Akshay Kalapgar.
Forward-Deployed AI & Full-Stack Platform Engineer
I build AI agent harnesses, MCP servers, and the platform, observability, and infrastructure that ships them to production. 4+ years delivering scalable, real-time systems across healthcare, e-commerce, and edtech — embedded with customers, moving fast, owning outcomes end to end.
About Me
Hello! I'm Akshay, a full-stack & platform engineer with 4+ years building scalable, real-time, production AI systems. I hold an M.S. in Computer Science from Clark University (GPA 3.8, May 2025) and a B.E. in Information Technology from the University of Mumbai (GPA 3.6).
Most recently I worked as an AI Platform Engineer at Softmax — building Claude Code plugins, MCP tool harnesses, and the observability and Kubernetes infrastructure behind a multi-agent RL training platform — while at Climb Together I drive architecture for an AI-powered onboarding platform serving 100K+ users.
I thrive forward-deployed: embedded with customers in fast-paced environments, owning problems from infrastructure to UI and shipping production systems on the ground.
- Build AI agent harnesses, Claude Code plugins, and MCP servers that power autonomous PR review, code generation, and multi-file editing across engineering orgs.
- Design production observability pipelines with Datadog and OpenTelemetry — OTLP receivers, structured collectors, automated failure classification.
- Drive platform infrastructure with Kubernetes, Helm, and Terraform: job lifecycle orchestration, zero-downtime migrations, keep-main-green CI.
- Architect distributed systems at scale — onboarding flows for 100K+ users, real-time data pipelines, serverless backends on AWS Lambda with PostgreSQL.
- Ship full-stack product fast: Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, Python — with the testing, monitoring, and CI/CD discipline to keep it reliable.
Quick Snapshot
Systems & Platform
Technologies I Use
Mission Next
Looking for AI platform, backend, full-stack, and forward-deployed AI engineering roles where I can build agent tooling, infrastructure, and observability that ship production AI — embedded with customers, with high ownership.
Where I've Worked
Full Stack Developer & AI Engineer
- Built an AI-powered chatbot with LangChain, OpenAI, and Anthropic Claude; added voice via Hume AI for natural conversations.
- Drove architecture for a distributed onboarding system (Next.js, Clerk, Twilio) scaling to 100K+ users with a 35% lift in verified opt-ins.
- Built real-time data pipelines powering SMS nudges and behavior analytics, driving a 28% increase in feature re-engagement.
- Drove migration to serverless (AWS Lambda) and PostgreSQL with Drizzle ORM, cutting cold-start latency by 50%.
- Set up CI/CD with automated testing, linting, and environment-specific deploys to Vercel; instrumented Sentry error tracking and PostHog product analytics.
- Led architectural reviews enforcing modular design, code ownership, and performance benchmarks.
Professional Certifications
Earned in 2024 — validates building, deploying, and maintaining production applications on AWS.
Hands-on expertise with AWS Lambda, DynamoDB, API Gateway, and IAM — the same serverless stack I run in production.
Covers cloud-native architecture, CI/CD integration, and cost-effective scaling patterns.
Professional Contributions
Metta AI - Multi-Agent RL Platform
Shipped 1,180+ commits to Metta AI, an open-source multi-agent reinforcement learning platform. Built Claude Code plugins (86 skills across 6 plugins) and MCP tool harnesses for AI-assisted dev workflows, a Kubernetes watcher service for AI job lifecycle orchestration with automated failure classification, a Datadog + OpenTelemetry observability pipeline, and the 21-table PostgreSQL data layer with Alembic migrations and zero-downtime Helm migration jobs.
Personal Projects
DevDiagrams - Interactive Learning Platform
Interactive learning platform built with Next.js 15 and React 18, featuring comprehensive UI components from Radix UI. Integrated Supabase for authentication and real-time data management, with Stripe and Razorpay for payment processing. Includes PDF processing with react-pdf, AI-powered features using OpenAI, and real-time notifications with react-hot-toast. Optimized with Vercel Speed Insights for performance monitoring.
What People Say
Jonathan Fisher
Software Engineer at UMass Chan Medical School
"As the main UI developer on the project, Akshay undertook a very comprehensive overhaul of one of our resources, Factorbook, and modernized it using Next.js and MUI. He completed the redesign of Factorbook fully from the ground up, and was responsible for all parts of the frontend of the application. Very impressive and complex project. He was a team player and was always very receptive to feedback and looking for ways to improve the site and his own skills."
Nisha Indapure
Lead Software Engineer
"Having worked with Akshay for 2 years, I must say he is an excellent professional. He helped me understand the company's project management process. I am impressed by his work ethics, communication skills, coding skills, exceptional problem-solving skills. He truly has the skills to interact with business clients. He easily adjusts to any given situation or business dynamics. But what makes him stand out is his willingness to help others. I am glad to have worked with him and have no hesitation recommending him to potential employers."
Leon Wöhrl
Tech Lead | Lead Software Engineer @ Capgemini
"Great colleague who is very open minded when it comes to both personal and professional development in the software engineering industry. Akshay is always going above and beyond, ready to tackle new and difficult tasks, and ready to take responsibility. Very fast onboarding to the team, great attention to detail and a critical eye to improve things make him a great addition to any team!"
Amey Waghmode
Data Scientist @Children's Mercy | CS Grad at NC State University
"I studied with Akshay at the University of Mumbai, and he was always someone you could count on—smart, focused, and a great team player. He's technically strong and quick to pick up new concepts, and I'm confident he'll be a great asset wherever he works next."
Get In Touch
I'm open to AI platform, backend, full-stack, and forward-deployed AI engineering roles — or a conversation about agent tooling, MCP servers, and shipping production AI. Reach out and I'll get back to you quickly.