A Founder, Builder, and Technical leader
Building big leaps in technology for people and seeking joy
along the way
Expertise
I am a hands-on technology leader with more than 20+ years experience building and maintaining large-scale distributed systems and solving problems at scale.
I have played a variety of roles: developer, founder, VP of Engineering and CEO. I founded multiple companies. I developed and led teams at startups to Fortune 500 companies from 5 to 1K+. I believe multi-disciplinary teams (UX, Product, Eng, growth) are the way to deliver effectively while having fun.
As the CEO and co-founder of Observable, a data visualization platform, we empowered people to simultaneously explore, analyze and visualize data on the web. I have deep expertise on company strategy / formation / funding, product building, engineering delivery and customer success. Observable is funded by Sequoia, ACrew Capital and Menlo Ventures.
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As VP of Engineering at Google, I led engineering teams building systems supporting billions of users. My team's tools compiled millions of lines of code in less than 30 seconds and handled 25-30 code submissions per minute from Google engineers, running millions of tests daily and operating production systems globally for millions of users. I also led teams in Google's core web search systems, search quality and cluster management.
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My roles as board director, advisor and angel investor of private, and non-profit organizations, I lead with purpose and am committed to eliminating the gender gap in tech, while working toward equality of funding for women founders.
Advising and Investing
I am available for advising engagements, board positions and strategic advisory positions if they do not conflict with my current work.
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My primary investments are companies ranging from technology, mental health and advocacy for equality/elevation of women in leadership roles.
Collaborations
My collaborative interests include developer tools, data infrastructure, systems infrastructure, engineering practices, systems design, leadership advisory and more.
Speaking
My speaking expertise ranges from keynotes delivered to thousands to workshops with a few dozen. More examples found here.
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Previous speaking topics include: developer ecosystems, systems at scale, data infrastructure, future of work, engineering culture, how to support and promote more women leaders :) .
Current Focus
AI Infrastructure
The Future of Work
Data Infrastructure
Startup / early stage companies
Highlights
Co-founding Observable: As the CEO and co-founder of Observable, I was instrumental in creating a platform that democratizes data visualization and promotes collaborative data analysis. Observable is designed to help users from different fields work together to understand and make decisions based on data. This platform has significantly impacted how data is analyzed and visualized, promoting a more inclusive and interactive approach to data work.
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Leadership at Google: Before co-founding Observable, I was a Vice President of Engineering at Google. In this role, I was responsible for overseeing large-scale systems in web search, search quality, cluster management, and Google Cloud. My leadership helped improve developer productivity and collaboration, making significant contributions to Google's cloud infrastructure​. I managed a team of 1K+ people across 6 offices globally distributed.
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Advancing DevOps Practices: At Google, I led initiatives to implement and share DevOps best practices both within Google and with external software development and operations teams. My work in this area was influential in shaping modern DevOps methodologies, emphasizing automation, continuous integration, and deployment practices​. DevOps directly contributes to more developers (of diverse backgrounds) join the tech industry. I am passionate about making software development fast, scalable, and fun for as long as my career continues.
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Promoting Data Literacy: As a strong advocate for data literacy, I have emphasized the importance of making data accessible and understandable for everyone. I strongly believe collaborative tools are the way to allow diverse teams to gain insights from data, thereby improving strategic decision-making and operational efficiency​. My work at Observable reflects this commitment, as the platform aims to empower users to gain insights irrespective of role or background.
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Advocacy for Women in Tech: I focus my efforts on advocating, supporting and encouraging women in technology. I often share my experiences and provide advice to aspiring women tech leaders, advocating for resilience and the importance of a supportive community in overcoming challenges in the tech industry. My mission is to achieve / contribute to 50% of VC funding toward women founders.
