Randal L. Kamradt — Senior Software Engineer

Professional Summary

Lead Principal Software Engineer and Enterprise Architect with 25+ years designing and delivering scalable, distributed systems. Self-taught technologist with deep expertise in microservices architecture, event-driven systems, and cloud-native platforms. An active practitioner of AI-first software development — using agentic tools like Claude Code to build features, fix defects, and automate deployment infrastructure. Proven track record architecting mission-critical systems for retail, financial services, and cryptocurrency platforms handling hundreds of thousands of transactions monthly. Expert in establishing technical standards, mentoring engineering teams, and driving adoption of AI-assisted engineering practices.

Technical Expertise

AI Engineering

Claude Code Anthropic API LangGraph Agentic Workflows AI-Driven Automation Prompt & Context Design

Languages

Java Python JavaScript / Node.js React Scala Spring WebFlux Axon Framework

Architecture

Microservices CQRS / Event Sourcing Event-Driven Architecture Domain-Driven Design RESTful APIs

Cloud & Infra

Kubernetes AWS (EKS · EC2 · S3 · Lambda) Helm ArgoCD Docker Terraform GitOps

Data & Messaging

Kafka MongoDB Elasticsearch PostgreSQL Redis Axon

Observability

DataDog Prometheus Micrometer CI/CD Pipelines Jenkins

Experience

Coinme

APR 2021 — OCT 2026

Lead Principal Software Engineer · Remote

Led architectural design and implementation of a scalable microservices platform supporting retail cryptocurrency kiosks and enterprise SaaS solutions processing hundreds of thousands of transactions monthly. Provided technical leadership for teams of 3–8 engineers, establishing engineering best practices, architectural standards, and AI-first development practices.

Adopted an AI-first development workflow, delivering enhancements and bug fixes end-to-end via Claude Code
Built AI-enabled deployment automation — Claude Code onboards services, promotes between environments, and creates new environments from existing ones
Presented internally on AI-assisted development ("Explore, Direct, Confirm") with live Helm chart promotion demo
Architected and contributed to 40+ of 80+ production microservices across retail and SaaS cryptocurrency platforms
Led strategic initiative splitting monolithic retail services into distinct retail and SaaS domains, enabling independent scalability
Established GitOps deployment framework using ArgoCD and Kubernetes (EKS) across all microservices
Designed event-driven architecture with Kafka and Axon Framework (CQRS) for real-time transaction processing
Architected observability strategy using DataDog and Micrometer across a distributed microservices ecosystem

JavaPythonClaude CodeAWS EKSKubernetesHelmArgoCDKafkaAxonMongoDBElasticsearchDataDogSpring WebFlux

Starbucks

JUL 2018 — APR 2021

Senior Software Engineer · Seattle, WA

Delivered backend services supporting Starbucks mobile ordering and loyalty systems serving millions of daily users. Focused on Java/Scala microservices development and continuous delivery automation.

Developed and maintained backend services for the mobile app ordering system handling high-volume nationwide retail transactions
Built loyalty system integrations enabling personalized customer rewards and promotional campaigns
Created Jenkins CI/CD pipelines for automated testing and deployment, reducing release cycle time

JavaScalaSpringJenkinsKubernetesAWS

Level 11 (Equinix)

NOV 2015 — MAR 2018

Senior Software Engineer · Remote

Architected backend systems for a wearable technology platform, focusing on security, automation, and cloud infrastructure.

Designed and implemented OAuth2 authentication and authorization infrastructure for wearable device platform
Migrated legacy systems to Kubernetes, improving scalability and resource utilization
Built automated build and deployment pipelines enabling rapid continuous delivery

JavaOAuth2KubernetesCI/CDAWS

F5 Networks

MAY 2015 — NOV 2015

Software Engineer (Contract) · Remote

Developed software update delivery system ensuring reliable distribution to enterprise customers
Trained corporate development teams on reactive programming principles in Java

JavaReactive Programming

JDA Software (Blue Yonder)

JUN 1998 — JAN 2015

Full-Stack Java Developer · Scottsdale, AZ

Delivered mission-critical financial planning and supply chain management software for aerospace industry clients during a 16+ year tenure spanning three company acquisitions (Western Data Systems → Manugistics → JDA Software).

Led multi-year initiative replacing legacy COBOL system with a full-stack Java solution (JEE + Vaadin)
Architected integration layer between modern Java applications and legacy COBOL planning systems
Pioneered adoption of automated build systems using Jenkins, dramatically improving reliability and productivity
Provided technical leadership through three company acquisitions, maintaining stability and team continuity

JavaJEEVaadinJenkinsCOBOL Integration

Live on My Cluster

ORACLE Chat ↗ www.kamradtfamily.net

Absurdist AI chatbot running llama3.2 on a local Ollama instance. Streams token-by-token via SSE. Rate-limited, no external API calls.

Cluster Command ↗ cluster.kamradtfamily.net

Read-only live dashboard of the K3s cluster — nodes, pods, namespaces, CPU/memory. No login. Reads from the Kubernetes API via in-cluster RBAC.

Game of Life ↗ life.kamradtfamily.net

Conway's Game of Life with text-seed deterministic randomness, named presets (Gosper Gun, Acorn, Pulsar…), variable speed, and click-to-draw.

Cluster Ops Agent ↗ agent.kamradtfamily.net

LangGraph agent that inspects the live K3s cluster via read-only tools, detects unhealthy pods, and streams a structured diagnosis. Python 3.12, FastAPI SSE, SQLite checkpointer.

Independent Projects & Writing

ArchitectAI

Declarative SDLC platform (React + Spring Boot) exploring AI-driven software design and delivery workflows.

Personal Cloud Platform

Self-hosted K3s cluster with ArgoCD GitOps, Kafka, MongoDB, Auth0, and Cloudflare tunnels — running AI side projects and tools built on the Anthropic API.

Technical Writing

Published articles on AI-assisted development in Level Up Coding on Medium, and other topics across multiple Medium publications.

Beyond the Keyboard

The Long Summer ↗ youtube

Stop motion short film with original music — written, animated, and scored independently. Sometimes the side projects aren't software.