Edward Riede

About Edward Riede

Principall software engineer focused on metrics-driven platform engineering, AI enablement, and large-scale e-commerce systems. I am most effective solving complex problems across the engineering stack — from distributed software architecture and performance optimization to SDLC and operational excellence.I specialize in improving how large software systems — and the organizations that build them — operate at scale. My work spans backend platform architecture, real-user experience measurement, developer productivity, and adoption of AI-assisted engineering practices.A core part of my impact is driving organizational change from an individual contributor role by establishing clear measurement frameworks, mentoring engineers and technical leaders, and shaping recurring optimization mechanisms that enable teams to make better engineering decisions. This includes initiatives focused on performance observability, hypothesis-driven development, and platform modernization that lead to sustained improvements in customer experience and delivery quality.Earlier in my career I developed deep expertise in performance engineering, embedded systems, platform design, and rapid resolution of high-visibility production issues — experiences that continue to shape my approach to reliability, scalability, and engineering economics today.I enjoy working as a high-impact individual contributor who influences technical direction across teams, helps engineers grow, and enables organizations to deliver measurable outcomes through pragmatic architectural decisions.

Experience

1. Principal Software Engineer Ai E-commerce Infrastructure (Zappos)

   Amazon

   Jan 2025 — Present · Las Vegas, NV, US

   Joined Amazon following the organizational integration of Zappos into Amazon Fashion Subsidiaries in January 2025.• Design, build and operate large-scale AWS-based platform services supporting high-traffic e-commerce workloads specializing in edge operations. • Lead adoption of AI-assisted engineering practices across teams, incorporating LLM tooling into development workflows for code generation, debugging, documentation, and productivity automation.• Help design and implement customer-facing AI experiences, including chatbot and conversational support capabilities integrated into production web systems.• Drive hypothesis-driven feature design and development for SEO and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), defining success metrics, shaping the experimentation mental model, and implementing production features informed by search performance insights.• Serve as technical reviewer for architecture proposals, readiness reviews and code implementations across multiple teams.• Lead the Correction of Errors Community of Practice group for Amazon Fashion and Fit, defining engineering standards and CI/CD guardrails based on incident learnings and operational excellence principles.• Mentor engineers across organizations, contributing to technical growth, design quality, and engineering culture.• Participate actively in hiring and internship programs including candidate evaluation, project definition, mentorship, and conversion hiring.• Develop production software in C, C++, Python, Java, Node.js and Bash across backend systems, distributed tooling, automation pipelines, and performance-sensitive services.

Education

• Kent State University

  BS

  1996 — 2001

Skills

• Manufacturing
• Object Oriented Design
• Online Gaming
• Embedded Software
• Game Design
• Gaming
• Embedded Systems
• Gambling
• Unix
• Hardware
• Agile Methodologies
• Javascript
• Cvs
• Subversion
• Electronics
• Game Development
• Sql
• Linux
• Windows
• Testing
• Software Engineering
• Ooad
• Oop
• Multithreading
• Software Design
• Software Development
• Python
• Scrum
• C++
• Xml
• Firmware
• Agile
• Architectures
• Java
• Device Drivers
• Html
• Rtos
• Assembly
• C
• Programming