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Senior Software Engineer & Tech Lead · Los Angeles, CA

Hi, I'm Darrel.
I build AI products that ship.

I design and ship AI-powered products end to end, from the UI to the autonomous agent.

GitHubLinkedInX
7+
Years shipping software
$9.3B
Revenue line supported at Dell
0→1
Products built end to end

About

Biochemistry to shipping software, on purpose.

I'm a senior software engineer and tech lead who turns ambiguous problems into shipped product. I set technical direction and lead Agile delivery while staying hands-on across the stack. I'm fluent in TypeScript / Next.js and Python, and equally at home in cloud architecture and day-to-day implementation.

My path is a little unconventional. I started in biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma, which gave me a strong foundation in analytical thinking, then earned an M.S. in Computer Science specializing in AI from Northeastern.

Since then I've built for a sustainable-fashion startup, a $9.3B business line at Dell, and early-stage teams, and today I lead technical direction and ship AI-powered products at WealthCounsel. I mentor rising engineers along the way and was recognized as a Women Who Empower Innovator Awardee.

Certifications

  • AWS Certified Developer – Associate
  • Supervised Machine Learning: Regression & Classification
  • Kubernetes and Go (LinkedIn)
  • Yellow Belt Security Training
Darrel Kent

Education

  • M.S. Computer Science

    2020 - 2022

    Northeastern University

    GPA 3.74 · Specialization in Artificial Intelligence

  • B.S. Biochemistry

    2005 - 2012

    University of Oklahoma

    Foundation in analytical thinking & problem-solving

Experience

A track record of shipping real product.

  1. May 2025 - Present
    WealthCounselNow
    Los Angeles, CA

    Senior Software Engineer & Tech Lead

    Promoted to tech lead: I own technical direction, code quality, and Agile delivery while shipping as a senior individual contributor. Partnered directly with the CTO to build and own a DIY Will agent powered by LLMs on AWS Bedrock AgentCore (Strands architecture).

    • Architected an end-to-end image-to-text pipeline (Lambda, CDK, Amazon Textract, API Gateway, TypeScript) that automated document-processing workflows.
    • Built and iterated an AI-powered flowchart generator on a serverless AWS stack with continuous delivery.
    • Led architecture redesigns migrating legacy on-premise services to cloud-native serverless on AWS.
    TypeScriptNext.jsPythonAWS BedrockLambdaCDK
  2. Jan 2025 - May 2025
    Incite, Inc.
    Los Angeles, CA

    Software Engineer

    Built full-stack data-ingestion and analytics pipelines for real-time sports and financial data.

    • Designed normalized PostgreSQL schemas with composite indexes and foreign-key constraints for performant, reliable data models.
    • Implemented bulk import / upsert logic and rake tasks supporting high-throughput batch and real-time updates.
    Ruby on RailsGraphQLPostgreSQL
  3. Jun 2022 - Feb 2024
    Dell Technologies
    Los Angeles, CA

    Software Engineer

    Developed and scaled enterprise telecommunications infrastructure applications supporting a business line contributing $9.3B in annual revenue.

    • Led migration of a monolithic API system to a microservices architecture (Go, Kubernetes), reducing response times.
    • Automated Ubuntu OS deployment with BIOS and BMC attribute configuration, increasing deployment efficiency by 20%.
    • Hardened security by remediating CVEs in Docker containers and resolving Go vulnerabilities.
    GoKubernetesDockerLinuxCI/CD
  4. Oct 2018 - Jun 2022
    Cake Denim
    Los Angeles, CA

    Software Engineer

    Built and optimized a scalable e-commerce platform, reducing deployment cycles by 75% and powering marketing personalization that lifted user engagement by 40%.

    • Optimized RESTful APIs (Node.js, PostgreSQL), cutting response latency by 30%.
    • Implemented secure authentication, identity management, and transaction processing.
    • Automated CI/CD releases with AWS, Docker, and Kubernetes.
    ReactNext.jsTypeScriptNode.jsPostgreSQL

Selected Work

Things I've designed, built, and shipped.

Flagship

Thriva: AI Fertility Coach

2025

A mobile-first AI fertility & wellness coach built from a blank Figma to production. Features cycle-synced nutrition and fitness plans, a real-time AI assistant chat, push notifications, offline support, and row-level security for data privacy.

React Native (Expo)TypeScriptSupabaseOpenAI GPT-4

AI Social Media Assistant

2024

Manage social accounts with an AI assistant, including image generation and account analytics.

Next.jsTypeScriptTailwindCSSOpenAI

TechNotes: Note Management System

2023

Full-stack MERN note-management system with user authentication, role-based access control, and an interface optimized for desktop and mobile.

ReactReduxNode.jsMongoDB

Simple Build Server for C Programs

2024

A proof-of-concept build server and artifact repository for C programs, supporting registration and independent builds of multiple programs.

PythonFlask
More on GitHub

Toolkit

The stack I reach for to get things shipped.

Languages

  • Python
  • TypeScript
  • JavaScript
  • Ruby
  • Go
  • Java
  • SQL
  • Bash / Shell

AI & ML

  • LLMs
  • AWS Bedrock AgentCore
  • OpenAI GPT-4
  • RAG
  • Predictive Modeling
  • ML Training

Frameworks & Libraries

  • React
  • Next.js
  • Node.js
  • Express
  • Redux
  • Ruby on Rails
  • Flask
  • GraphQL
  • TailwindCSS
  • Prisma
  • React Native

Cloud & Infrastructure

  • AWS Lambda
  • AWS CDK
  • Textract
  • API Gateway
  • DynamoDB
  • S3
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes
  • Helm
  • Terraform
  • Linux

Databases

  • PostgreSQL
  • MongoDB
  • Redis
  • DynamoDB
  • MarkLogic / XQuery

DevOps & Practices

  • CI/CD
  • Git
  • Jenkins
  • Vercel
  • Microservices
  • Distributed Systems
  • Unit / Integration / E2E Testing

Endorsements

Kind words from people I've worked with.

  • I had the opportunity to manage Darrel as part of the TSB PDE team at Dell. She consistently showcased exceptional dedication and a remarkable ability to learn quickly, adeptly handling the investigation, implementation, and testing of critical components of our telecommunications infrastructure. Her proactive approach and swift adaptation to new challenges were pivotal to her success on our team.

    Ponmalar ChandrasekarTransformational Software Engineering Leader, Dell Technologies

  • Darrel's proficiency in cutting-edge technologies like Kubernetes, Docker, Golang, and Linux significantly enhanced the efficiency of our projects. Her rapid grasp of complex technical concepts, coupled with her collaborative nature, earned her recognition from senior engineers who actively sought to work alongside her. I wholeheartedly endorse Darrel for any role requiring a skilled developer with an interest in secure software development.

    Ponmalar ChandrasekarTransformational Software Engineering Leader, Dell Technologies

  • Selected as one of 50 participants from across the nation for Hack.Diversity's invite-only summit for early-career software engineers committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in tech.

    Hack.DiversityBuilding access for the next generation in tech
Darrel.