AI Systems Architect

AI Systems Architect

AI Systems Architect | Cognitive Infrastructure Engineer

Building Constrained Autonomous Systems That Earn Trust.

34 Parallel Agents
<10min Migrations

Staff AI Engineer who builds production systems, not demos. I deployed GPT-3 in enterprise in 2022, before ChatGPT existed.

Problems I solve: AI initiatives that lack governance. Automation that executives don't trust. Toil that consumes engineering capacity. Legacy systems without documentation or source code.

How I create leverage: Designed 5-specialized-agent orchestration with human-in-the-loop checkpoints. 34 parallel validation agents with deterministic boundaries, 90% error reduction, migration lead time from hours to under 10 minutes. Governance came from a real incident: after an agent broke production, I designed read-only accounts, approval workflows, and failure-as-state principles. The framework emerged from failure, not theory. When legacy Acucobol had no source code, I reverse-engineered 45+ migration specs from bytecode analysis using constrained AI context injection.

Core expertise: Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Cognitive Architecture. I design Truth Source infrastructure where agents navigate codebases through structured context, not pattern-matching or hallucination.

Operating principles: Constrained autonomy scales with demonstrated reliability. Every AI system starts with: what happens when this fails at 2 AM?

Open to Work
Remote / Hybrid

Constrained Autonomy

AI that earns trust

How I Build AI

What People Say
Working with him is a masterclass.
Guillermo Vergara
Software Engineer, Unicity
On technical mentorship

AI Milestones

At a Glance

AI/ML Stack

Core Skills

Skill Categories

Credentials

Execution Log

Jan 2025 - Jan 2026
Unicity International

Staff Software Engineer | AI Systems Architect

Provo, Utah
Generative Artificial Intelligence workflows
GenAI
Large Language Models implementation
LLMs
Technology used in this role
TypeScript
Backend automation & AI scripting
Python
Abstract Syntax Tree code analysis
AST Parsing
Server-side scripting & legacy systems
PHP
Amazon Web Services
AWS
Container orchestration system
Kubernetes
Technology used in this role
GitHub Actions
Continuous Integration/Deployment
CI/CD
Optimizing LLM context windows
Context Engineering
Technology used in this role
MCP

Led AI-powered modernization for a global platform (53 markets), architecting multi-agent systems that transformed migration velocity and engineering productivity. (IC track — AI migration systems and tooling)

  • Autonomous Migration Swarm: Built 5-specialized-agent system with human-in-the-loop checkpoints. 289 migrations at <10min each, 90% error reduction. Chose phased rollout over full automation to preserve rollback optionality.

  • Constrained Agent Orchestration: Ran 34 parallel AI agents with deterministic validation boundaries. Schema mapping went from weeks to hours with full audit trails.

  • Digital Archeology: Performed bytecode analysis on legacy Acucobol without source access, producing 45+ migration specs, each mapping behavior that had never been documented in 20 years. Constrained model output through authoritative context injection.

  • AI-Consumable Infrastructure: Designed Truth Source architecture that agents navigate through structured context, not pattern-matching. Reduced speculative output through authoritative context, schema constraints, and deterministic validation.

Feb 2022 - Oct 2023
ButcherBox

Principal Engineer

Remote
Early LLM API integration
OpenAI GPT-3
Frontend UI library
React
Technology used in this role
TypeScript
Javascript runtime environment
Node.js
Microsoft cloud computing services
Azure
Container orchestration system
Kubernetes
Continuous Integration/Deployment
CI/CD
Technology used in this role
GitHub Actions
Technology used in this role
Shopify
Technology used in this role
Instacart

Promoted to Principal Engineer to drive technical strategy for a platform processing $2B+ in transactions. Led cross-team architecture, pioneered early GenAI adoption, and single-handedly led flagship Instacart and Shopify integrations.

  • GPT-3 Pioneer (2022): Implemented enterprise GPT-3 deployment before mainstream adoption. Automated support workflows saving ~2 hours/week/employee. Built evaluation framework for when AI adds value vs. simpler solutions.

