Hey there, I’m Andrew DeFilippis, a software engineer based in University Place, Washington.
What I Do
I specialize in cloud infrastructure, observability, and building tools that make engineering teams more effective. Most recently, I’ve been focused on the intersection of GenAI and developer tooling, building an AI-powered MCP Server in Rust and a GenAI MetaRepo for centralized automated operations and development workflows.
I’m currently exploring new opportunities where I can bring my experience in cloud computing, observability, automation, and AI-assisted engineering to challenging problems.
Career
Amazon Web Services, 11 years
My AWS career spanned support, systems engineering, and systems development across some of AWS’s most critical services.
CloudWatch Logs & Observability Admin (2021-2026)
As a Systems Development Engineer II, I led infrastructure-as-code design using TypeScript and AWS CDK for CloudWatch Observability Admin (Telemetry Config & Remediation), building reusable CDK patterns across 50+ service packages and 30+ pipelines. I spearheaded automated region expansion supporting 17 new region builds, developed a donor region build process that let CloudWatch Logs launch in new regions ahead of its dependencies, and owned end-to-end CI/CD pipeline modernization from legacy Ruby templates to centralized TypeScript CDK-managed pipelines.
On the AI front, I pioneered AI-augmented development and operations by designing an internal Rust Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server that enabled AI agents to securely interact with AWS services, and created the AI MetaRepo, a unified workspace enabling cross-package AI context awareness across frontend, backend, infrastructure, and test modules. I also built AI-powered operational tooling that let engineers run plain-English queries to automate log investigations across multiple accounts.
API Gateway (2017-2021)
I led the deployment and launch of API Gateway into 14 new AWS Regions and spearheaded expansion into 3 Amazon Dedicated Cloud environments for US and European Government (Secret/Top Secret), operating under strict air-gapped conditions with no direct monitoring. I co-owned the region build roadmap as both Systems Engineer and de facto Technical Program Manager, automated critical portions of the region build runbook using Python and templating tools, and improved service reliability by migrating API Gateway’s EC2 fleet to Launch Templates and Mixed Instance Groups.
Lambda (2017-2018)
Served as a dedicated API Gateway region builder and systems engineer on a shared systems engineering team for API Gateway and Lambda, collaborating across services on build processes and automation.
Premium Support (2014-2017)
I started at AWS as a Cloud Support Associate on the Linux team, and quickly moved into application services where I became the single-threaded owner in Seattle for API Gateway support from its public GA launch in July 2015. I grew into the Global Lead Support Engineer and first Subject Matter Expert for API Gateway, led talent development for peer engineers globally, developed internal training modules and public-facing documentation, and traveled internationally, including Taipei, Taiwan, for on-site customer support and engineer training.
Before AWS
I got my start in tech through hands-on roles: as a Computer Technician at Washington State University, an IT Intern at Clover Park Technical College where I built a Snort IDS and configured centralized log management, a Technical Support Engineer and Junior Systems/Network Administrator at ReachONE Internet managing Linux, Windows, and Cisco infrastructure, and a Service Desk Specialist at MultiCare Health System supporting healthcare IT systems.
Beyond the Keyboard
I’m a husband and father first. When I’m not working, you’ll usually find me spending time with my family, tinkering with side projects, or diving into whatever technology has caught my attention lately. I’ve been passionate about technology and systems since grade school, and that curiosity hasn’t slowed down.
Get in Touch
I’m always happy to connect, whether it’s about a potential opportunity, a collaboration, or just talking tech. You can find me on GitHub or LinkedIn.