From Concept to Cloud: Building Enterprise Software at AI Speed
How AI-augmented development with expert leadership enabled building a cloud-native Git platform with enterprise features in record time.
Feb 3, 2026
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William Shane Burrell
Director of Software Engineering | Technology Executive
STRATEGIC
TRANSFORMATIVE
INNOVATIVE
Technology executive with 25+ years delivering measurable business impact through strategic leadership and technical excellence. Recently pioneered AI agent adoption achieving 10x efficiency improvements and led autonomous platform migration delivering $14M in annual cost savings with zero business disruption. Proven track record building high-performing teams, driving cloud transformations that enable new revenue streams, and accelerating software delivery through platform engineering, DevOps excellence, and emerging technologies. From CEO of technology startup to Director at Fortune 500, I combine deep technical expertise with business acumen to transform organizations and deliver results that matter to the bottom line.
Leadership Impact & Business Outcomes
Driving measurable results through strategic technology leadership
Multi-Cloud to AWS Platform Migration
$14M Annual Cost Savings
Zero Business Impact
Led autonomous strategic initiative to migrate enterprise workloads from multiple cloud providers to AWS. Built and directed a platform infrastructure team to architect and execute the migration, achieving complete cost optimization while maintaining 100% system availability and zero disruption to business operations.
Key Highlights
- Built platform infrastructure team from ground up
- Architected multi-phase migration strategy across diverse workloads
- Drove autonomous execution at Director level
- Delivered $14M in annual cost savings
- Achieved zero-downtime migration
Cloud & IoT Revenue Enablement
New Revenue Streams
Business Transformation
Spearheaded cloud and IoT technology initiatives that opened new revenue opportunities and transformed the company's product portfolio. As Staff Software Engineer, added VOIP capability to legacy hardware product, creating entirely new high-margin software revenue stream. Led technical strategy and implementation that enabled the business to enter new markets and serve emerging customer needs.
Key Highlights
- Added VOIP to legacy voice product, creating new software-based revenue stream with higher margins
- Drove cloud architecture and strategy across product portfolio
- Led IoT platform development and integration
- Enabled new product lines and market opportunities
- Transformed traditional hardware business model with software and cloud innovation
High-Performing Team Development
20+ Engineers
Culture & Excellence
Built and scaled high-performing engineering teams across multiple disciplines and organizations. Established career development frameworks, mentoring programs, and inclusive team cultures that drive innovation, retention, and delivery excellence.
Key Highlights
- Scaled teams while maintaining quality and culture
- Developed technical leaders and future managers
- Established engineering best practices and standards
- Created psychological safety and innovation culture
AI Agent Adoption & Engineering Acceleration
10x Efficiency Gain
Innovation Leadership
Pioneered adoption and pilot of AI agents (Cursor and Cline) within software engineering and architecture teams. Led change management and training to properly leverage AI coding assistants, achieving measurable 10x efficiency improvement in feature completion. Demonstrated strategic vision in emerging technologies while managing risk and ensuring quality standards.
Key Highlights
- First to pilot Cursor and Cline AI agents in engineering organization
- Achieved 10x efficiency improvement in feature completion time
- Established best practices for AI-assisted development
- Drove adoption across engineering and architecture teams
- Balanced innovation with code quality and security standards
DevOps & Platform Transformation
10x Deployment Velocity
Operational Excellence
Led organizational transformation from traditional operations to modern DevOps and platform engineering practices. My mantra: 'The Spice must flow' - driving cultural shift from quarterly releases to continuous delivery. Implemented CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, and self-service platforms that dramatically improved deployment frequency, reliability, and developer productivity.
Key Highlights
- Transformed deployment processes and culture with 'The Spice must flow' philosophy
- Implemented comprehensive CI/CD automation
- Reduced deployment time from days to minutes
- Improved system reliability and observability
- Created shared language between product and engineering for continuous delivery
Professional Experience
My journey in technology and leadership
Director of Software Engineering
2022 - Present
Lead strategic technology initiatives for enterprise-scale operations serving millions of customers globally.
Key Achievements:
- Pioneered AI agent adoption (Cursor and Cline) across engineering and architecture teams, achieving measurable 10x efficiency improvement in feature completion
- Built platform infrastructure team from ground up, enabling self-service capabilities across 15+ application teams
- Led autonomous $14M annual cost optimization initiative migrating multi-cloud workloads to AWS with zero business impact
- Drove 10x improvement in deployment velocity through platform engineering and CI/CD automation
- Scaled engineering organization while maintaining quality, establishing career frameworks and leadership development
- Partnered with C-suite on technology strategy, translating complex initiatives into clear business outcomes
DevOps Manager · Staff Software Engineer · Software Engineer
2009 - 2022
13-year progression from individual contributor to manager, driving technology transformation in manufacturing and healthcare.
Key Achievements:
- As Staff Software Engineer, added VOIP capability to legacy voice product, creating entirely new high-margin software revenue stream from hardware-based product line
- Spearheaded cloud and IoT initiatives that opened new revenue streams and transformed business model
- Built and led DevOps practice with 'The Spice must flow' philosophy, transforming deployment process from quarterly releases to continuous delivery
- Architected cloud-based solutions enabling remote device management and monitoring at scale
- Developed embedded systems and IoT platforms powering next-generation healthcare communication devices
- Established engineering best practices including CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and automated testing
CEO & Founder
2001 - 2008
Founded and led telecommunications startup, pioneering fiber-to-the-premise deployment in North Carolina.