  • Cognitive Test Architecture: Built AI-driven scenario generation for environment-agnostic test data, accelerating CI/CD velocity 3x while maintaining deterministic test outcomes.

  • AI Governance: Built evaluation frameworks for AI adoption decisions. Not every problem needs an LLM. Created criteria for when AI adds value vs. when simpler solutions suffice.

Nov 2023 - Jan 2026
Unicity International

Engineering Manager / Technical Lead

Provo, Utah
In-memory data structure store
Redis
Observability & monitoring service
Datadog
Feature flag management
LaunchDarkly
Server-side scripting & legacy systems
PHP
Technology used in this role
Laravel
Containerization platform
Docker
Amazon Web Services
AWS
Continuous Integration/Deployment
CI/CD
Technology used in this role
TravisCI
Berkeley Packet Filter for tracing
BPF

Recruited to lead digital transformation of 289-endpoint legacy system. Achieved 96% production traffic on Laravel with zero major incidents while driving $336K+ annual cost savings. (Management track — platform modernization and delivery)

  • Led migration of 289 API endpoints achieving 96% production traffic on Laravel, delivering 34% faster response times and 4x order processing improvement (300→1,300 orders/5min).

  • Achieved $336K annualized savings (FinOps tags + invoices): cloud infrastructure ($278K), DataDog optimization 62.5% ($12K→$4.5K/month), RDS consolidation ($32K). Removed 500,000 lines legacy code.

  • Built real-time debugging platform (Redis/Xdebug/BPF) reducing MTTR by 95% (incident logs, 90-day window).

  • Diagnosed Redis pooling issue achieving 95% DNS resolution improvement and 97-98% OTP auth improvement.

  • Mentored 10+ engineers through 185+ 1:1 sessions; gave 558 peer recognitions fostering positive culture. CTO recognition: 'Tyler is AI' for innovation leadership.

  • Led first load test in company history—5 sessions, zero system failures, 85-90% confidence for peak traffic. Attended every strategic meeting throughout tenure.

  • Built 50 per-developer daily/weekly metric reports tracking adoption and bottlenecks per-ticket/per-feature/per-developer; built 0→1,500 automated test cases driven by business requirements from tickets and QA features.

July 2019 - Feb 2022
ButcherBox

Senior Lead Software Engineer

Boston, Massachusetts
Container orchestration system
Kubernetes
Kubernetes package manager
Helm
Containerization platform
Docker
Asynchronous system design
Event-Driven Arch
Decoupled service architecture
Microservices
Microsoft cloud computing services
Azure
Technology used in this role
TypeScript
Continuous Integration/Deployment
CI/CD
Technology used in this role
GitHub Actions
Technology used in this role
Zendesk

Joined during a critical inflection point. Built the Operations engineering team from zero (just me) to 9 engineers, broke it into specialized squads, then transitioned to lead all three teams through a monolith-to-microservices migration during COVID-19 10x traffic surge.

  • Built Operations engineering team from 0 (solo) to 9 engineers, then broke it into specialized squads: Operations backend, CS Support (Zendesk dashboard app), and backend API migration team.

  • Transitioned to lead all 3 teams simultaneously—12 engineers total across Operations, CS Support, and API migration—with clear ownership and delivery accountability.

  • Engineered backend optimizations handling 10x traffic surge during COVID with zero scaling incidents, while competitors experienced significant downtime.

  • Built platform recognized internally as gold standard for Testing, Stability, Documentation, Innovation, and cross-department collaboration.

  • Led migration from monolithic architecture to Event-Driven Microservices on Azure and Kubernetes, establishing patterns adopted company-wide.

  • Boosted application performance by 87% in first 90 days by refactoring critical backend paths and React frontend—establishing immediate credibility.

Jan 2019 - Apr 2019
Janeiro Digital

Principal Engineer

Boston, Massachusetts
Decentralized web standards
Solid Protocol
Frontend UI library
React
Javascript runtime environment
Node.js
Web3 & data sovereignty
Decentralized Web

Recruited to a specialized task force working under Sir Tim Berners-Lee to engineer decentralized data ecosystems (Solid). Led a team of 6-8 remote developers rescuing a failing insurance fintech project.

