The story
A leader who stayed with the technology
I keep finding things that should exist and don't. A component library that everyone used but nobody treated as strategic. A developer experience function that a company of this scale obviously needed but hadn't built. A standard interface to AI that would stop every product team reinventing the same integration. A governance layer for AI coding agents that the entire industry was ignoring.
In each case I made the argument, got the backing and built the thing. That's the thread through nearly 20 years of work. Not waiting for permission. Not waiting for someone else to go first.
I'm a Director at a Fortune 500 company. I still review code, debug production systems and build tools the developer community actually uses. Moving into senior leadership meant adding strategy and commercial accountability on top of the technical work, not replacing it. I also ship my own commercial products on evenings and weekends to prove the thinking works.
I didn't take the traditional route. No university degree to start with. I came up through FIT (Fastrack into Information Technology), a programme that looked at what I could do rather than what my exam results said. That experience shaped how I think about talent, potential and the artificial ceilings maintained by hiring practices rather than any real limitation in what people can achieve.
Years into my career I completed a degree in Information Systems at Trinity College Dublin. It was valuable. But honestly, the experience and track record I'd already built mattered more to every employer than the piece of paper.
Impact
Enterprise AI gateway
Created the pattern and service that became the enterprise standard for AI access
Designed the gateway pattern, built the service. It now serves as the standard interface to AI APIs and LLMs across every business line. Centralised access, authentication, rate limiting and compliance built in so product teams ship AI safely without solving it themselves.
AI governance
Built the governance layer while most teams were still debating whether they needed one
AI agents had no governance layer between intent and execution. Built Vectimus, an open-source platform that intercepts every agent action against Cedar policies before execution. Governs AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI) and agent frameworks (Claude Agent SDK, Google ADK, LangGraph). Compliance mapped to OWASP, SOC 2, NIST AI RMF, NIST CSF 2.0, ISO 27001, EU AI Act, CIS Controls and SLSA.
Product
Saw a gap nobody was filling. Shipped it myself.
SquareWave Studio ships professional desktop software for music hardware. Full product lifecycle from concept to paying customers, built as a solo founder while leading enterprise teams by day.
Enterprise UI component library
Turned a community-driven component library into the backbone of AI-assisted development
Made the business case for investment in a component library that had grown organically through community contribution. Led the project to bring it to enterprise standard: EU Accessibility Act compliance, full test coverage, missing components and major new features. Then built the organisation's first approved MCP server for the component library, giving AI agents the full context that design tools alone couldn't provide. Approved designs now become working applications in days, not weeks. Governance built in, not bolted on.
Developer experience
Built a function from nothing that now supports hundreds of applications
Made the case, built the team, scaled the shared services layer. Hundreds of applications now run on it without adding headcount. Tens of thousands of engineering hours redirected from infrastructure to product work.
Cloud and consulting
Learned to think across organisations, not just within one.
Five years in enterprise consulting at Version 1, working across financial services and utilities clients on cloud infrastructure and architecture. That's where the thinking shifted from solving problems in one environment to understanding patterns across many. It's also where the consulting mindset started.
Infrastructure
Started on the factory floor. Proved what trial by fire teaches you.
Five years in manufacturing IT at Kepak Group. Migrated production systems from Novell Netware to Debian Linux, eliminating a major licensing dependency. Part of the team that delivered a group-wide microwave WAN that significantly reduced annual telecoms costs. Real problems with real costs, where downtime meant production lines stopped.
Education
B.A. Information Systems
Trinity College Dublin (mature student)
QQI-FET Level 6 Advanced Certificate
FIT (Fastrack into Information Technology)
Leading Remote Teams
Grow Remote / LOETB
Open source
Vectimus (opens in new tab)
Deterministic governance for AI coding agents. 78 Cedar policies enforcing safety across Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini and LangGraph.
claude-unified-history-mcp (opens in new tab)
MCP server providing unified search across Claude conversation history. Nearly 200 downloads in the first 24 hours.
Beyond work
My partner and I run an animal sanctuary in the Irish countryside, caring for over 60 rescue animals including horses, ponies, chickens and cats. It's the same instinct applied to something with no commercial return. Just care.
I'm a musician and electronic music producer, which is how SquareWave Studio started. I built EP-PatchStudio because I needed it as a musician first. That's the purest form of product thinking.
I mentor through FIT, the programme that gave me my start in technology. I'm always happy to connect with people navigating careers in tech, especially those who didn't take the traditional route.