leadership
    ChatGPT

    Automating Dependabot PR Merges with CI/CD

    5 min read

    October 15, 2022

    Automatically merge Dependabot pull requests after your CI workflow succeeds.

    automation
    github
    dependabot
    TypeScript
    GitHub Actions

    Technical Debt vs Technical Assets: What's the Difference?

    7 min read

    May 25, 2022

    Understanding how paying down debt and investing in assets shapes long-term software health.

    Technical Debt
    Technical Assets
    Software Practices
    Go
    TypeScript
    Python

    About

    20+ years in defense technology, engineering leadership, and innovation. Building the future of military software.

    Quick Links

    Expertise

    Go, TypeScript, Python

    AWS, Kubernetes, DevSecOps

    AI/ML, LLMOps

    Team Leadership

    Connect

    © 2025 All rights reserved.

    Self-Taught Engineers Often Outperform

    6 min read

    August 27, 2024

    Self-Teaching
    Software Engineering
    Mentorship
    Career Growth
    Nassim Taleb

    Great mentors help, but purposeful tinkering and grit tend to forge the strongest software engineers.

    The Classroom Myth

    Formal education is valuable, but it is optimized for scale. It distills messy practice into neat sequences that fit a semester. Those recipes create useful proficiency, yet they rarely cultivate the intuition needed when the recipe breaks at 3 a.m. on prod.

    "Purposeful Tinkering" was defined by Nassim Taleb as mastery through repetitive continual error correction: repeated cycles of trial, error, and curiosity with real stakes. The key word is purposeful, experiments are guided by a concrete goal (shipping a feature, fixing an outage), not random play.

    You learn from messing with reality, not from a syllabus

    Case Studies of Tinker-Born Mastery

    • Linus Torvalds built Linux by rewriting MINIX to scratch an itch.
    • Margaret Hamilton debugged Apollo guidance code on-the-fly, inventing modern software reliability.
    • Countless open-source maintainers began by breaking their own laptops and patching them back to life.

    None received step-by-step lessons first; deep skill emerged because failure was allowed, and had consequences.

    Why Trial and Error Beats Recipes

    1. Feedback loops are immediate. A crash log teaches faster than a quiz.
    2. Edge cases surface naturally. Real users do things textbooks never imagine.
    3. Retention is sticky. Hard-won fixes embed in muscle memory.
    4. Creativity flourishes. When no handrail exists, you invent one.

    Mentorship Revisited: A Complement, Not a Crutch

    Good mentors accelerate feedback and broaden perspective, but the mentee still owns the screwdriver. Code reviews matter because they expose experiments to another set of eyes, not because they replace experimentation.

    Cultivating Your Own Tinkering Practice

    • Build side projects that scare you a bit.
    • Instrument everything so each failure yields forensic data.
    • Set constraints (no frameworks, 48-hour limits) to force creative problem-solving.
    • Publish your code. Public scrutiny is a fast mentor.
    • Reflect weekly. Write short retros on what broke and what you learned.

    Mentorship, courses, and blogs (yes, even this one) are catalysts, not replacements, for mastery. The strongest engineers earn their scar tissue by shipping, breaking, and mending software in the wild. Embrace purposeful tinkering, your future self will thank you.