Daniel
Khalili
Building high-performance teams and shipping impactful products at the intersection of engineering, product, and leadership.
The Trifecta
I sit at the intersection of engineering, product, and leadership. That combination lets me work effectively across every layer of a technology organization.
Engineering
Hands-on technically. I write code, review architecture, and stay close to the systems I lead. AI is a core part of how I work — building with agentic frameworks to drive results at a different scale.
Product
I think in outcomes, not outputs. Every engineering decision connects to a business result. I gather requirements, scope initiatives, and ensure what we build actually moves the needle.
Leadership
I care about the people I work with and their growth. Through 1:1s, career development, and structured feedback, I help engineers advance while delivering on ambitious goals.
Years in Software Engineering
Direct Reports
Engineers Coordinated
Companies as Tech Lead
I'm not stepping back from the technical side as I grow as a leader. I'm exploring what it means to manage not just people, but agents — using agentic workflows to drive results at a different scale.
Daniel Khalili
Engineering Manager @ Kargo
Notable Initiatives
From co-founding MCP integrations to transforming deployment culture — these are the initiatives that define my approach.
Ad Manager MCP
Co-founded the Ad Manager MCP at Kargo, integrating core ad operations workflows into MCP-compatible infrastructure. Accessible by ChatGPT and Claude, enabling ad ops automation across agent environments.
Multi-Surface Ad Architecture
Led the architectural framework to expand Kargo's ad format hierarchy beyond OpenWeb to support CTV, In-App, DOOH, and OS Native surfaces. Started internally, now a high-priority executive initiative.
Deployment Transformation
As Tech Lead, drove the shift from large bi-weekly deployments with recurring incidents to weekly releases with minimal failure rates across a broader team of roughly 10 engineers. Improved speed without sacrificing stability.
Jira & GitHub Automation
An early application of AI-driven automation: built a custom system that synchronized Jira tickets to GitHub PRs, applied labels automatically, tracked milestones, and generated release notes based on PR types — removing significant manual overhead from the engineering workflow.
Bidding Strategy & Curation
Led the integration of bidding strategy and curation capabilities into the platform and coordinated rollout across the company.
AI Adoption & Agentic Systems
Led AI integration within the engineering team and expanded tooling to other departments. Built internal agentic systems using OpenAI and Anthropic APIs, Neuron AI, and the Laravel AI Toolkit.
How I Lead
People First
Great products come from great teams. I invest in engineers through 1:1s, career conversations, and creating space for growth. When people thrive, the code follows.
Stay Technical
I don't manage from a distance. I review code, debate architecture, and build alongside my team. Credibility comes from staying close to the systems.
Think in Outcomes
Every sprint, every feature, every refactor connects to a business result. I bridge product requirements and engineering execution to ensure what we ship actually matters.
Embrace AI
AI isn't a buzzword in my workflow — it's a force multiplier. From agentic systems to AI-powered code reviews, I'm exploring what it means to manage both people and agents.
Career Timeline
Manager, Engineering
Promoted into engineering leadership while remaining hands-on technically, balancing high-level planning with active development.
- Primary point of contact between Product, Project Managers, and Engineering leadership across all major initiatives
- Manage 4 direct reports through 1:1s, career growth conversations, and structured feedback, while coordinating across a broader team of ~10 engineers
- Assign tasks based on individual strengths and development areas, and provide direct feedback to help engineers grow
- Key voice in roadmap planning, proposing and scoping initiatives for cycle and quarterly planning in close collaboration with Product
- Run sprint ceremonies including standups and technical deep-dives
- Coordinate cross-team dependencies and communicate timelines to leadership and dependent stakeholders
- Bring a product mindset to engineering leadership, focused on outcomes and company-wide impact
Senior Software Engineer II/ Tech Lead
Led full-stack development of the internal Campaign Management platform, owning end-to-end delivery across backend services, APIs, and frontend applications.
- Tech Lead coordinating a broader team of ~10 engineers, aligning with Product, Design, and Ad Operations
- Gathered and translated business and product requirements into technical solutions, managing priorities across concurrent workstreams while navigating constant context switching
- Ran code reviews, managed CI/CD deployments, and established engineering best practices across the team
- One of the primary mentors on the team, actively supporting engineer growth and knowledge sharing
- Early adopter of AI tooling within the team, integrating tools that significantly accelerated delivery without compromising code quality
Senior Software Engineer I
Joined Kargo's Workflow team and quickly took ownership of initiatives end-to-end across multiple repositories and tech stacks.
- Built across the full stack including backend services, APIs, and frontend interfaces supporting internal operations and ad-serving workflows
- Learned new technologies and business logic continuously to keep pace with an evolving, multi-platform environment
- Contributed to code reviews and helped raise overall code quality across the team
Senior Software Engineer/ Tech Lead
Built and led the tech department from the ground up for a medical aesthetics e-commerce company, modernizing the platform to a new generation of technology.
- Led the architecture and development of a live streaming and class platform for healthcare training, evolving it from basic video conferencing into a full-featured communication and learning environment using AWS ChimeSDK and FFmpeg
- Worked directly with the CEO to set company direction and shape the product roadmap
- Hired, mentored, and managed a team of 3 engineers while serving as the lead engineer on all major development efforts
Back-End Developer/ Freelance
Built and managed RESTful APIs for a real estate mobile startup, collaborating directly with iOS developers.
- Designed and built APIs using Node.js, Firebase, and MongoDB on AWS
Co-Founder | Architect | Lead Software Engineer
Co-founded Scimund in 2017, a technology startup focused on bringing immersive VR and media experiences to consumers for capturing and reliving personal memories.
- Served as one of two company leads, making product direction and project management decisions alongside day-to-day engineering and operations
- Managed the software department including hiring, budgeting, and team oversight, while leading architecture and development across web and VR platforms
- Built in-house server infrastructure to connect web applications and led the team into new technology including Unreal Engine, Unity, C++, and Python
Front-End Developer
Built frontend features and RESTful APIs for legal practice management software.
- Developed with JavaScript, C#, Bootstrap, and MongoDB
Tech Universe
The tools, frameworks, and AI systems I work with daily — orbiting around engineering leadership at the center.
Technical Skills
Leadership
Languages
Frameworks & Runtimes
AI & Agentic Tools
Cloud & Infrastructure
Databases
Education
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY
Foundation in computer science and engineering principles.
General Assembly
New York, NY
Web Development Immersive — intensive full-stack engineering bootcamp.
Let's Talk
Whether it's about engineering leadership, a role, or just connecting — I'd love to hear from you.