THAW TRAN
Senior Software Engineer · Full Stack Developer · AI Engineer
Remote · Proven across AU, EU, CA and US timezones
Engineer by trade. Founder by choice. (Father by love.)
Professional Summary
Senior Software Engineer with 15+ years of experience building and scaling web applications — from co-founding a SaaS platform that served 10k+ clients to engineering global car-sharing platforms at Uber. Proven track record in full-stack development, database optimization, zero-downtime deployments, and production monitoring. Currently focused on AI agents, LLMs, and developer tooling as a solo founder.
About Me
I'm a passionate software engineer with over 15 years of experience building scalable applications and monitoring production systems. My journey spans from co-founding and scaling a SaaS platform that served 10k+ clients to working with industry leaders like Uber on global car-sharing platforms.
Currently, I'm exploring the frontiers of AI, LLMs, and Agentsas a SoloFounder at Pando and Lily, LLC, where I've built real-world AI applications including Paperboy News and Datumize AI, open-source CanvasMCPClient, and currently building in public VISONA.
Coding is my passion— I love the problem-solving aspect, the continuous learning, and the satisfaction of building something that makes a real impact. Whether it's optimizing database performance by 30%, managing zero-downtime deployments, or architecting new features from scratch, I approach every project with enthusiasm and attention to detail.
I dig into root causes, find solutions, make decisions, explain the reasoning behind them, test and ship, then watch and monitor production. Tell me your issue and forget about it.
Technologies & Tools
AI / ML
Languages
Frameworks
Databases
Cloud & DevOps
Architecture
Experience
- Built and deployed multiple AI-powered web applications from zero to production
- Architected RAG pipelines with Qdrant vector database and Neo4j knowledge graphs
- Implemented MCP (Model Context Protocol) integrations for AI agent tooling
- Developed custom Agent Skills enabling AI agents to perform domain-specific tasks autonomously
- Designed real-time collaborative editing with Yjs and Hocuspocus
01/2025 - Present
- Joined Vanguards squad that drove measurable increases in car booking conversion rates
- Delivered the full-platform rebrand from Car Next Door to Uber Carshare across web, mobile, and APIs
- Joined a core team that refactored critical services and integrated with Uber's ecosystem and auth platform
- Rebuilt the pricing platform end-to-end as part of the Marketplace squad, improving pricing accuracy and flexibility
- Designed readable, stable, and scalable service architectures following Uber's engineering standards
02/2022 - 07/2024
- Developed advanced 2D & 3D rendering engine using pure JavaScript and Canvas API for design visualization
- Led the database migration from MySQL & Elasticsearch to PostgreSQL, improving query performance and reducing infrastructure costs
- Shipped multiple core features end-to-end including drag-and-drop design tools and client collaboration workflows
- Established code review culture and mentored junior developers through PR reviews
09/2020 - 04/2022
- Scaled the platform from zero to 10,000+ active business clients
- Managed zero-downtime deployment across 6 load-balanced servers and 3 MongoDB replica instances
- Built white-label feature as a separate Node.js microservice with automated SSL certificate provisioning via Let's Encrypt
- Led product, engineering, and DevOps as the sole technical co-founder through successful acquisition
01/2018 - 05/2021
- Built automated scraping pipeline using Rails, Selenium, and Capybara to collect and normalize job listings and developer profiles
06/2019 - 02/2020
MINERVA
Remote Full-Stack Ruby on Rails Engineer
- Processed and analyzed large-scale advertising datasets using BigQuery for reporting and analytics
- Configured Kubernetes clusters for automated monitoring, deployment, and horizontal scaling
01/2018 - 05/2019
COORDISNAP
Backend Ruby on Rails Engineer
- Increased API performance by 30% through code benchmarking, query refactoring, and strategic database re-indexing
- Improved test coverage and released new versioned API with backward compatibility
- Practiced pair programming and mentored team members through systematic code reviews
04/2016 - 01/2018
Education
Hanoi University of Technology
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
2005 - 2010