Key Achievements:
- Negotiated contracts with major telecoms including Verizon, Bellsouth, SNET, establishing startup credibility with Fortune 500 companies
- First in the region to deploy fiber to the premise in North Carolina, positioning company as technology innovator
- Built complete custom software platform from scratch: billing system, CRM, ERP, outside plant management, and provisioning automation
- Managed full P&L, driving company from concept to profitable operation serving commercial and public safety clients
- Led technical architecture, software development, infrastructure deployment, and field operations as both CEO and technical leader
Directing Innovation, Empowering Teams
Executive Leadership
Stakeholder Management & Communication
Expert in communicating complex technical concepts to C-suite executives, board members, and cross-functional stakeholders. Skilled in executive presentations, strategic alignment discussions, and building consensus across diverse stakeholder groups. Proven ability to translate technical roadmaps into business value propositions and drive organizational buy-in for technology initiatives.
Strategic Leadership
Proven track record of aligning technology initiatives with business objectives to drive organizational success. Led autonomous $14M annual cost optimization initiative and enabled new revenue streams through cloud and IoT innovations. Experienced in developing technology roadmaps, strategic planning, and digital transformation initiatives that deliver measurable business impact.
Business Acumen & P&L Management
Strong business acumen with experience managing multi-million dollar technology budgets and driving cost optimization initiatives. Delivered $14M in annual savings through strategic cloud migration. Skilled in vendor negotiations, ROI analysis, and translating technology investments into business outcomes. Proven track record of reducing operational costs while improving delivery velocity and team productivity.
Team Leadership & Development
Experienced in building and leading high-performing engineering teams of 20+ professionals across multiple disciplines. Built platform infrastructure team from ground up that delivered enterprise-scale transformation. Skilled in talent development, mentoring, and creating inclusive team cultures. Proven ability to scale teams, establish career development frameworks, and foster innovation through collaborative leadership.
Change Management & Transformation
Experienced in leading large-scale organizational change and digital transformation initiatives. Successfully led zero-impact migration of enterprise workloads while transforming team culture from traditional ops to modern platform engineering. Skilled in stakeholder management, change communication, and driving adoption of new technologies and processes.
Technical Strategy
Cloud Transformation & Migration
Proven success in directing large-scale cloud transformations delivering $14M+ in cost savings. Experienced in architecting multi-cloud strategies, managing complex migration programs, and optimizing cloud costs while improving performance and scalability. Skilled in AWS, containerization strategies, microservices architecture, and cloud-native development practices.
Deep Technical Architecture
Comprehensive understanding of programming languages including Golang, C, Python, JavaScript, Java, and C++ with deep expertise in system design, algorithms, and software architecture. Proficient in low-level systems programming, performance optimization, and building scalable, maintainable codebases. Strong foundation in computer science principles enabling effective technical decision-making and architectural oversight.
Platform Engineering
Experienced in architecting robust platforms that empower high-performing teams to deliver scalable, secure, and innovative solutions. Built platform infrastructure team that enabled self-service capabilities across 15+ application teams and 10x deployment velocity improvement. Bridge the gap between development and operations to streamline workflows and drive continuous improvement.
Artificial Intelligence & ML
Experienced in both ML/AI training and AI usage in applications. Skilled in building applications with AI, including integrating machine learning models into production systems. Proficient in frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, and scikit-learn. Proven experience integrating AI-powered development tools to enhance team productivity and code quality.
AI Agents & LLMs
Pioneered adoption of AI coding agents (Cursor, Cline) in enterprise engineering teams, achieving 10x efficiency improvements. Experienced in designing and deploying AI agent systems using Large Language Models (LLMs). Skilled in prompt engineering, context management, and establishing best practices for AI-assisted development. Proven ability to balance innovation with quality standards and risk management.
Delivery Excellence
Kubernetes & Container Orchestration
Experienced in orchestrating containerized applications using Kubernetes for scalable and resilient deployments. Proficient in configuring declarative infrastructure with YAML, Helm charts, and operators to manage complex multi-cluster environments. Well-versed in automated scaling, rolling updates, service discovery, load balancing, and integrating CI/CD pipelines.
DevOps & CI/CD
Experienced in implementing DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines that transform deployment velocity from weeks to minutes. Proficient in infrastructure as code using Terraform, configuration management, and comprehensive monitoring. Built practices that improved deployment frequency 10x while maintaining reliability and security.
Fullstack Development
Comprehensive expertise across the entire development stack from hands-on experience. Frontend skills include modern JavaScript frameworks like React and Vue.js. Backend proficiency with Node.js, Python, Golang, RESTful APIs, GraphQL, and microservices. Mobile development experience with Kotlin, Swift, and React Native. Maintains hands-on technical credibility while leading teams.
Agile & Lean Methodologies
Experienced in Agile methodologies including Scrum and Kanban at scale. Implements lean principles focused on flow, feedback, and continuous improvement. Proficient in establishing sprint cadences, retrospectives, and metrics-driven improvement processes across multiple teams.
Featured Insights
Leadership perspectives and technology strategy
The AI Workflow Revolution: Why Cursor and Claude Are Changing Everything
Five hard-won insights on integrating AI tools into development workflows. Why adoption is binary, why fundamentals still matter, and why nobody will be competitive without AI.
Dec 12, 2025
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Designing Small End-to-End Teams that Ship the Whole Experience
A leadership-level perspective on building small, high-performing teams that fuse HCI, application, and infrastructure with local Docker workflows and Kubernetes validation.
Nov 9, 2025
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Apps Portfolio
Hands-on technical leadership in action