My story
I didn't start in technology. I started in a lab.
A biochemist who made a deliberate bet, a programmer who became an architect, and a leader who never stopped learning.
My story
A biochemist who made a deliberate bet, a programmer who became an architect, and a leader who never stopped learning.
The beginning
My background is in biochemistry — a field that trains you to observe carefully, form hypotheses, test them rigorously, and never confuse a pattern for a conclusion. Those instincts never left me. They just found a new home.
In early 2000, I needed to provide for a family that was now growing. Scientist opportunities on Long Island were scarce, and the dot-com collapse had pushed most people away from technology. I saw it differently. Where others saw risk, I saw a gap — a window that would close once the economy recovered.
Where others saw risk, I saw a gap — a window that would close once the economy recovered.
I made a deliberate bet. I enrolled in an intensive 9-month in-person program — a full commitment at a moment when time was not something I had in abundance — and made a structured, eyes-open pivot from biochemistry research into software engineering. That sacrifice, of late nights and time away from family, was an investment I've never stopped building on.
Trained in scientific rigor — observation, hypothesis, testing, iteration. The instincts that would later define how I approach every system I touch.
9-month intensive software engineering program. A calculated bet on a gap in the market while others moved away from technology after the dot-com collapse.
First role in technology. Brought the same analytical precision from the lab into writing code — structured, methodical, always looking at what the system is actually telling you.
Grew from contributor to leader. Built teams, mentored engineers, and learned that the most important systems are the human ones — how people communicate, collaborate, and grow.
Director-level individual contributor with dotted-line team leadership. Sitting at the center of an organization's most important decisions — connecting strategy, technology, and the people who build it.
The thread through all of it
What started as a pragmatic pivot became a genuine calling. I grew from programmer to engineering manager, and eventually into the role I inhabit today — Principal Enterprise Architect, part individual contributor, part leader of dotted-line teams I mentor and help upskill.
The thread through all of it has been the same: recognizably solving problems, at whatever scale the moment demands.
I'm a forever learner and an evangelist at heart. Twenty-five years in, I approach every problem the way I did in the lab — with curiosity, rigor, and a healthy skepticism of anything that can't be tested.
What defines how I work
Curious how this thinking shows up in practice?
See what I do →