Justin Bowen

Software Engineering Leader & AI/ML Specialist

San Francisco Bay Area Justin@seafoam.media tonsoffun.github.io

Summary

Software engineering leader with 21+ years of experience, including 10+ years with Ruby on Rails at scale. Creator of Active Agent, the open-source AI framework for Rails. Proven track record building ML/AI-powered products, data processing pipelines, and leading global remote teams. Deep expertise in large-scale data systems, computer vision, and full-stack development. Speaker at RailsConf and RubyConf.

Technical Skills

Languages: Ruby, Python, JavaScript, SQL | Frameworks: Rails, React, Next.js, Flask, Django

AI/ML: LLMs, AI Agents, PyTorch, OpenCV, CUDA | Databases: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, PostGIS

Infrastructure: AWS, GCP, Docker, Sidekiq, CI/CD | Real-time: WebSocket, ActionCable, WebRTC

Professional Experience

Creator

2024 – present

ActiveAgents.ai

Remote from San Francisco Bay Area

Created Active Agent, the open-source AI framework for Ruby on Rails with Rails-native infrastructure and standardized conventions. Enables developers to deploy AI features quickly and easily with familiar Rails patterns. Provide AI product development and consulting services to startups integrating AI into their products.

Ruby Rails AI Agents LLMs Open Source

Staff AI Engineer

2023 – 2024

Fountain

Remote from San Francisco

Built real-time conversational AI agents with generative UI elements to streamline hiring workflows. Developed tools guiding hiring managers through requisition creation and applicants from resume building to job application. Architected Ruby on Rails backend integrated with LLM services and Next.js/Vercel frontend.

Ruby Rails Next.js Vercel LLMs AI Agents

Director of Engineering

2021 – 2023

nSight Surgical

Remote from San Francisco Bay Area

Performed R&D in partnership with Stanford Healthcare. Led development of GPU-accelerated ML/DL/AI computer vision systems deployed on-premise at hospitals across the US and in the cloud. Built data processing pipeline for cloud training data and real-time inference. Led user-facing product development with a global remote team of engineers, data scientists, and designers.

Python Faktory Ruby Rails PostgreSQL Redis +6 more

CTO Consultant

2021 – present

Silicon Valley Software Group

Remote from San Francisco, California

Led tech due diligence for $100M+ venture capital and private equity fundraising rounds and acquisitions. Audited businesses, teams, processes, and technology. Provided comprehensive reports to stakeholders to assess and mitigate risks while managing technical expectations. Advised and led on the integration of business and products post-acquisition.

CTO Consultant

2018 – present

Sea Foam Media & Technology

Remote

Launched a startup consulting firm with my now-wife to help early-stage companies with everything from brand development and messaging to defining their product requirements and designing/building their MVPs.

CTO Consultant

2018 – 2021

Sea Foam Media & Technology

Remote

For musicaloverture.com I built a real-time audio/video collaboration platform for musicians to practice and perform with the lowest possible latency. Managed Mesh-WebRTC implementation. Integrated Twilio API TURN/STUN services and Twilio Video SDK. Developed a Mesh-WebRTC implementation for free peer-to-multi-peer group audio/video call experiences.

Ruby Rails MySQL Redis Sidekiq WebSocket +3 more

Founder

2016 – 2020

GreenThumb IO

Remote

Combining smart cameras, AI, and IoT technology to fundamentally transform the cannabis industry from seed to sale.

Hackathon GCP Ruby Rails Sidekiq Python +8 more

CTO

2017 – 2018

Dairy.com (FKA Cainthus acquired by Ever.ag)

Remote, San Francisco, California and Dublin, Ireland

Grew global remote team from 1 to 8 engineers, scientists, and designers to deliver cutting-edge agtech products to market (drone analytics for field crops and dairy barn computer vision). Lead tech due diligence to close Series B fundraise with Cargill Animal Nutrition.

AWS Python React - OpenCV GoogleColab TensorFlow +6 more

Director of Engineering

2016 – 2017

Dairy.com (FKA Cainthus acquired by Ever.ag)

Remote, San Francisco, California and Dublin, Ireland

Grew a Series A team to deliver a drone mappping and analytics platform to market and Lead the product design, R&D, engineering, and testing of the Dairy cow computer vision platform.

AWS Python React LeafLet.js OpenCV Flask +5 more

Lead Data Engineer and Platform Architecture Consultant

2016 – 2016

Dairy.com (FKA Cainthus acquired by Ever.ag)

Remote, San Francisco, California and Dublin, Ireland

Worked with a small team to optimize and scale a drone analytics and real-time geo search to close Series A funding

Heroku Python React LeafLet.js OpenCV Django +7 more

Cofounder, Director of Engineering

2016 – 2017

PINSTOP

Remote, San Francisco, California and Tokyo, Japan

Designed and developed a custom itinerary mapping platform plus travel experience recommendation engine for use by elite concierge teams (including the Grand Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Tokyo).

Lead Software Engineer, CTO

2015 – 2016

ZALA

Remote

Lead the design and development of the MVP web, iOS, and Android apps.

Lead Software Engineer, CTO

2014 – 2016

Momentage

Remote

Lead the development of a short-form multimedia sharing platform. Designed a high-throughput media uploading service with node.js for handling file uploads to S3.

Lead Senior Software Engineer

2012 – 2014

Banjo

San Francisco Bay Area

Independently built geocoding and data processing platform used to raise $150M. Built event detection system using advanced geo information systems to index social media content and determine what events were happening where, using geo queries on indexed polygons of all buildings and administration boundaries in the world. Built geo-coding microservices that handled 10s of millions of requests each day.

Lead Procuct Engineer

2010 – 2012

Focus Testing Services, inc.

San Francisco Bay Area

Responsible for network security, services and systems reliability, software development, and support. Design, build, and maintain Rails web applications that compliment a software suite of Adobe Flex/Flash Builder Air desktop apps.

Software Engineer

2008 – 2010

Computer Assisted Testing Service (CATS)

San Francisco Bay Area

Maintained the registration and reporting application using Java and MS SQL, while handling mass emails to sites. Used Ruby on Rails and MySQL to develop new web interfaces designed to increase efficiency by improving the user experience. Continued advanced responsibilities of Technical Support and system administration.

IT Technical Support, Windows Systems Administrator

2005 – 2008

Computer Assisted Testing Service (CATS)

San Francisco Bay Area

Assured the availability of the testing service to over 300 globally distributed testing sites. Maintained servers and testing center network via telephone and on call support on weekends. Everyday tasks ranged from simple software support to assisting in the installation and configuration of small networks at the testing facility, by phone. Also helped maintain and administrate Microsoft SQL and Windows Server environments.

Speaking & Open Source

  • • Creator and maintainer of Active Agent – open source AI framework for Ruby on Rails
  • • Regular speaker at RailsConf, RubyConf, and technical conferences