  • Rescued failing insurance platform 6 months behind schedule by restructuring architecture and coordinating 6-8 remote developers—delivered on-time with zero regulatory compliance issues.

  • Delivered real-time quoting engine handling complex state-specific regulations for all 50 states, processing quotes in under 2 seconds across 200+ rule variations.

  • Coordinated blended remote/on-site team under pressure, maintaining stakeholder confidence through transparent communication and consistent weekly delivery milestones.

June 2015 - Nov 2018
O2O HQ | O2O环球商网

VP of Engineering & Lead Systems Architect (Founder)

American Fork, Utah
Amazon Web Services
AWS
Alibaba Cloud infrastructure
Aliyun
Server-side scripting & legacy systems
PHP
Representational State Transfer APIs
Rest API
Financial technology integration
Fintech

Founded and scaled a cross-border e-commerce marketplace from Zero-to-One, serving complex trade and financial flows between China and the U.S.

  • Designed distributed architecture spanning AWS (US) and Aliyun (China), solving 'Great Firewall' latency and enabling seamless cross-border e-commerce.

  • Architected unified logistics engine integrating 8+ international providers, automating bonded/free-trade import logic across 3 countries.

  • Implemented multi-currency payment system connecting 19+ payment gateways including ICBC (world's second-largest bank), directly enabling international transaction volume.

  • Won 2nd place at international technology competition in China; achieved compliance with public company (LifeVantage LFVN - NASDAQ) regulatory requirements.

  • Built and mentored distributed engineering team of 3+ developers post-MVP, instituting Agile/DevOps practices that scaled with the business.

Jan 2013 - June 2017
Antic Solutions

Founder & Principal Solutions Architect

Springville, Utah
Javascript runtime environment
Node.js
Google's web framework
Angular
Server-side scripting & legacy systems
PHP
Online retail platforms
E-commerce

Led a boutique engineering consultancy delivering full-stack solutions for enterprise clients. Operated as Fractional CTO.

  • Secured and executed multiple NewBalance.com contracts, directing performance engineering that improved page load times 40% and increased conversion rates measurably.

  • Operated as Fractional CTO for 5+ enterprise clients simultaneously, managing end-to-end SDLC and establishing engineering standards that outlasted engagements.

  • Delivered performant, scalable web applications using Node.js, PHP, and Angular—building a consultancy with 100% client retention rate over 4 years.

2014 - 2015
Modernized Media

Senior Software Engineer & Team Lead

Draper, Utah
Integration with Amazon/eBay/etc
Marketplace APIs
Workflow efficiency scripting
Automation
Relational database management
SQL

Led engineering of a high-volume, multi-channel e-commerce automation platform.

  • Led development of multi-channel sales automation achieving +1,700% YOY sales and -44% overhead reduction (shipping -44%, labor -17%) within 1 month of deployment.

  • Designed centralized inventory orchestration engine integrating Amazon, Overstock, NewEgg, and 6+ additional marketplaces into unified platform.

  • Managed team of 4 (3 developers + designer) developing MLM/Direct Sales management platforms from conception to production.

  • Developed core development tools and coding standards adopted across all company projects, establishing engineering consistency.

July 2014 - Oct 2014
InsideSales.com

Software Engineer

Provo, Utah
Technology used in this role
AngularJS
Technology used in this role
Symfony 2
Technology used in this role
Doctrine
Server-side scripting & legacy systems
PHP
Technology used in this role
Salesforce
Technology used in this role
Git

Software Engineer on PowerStandings AngularJS sales dashboard, implementing DevOps practices and Salesforce integrations.

  • Delivered the only two new features for PowerStandings in 90 days while prior developers performed only maintenance—demonstrating high productivity in short tenure.

  • Implemented linter, test pass requirements, and minimum coverage commit blockers—establishing code quality gates that raised engineering bar for entire team.

  • Built Salesforce API integrations for internal CRM connectivity, enabling sales workflow automation.

System Online
Build: v2.5.0-stable