Case Studies
The same problems show up everywhere: stalled delivery, unreliable systems, product and engineering pulling apart. Here's how I fixed them from the inside.
Amazon
Global ScaleGlobal Warehouse Workforce Systems at Scale
The Challenge
Led engineering for the workforce tools deployed across Amazon's global warehouse network. The systems needed to work flawlessly at massive scale—any downtime or errors affected thousands of workers and millions in operational costs.
The challenge wasn't just technical—it was about building systems that warehouse managers trusted and workers could use effectively across different cultures and operational contexts.
The Impact
Operational Cost Reduction: Reduced labor costs while improving productivity across all global warehouses
System Reliability: Built systems that operated 24/7 across global infrastructure
Global Deployment: Successfully deployed and maintained systems across multiple continents and cultures
Key Learning: At Amazon scale, every system must be designed for failure. The operational practices and engineering discipline required to keep systems running at this scale shaped how I approach reliability and architecture for every engagement.
Wealthsimple
HypergrowthInfrastructure Modernization Through Hypergrowth
The Challenge
As Sr. Director, Engineering & Infrastructure, I led infrastructure modernization during a period of explosive growth. The company was scaling rapidly, and the infrastructure needed to evolve without causing downtime in a highly regulated financial services environment.
Security and compliance weren't optional—they were table stakes. Every change needed to meet strict regulatory requirements while supporting the speed of a tech startup.
The Approach
Infrastructure as Code: Implemented IaC practices that made infrastructure changes reviewable, testable, and repeatable
Security Framework: Built security practices that scaled with the engineering organization and met regulatory requirements
Team Development: Grew and developed the infrastructure team to support the company's rapid expansion
Key Achievement: Successfully modernized infrastructure while maintaining zero customer-impacting incidents and full regulatory compliance throughout hypergrowth phase.
HomeStars
Acquisition ExitStrategic Repositioning Leading to Acquisition
The Challenge
As CTO, I joined HomeStars at a critical inflection point. The company had strong brand recognition but needed to evolve its product strategy and technology platform to capture the next wave of growth and position for acquisition.
The existing platform had served the business well but wasn't architected for the scale and features needed for the next phase. We needed to modernize without disrupting the existing business.
The Approach
Product Strategy Repositioning
Worked with leadership to identify the highest-value market opportunities. Developed a product roadmap that aligned technology investments with acquisition value creation.
Technology Platform Rebuild
Led the modernization of the core platform while maintaining zero downtime. Rebuilt key systems using modern architecture patterns that could scale 10x. Built the team capabilities to maintain and extend the new platform.
Organization Alignment
Aligned product, engineering, and business teams around a shared vision. Created processes and rituals that kept everyone synchronized. Built a culture of ownership and delivery.
The Outcome
Successful Acquisition: Company acquired with technology platform as a key value driver
Platform Modernization: Complete rebuild without business disruption
Team Development: Built engineering team capable of executing at scale
AutoTrader / AutoScout24 Group
Most RecentContract VP of Engineering, AutoSync
The Challenge
Engineering ownership was unclear, delivery was hard to forecast, and an e-commerce platform initiative had stalled. The business needed predictable execution and a credible plan it could plan around.
The Approach
Clear Ownership: Reorganized engineering so every system and outcome had a named owner
Estimation & Roadmapping: Introduced practices that unblocked the stalled e-commerce platform initiative
AI-Assisted Engineering: Led adoption of AI-assisted workflows across the engineering organization
Key Learning: A stalled initiative is rarely a technology problem. Naming owners and making estimates honest unblocks more work than any rewrite — and AI compounds the gain once the fundamentals hold.
Biiibo
Growth StageFrom Daily Outages to Predictable Delivery
The Challenge
Biiibo was experiencing daily production outages that were crushing team morale and customer trust. Features were consistently late, engineering and product weren't aligned, and the team was firefighting instead of building.
The company had grown quickly but lacked the systems, processes, and architecture to support that growth. Every deploy was a risk. Leadership had lost confidence in engineering's ability to deliver.
The Approach
Week 1-2: Stabilization
Embedded with the team to understand root causes. Implemented immediate fixes for the most critical reliability issues. Set up proper monitoring and alerting so we could see problems before customers did.
Month 1-2: Process & Alignment
Introduced delivery rituals that kept product and engineering synchronized. Built real-time revenue tracking so everyone could see the business impact of technical work. Created a prioritization framework tied to revenue outcomes.
Month 3-6: Architecture & Scale
Rebuilt critical system components that were causing instability. Implemented automated testing and deployment pipelines. Trained the team on architectural patterns that would scale with the business.
The Results
Fewer Outages
From daily incidents to rare events
Faster Delivery
Delivery delays cut down
Leadership Trust
Regained confidence in engineering
“Operational chaos turned into predictable execution. We went from wondering if we'd survive to confidently planning the next phase of growth.”
Ready to Fix Yours?
These patterns repeat across companies of all sizes. Book a time, tell me what's broken, and I'll tell you if I'm the right person to own it. Every engagement starts with a free Lite assessment: a short questionnaire, a one-page readout, and a 30-minute readout call.