Justin B.

About Justin B.

I am a Toledo boomerang. I spent a decade building for high-growth startups and large enterprise in the SF Bay Area and Austin before making the deliberate choice to move back home. I’m here to bridge the gap between Silicon Valley scale and the talent in Northwest Ohio.What I am doing now:Directing Engineering: Leading teams at Actual Reality Technologies and EmpoweredAI to build generative AI solutions and high-throughput data systems.Building Community: I founded Toledo Codes and the AI Collective Toledo Chapter. While I have transitioned out of leading the local chapter, I am now focused on expanding the AI Collective across the Midwest.I’m always down to talk about the transition from legacy dev workflows to AI-first systems, how we continue making Toledo a destination for world-class tech, and what happens to our relationship with code as we move toward orchestrating complex language and world models.

Experience

1. Director of Engineering

   Actual Reality Technologies

   Nov 2024 — Present · Toledo, OH, US

   Founding engineering leader for an emerging technology startup, responsible for translating high-level product vision into a scalable technical roadmap and high-performance organizational culture.Scalable Systems Architecture: Architected a hexagonal system foundation to decouple business logic from external tools, ensuring the platform remains agnostic and adaptable to the rapid pivots required in emerging tech sectors.High-Velocity Engineering Culture: Established a modern \"ship-first\" culture using Linear and Agile methodologies, underpinned by SPACE metrics to optimize developer happiness and maintain consistent delivery velocity without burnout.Organizational Design: Built an async-first engineering organization designed for distributed collaboration, implementing structured mentorship and ritualized feedback loops to drive talent retention and technical growth.Strategic Execution: Operating as a \"player-coach,\" bridging the gap between executive business strategy and code-level implementation to accelerate MVP delivery and define the long-term technical vision.

Education

• The University of Toledo

  Philosophy

  2005 — 2007