Amir Karimi

  1. Engineering
  2. Chief Technology Officer
  3. Python
  4. Full Stack Engineer
  5. go
  6. Principal Engineer

20 Years Delivering Success: From Startups to Giants.

I have 20 years of experience in end-to-end project delivery, team building, and consultancy services to diverse clients, ranging from small startups to Disney and Amazon.


I live in Vancouver, BC and I like hiking but usually end up watching cool TV shows instead!

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Amir Karimi

Work

  • Amazon: Re-architecture of the ML big-data data pipelines

    Amazon: Re-architecture of the ML big-data data pipelines

    One of the main contributors out of the two, to re-design and implement a new version of the data pipeline that simplifies the architecture and allows faster evolutions. This pipeline is handling petabytes of data daily and used in one of the strategic products of Amazon Advertisement organization. My team leveraged Iceberg and other technologies and refactored the existing Spark jobs to a cleaner and simpler design. This project reduced the number of job applications from 15 to 1 for a module.

    advertising.amazon.com
  • SiriusXM: New eCommerce Platform Infrastructure

    SiriusXM: New eCommerce Platform Infrastructure

    As a Cloud Architect, I was instrumental in building SiriusXM's new eCommerce platform. My responsibilities included developing infrastructure elements such as CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code. I also provided hands-on consulting to application teams, ensuring smooth integration with the platform and alignment with Platform Engineering guidelines and constructs.

    siriusxm.com
  • Disney Streaming Services

    Disney Streaming Services

    Developed scalable microservices capable of handling tens of thousands of requests per second using Scala, Play, DynamoDB, AWS Lambda, Kinesis, SQS, S3, etc. Contributed directly to the design and implementation of a new subscription system for BAMTech Media, which was later used in Disney+.


    One of the main contributors to establishing the SRE practices within Disney Streaming Services as the 4th member of the newly shaped SRE team in the company.

    disneyplus.com
  • SecureAuth/Acceptto - Passwordless Continuous Authentication

    SecureAuth/Acceptto - Passwordless Continuous Authentication

    Led the redesign and implementation of the next generation of Acceptto's SSO microservice to make it horizontally scalable and highly available. The old SSO module was a web server that should be run and maintained on the customer site. The new version was designed to run in the cloud and connect to the customer's user directory using an agent. This project reduced the customer onboarding time from days to hours.

    secureauth.com

Experience

  • Self-Employed

    Fractional Head of Engineering for early-stage startups

    Jun 2023 - Present

    As a fractional head of engineering and consultant, I work with both startups and Fortune 500 companies. I specialize in aiding start-ups during the following scenarios:

    • They require rapid product development and seek the expertise of a fractional seasoned engineer.
    • They are outsourcing development and need someone to bridge the gap between their team and developers.
    • Their in-house team requires extra senior support or a boost in efficiency for writing scalable code.
  • Amazon

    Amazon

    Software Engineer

    Nov 2022 - Jun 2023

    Amazon Ads Attribution tracks and attributes conversions to specific ads, helping advertisers measure their effectiveness and optimize campaigns for better ROI on the platform. We utilized AI/ML to overcome advertising attribution challenges while maintaining compliance with strict privacy regulations that prohibit user identity capture and storage.

    • Demonstrating exceptional leadership skills by becoming a project lead within two months of joining Amazon.
    • One of the main contributors to re-architecting and improving the data processing pipelines which are processing petabytes of data daily, reducing the number of jobs from around 15 to 1.
  • Acceptto / SecureAuth

    Acceptto / SecureAuth

    Tech Lead / Principal Software Architecture

    May 2019 - Nov 2022

    Acceptto which was acquired by SecureAuth in Nov 2021, helps secure workforce and customer online identities for the world’s leading brands. Acceptto/SecureAuth’s products and services are developed around the core principle of our mission: Never compromise on security.

    • Promoted to lead the core engineering team consisting of 5 engineers developing the company's core product.
    • Reduced customer onboarding time from days to hours by developing a horizontally scalable, full-duplex communication service for the customer directory agent.
    • Led the redesign and implementation of the next generation of Acceptto's SSO microservice to make it horizontally scalable and highly available.
    • Designed and implemented a policy orchestration engine module that allows customers to control Acceptto's authentication system behavior with or without writing code.
    • Helped the sales team to close two deals that increased the company's annual income by almost 30%, by leading the technical sale and architecture design calls.
  • Disney Streaming Services

    Disney Streaming Services

    Software Engineer / SRE

    Apr 2017 - Mar 2019

    Disney Streaming Services is a division of The Walt Disney Company dedicated to providing convenient access to Disney-owned content through digital platforms like Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. The original company that I joined was Cake Solutions. It was acquired by BAMTech followed by Disney in 2017.

    • Developed scalable microservices capable of handling tens of thousands of requests per second using Scala, Play, DynamoDB, AWS Lambda, Kinesis, SQS, S3, etc.
    • Contributed directly to the design and implementation of a new subscription system for BAMTech Media, which was later used in Disney+.
    • One of the main contributors to establishing the SRE practices within Disney Streaming Services as the 4th member of the newly shaped SRE team in the company.

  • Self-Employed

    Independent Software Engineer / Consultant

    Jan 2006 - Mar 2017

    Worked as a consultant and freelancer with a wide variety of clients and technologies such as C#, .NET, Scala, Play, Akka, Python, Ruby, Java, Javascript, HTML/CSS, and more.

    • Designed and developed more than 40 custom-built software projects, from high-performance desktop applications written in C++ to highly scalable web applications written in Scala.
    • Built and managed a network of developers by setting up a transparent system to share the project's financial value with the whole team based on the value each member adds. It was a successful alternative to the traditional structure of corporate.
  • Behsad

    Behsad

    Software Engineer

    Feb 2003 - Dec 2005

    Behsad is a software consulting agency with 20+ years of experience in developing various software solutions.

    • Built a 2D cutting-stock problem-solving desktop GUI application for the first of its kind in Iran. Written in C++ and utilizing the Genetic Algorithm, it was solving general cutting-stock problems with less than 5% waste on average.
    • Mentored and led a team of junior developers.
    • Designed and implemented dozens of applications using C#, .NET, and MSSQL.