James Drakes

James
Drakes

Staff Software Engineer · Austin, TX

I take ambitious ideas and make them real.

I work in distributed systems and the messy space where architecture meets people. Eleven years in, still the same instinct: foundations that hold, and engineers who grow while we build.

Experience

  1. Staff Software Engineer · H-E-B Jun 2025 — Present

    Architected a distributed circuit breaker system for org-wide fault tolerance.

    Node.js · TypeScript · GraphQL · AWS · PostgreSQL · Redis · CI/CD

  2. Co-founder & CTO · TerraVerum Jan 2025 — Jun 2025

    Built the initial prototype of an AI-enhanced annotation platform; led fundraising into Antler.

    TypeScript · Vue · Supabase · PostgreSQL · Dexie/IndexedDB

  3. Staff Software Engineer · Assured Claims Mar 2024 — Jan 2025

    Built FNOL ingestion pipelines giving adjusters a faster, self-service path to manage claims.

    Node.js · TypeScript · React · PostgreSQL · AWS

  4. Senior Software Engineer · H-E-B Jan 2023 — Mar 2024

    Built a fraud assessment engine that saved ~$500K a period in e-commerce fraud.

    Node.js · TypeScript · GraphQL · Apache Kafka · AWS · PostgreSQL · Redis

Full work history →

Outside of work

  • Travel
  • Soccer
  • Fiction
  • Ultimate Frisbee
  • Teaching Financial Literacy