Open to AI agent & forward-deployed roles
Akshay Kalapgar
AI agent engineer. I build agent systems and the apps people use.
I build multi-agent systems, agent harnesses and MCP servers, plus the evals, observability and infrastructure that make agents reliable in production.
- 100K+ users · Goldi
- MCP servers
- Claude agents in production
- LOCATION
- San Francisco, CA
- FOCUS
- Multi-agent systems · MCP · Evals
- CURRENT
- AI Engineer @ Climb Together
- SCALE
- 100K+ users in production
- UPTIME
- 99.9%
- STATUS
- Open to agent & forward-deployed roles
01 · About
EST. 2020
Engineer, forward-deployed
Hello! I'm Akshay, an AI agent engineer with 4+ years of full-stack & platform experience 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. 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.
Mission
Looking for AI agent, platform, and forward-deployed engineering roles where I can build multi-agent systems, harnesses, evals, and observability that ship production AI, embedded with customers and with high ownership.
AGENTS & LLM
- Claude Code & MCP
- Multi-Agent Orchestration
- Evals & Tool Use
- Anthropic / OpenAI APIs
- LangChain
- Hume AI
- Multi-Agent RL
- Prompt & Context Engineering
LANGUAGES
- TypeScript / JavaScript
- Python
- Java
- C#
- SQL
- C++
PRODUCT & BACKEND
- Next.js / React
- Node.js
- Django
- Spring Boot
- GraphQL / REST
- PostgreSQL (Drizzle ORM)
PLATFORM & INFRA
- AWS (Lambda, S3, EC2)
- GCP
- Kubernetes & Helm
- Terraform
- Docker
- GitHub Actions CI/CD
- Datadog
- OpenTelemetry
- users scaled
- 100K+
- OSS commits
- 1,180+
- Claude Code skills
- 86
- tests written
- 500+
- production uptime
- 99.9%
- cold-start latency
- −50%
02 · Experience
2020 TO PRESENT
Where I've worked
Climb Together
May 2025 to presentFull Stack Developer & AI Engineer San Francisco, CA
- 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.
Softmax
Nov 2025 to Apr 2026AI Platform Engineer (Contract) San Francisco, CA
- Built and maintained Claude Code plugins (86 skills across 6 plugins) and MCP tool harnesses powering AI-assisted dev workflows: autonomous PR review, code generation, and multi-file editing across the org.
- Designed a production observability pipeline (Datadog + OpenTelemetry: OTLP receivers, structured collectors), replacing legacy monitoring for a multi-agent RL training platform.
- Built a Kubernetes watcher service for AI job lifecycle orchestration, with automated failure classification (timeout/OOM/policy_error), stuck-job reconciliation, and keep-main-green CI.
- Engineered Terraform IaC for AWS (Lambda, Secrets Manager, IAM) powering GitHub webhook integrations and deploy pipelines.
- Built a tournament system with daily reporting cronjobs, error-log surfacing, and diagnostic scoring to evaluate multi-agent RL policy performance.
- Owned the data layer: 21-table PostgreSQL schema with Alembic migrations and SQLModel ORM; pre-deploy Helm migration jobs for zero-downtime releases.
- Shipped 1,180+ commits to the Metta AI open-source multi-agent RL platform.
UMass Chan
May 2024 to Jan 2025Software Engineer Intern Boston, MA
- Led implementation of Factorbook 2.0 (React, Next.js, GraphQL), improving First Contentful Paint by 40%.
- Integrated real-time dashboards with Prometheus to monitor distributed job queues and system health.
- Wrote 500+ unit and integration tests with Jest and Playwright, maintaining 98%+ coverage.
- Ran sprints, standups, and retros for a 6-person agile pod; built data-heavy genomic visualizations.
Capgemini
Aug 2021 to Aug 2023Full Stack Engineer Mumbai, India
- Built 10+ microservices (Java, Spring Boot) for BMW's global platform, serving 200K+ users at 99.9% uptime with a 55% performance gain.
- Built e-commerce modules with React, Redux, and Webpack, cutting page load times by 50%.
- Migrated a legacy monolith to Vue.js, improving performance by 40%.
- Owned CI/CD with Jenkins and Docker, reducing manual deploy effort by 70%; mentored 4 junior developers.
tag8
Aug 2020 to Aug 2021Software Engineer Mumbai, India
- Integrated Redis caching and Elasticsearch with a Django backend, cutting database query latency by 60% and powering real-time dashboards.
- Lifted customer satisfaction by 25% through a UI/UX redesign of high-traffic flows.
KPMG
Jul 2020 to Dec 2020Software Engineer Intern Mumbai, India
- Shipped 30+ CRM feature enhancements in Java; contributed to distributed application architecture and data-handling compliance.
Case studies
How the agent work was built
- Climb Together · May 2025 to presentGoldi: a production AI career coach for 100K+ usersHow Akshay Kalapgar built Goldi at Climb Together: a Claude-powered career coaching agent with tool calling, voice and SMS that reached 100K+ users.Read the Goldi case study
- Softmax · Nov 2025 to Apr 2026MCP servers, Claude Code plugins and agent toolingAkshay Kalapgar's MCP tool harnesses and Claude Code plugins: 86 skills across 6 plugins for agent workflows, plus the platform that runs the agents.Read the MCP servers and Claude tooling case study
- Wingline · In public betaWingline: an AI texting assistant in the iPhone keyboardWingline, built by Akshay Kalapgar: an iPhone keyboard that writes replies, polishes drafts and drafts dating openers with on-device Apple Intelligence.Read the Wingline case study
03 · Projects
SELECTED WORK
Things I've built
DevDiagrams: Interactive Learning Platform
Interactive learning platform built with Next.js 15 and React, 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, AI-powered features using OpenAI, and real-time notifications, optimized with Vercel Speed Insights.
AI Chatbot Platform
Advanced AI chat application built with Next.js, React, and Supabase. LangChain conversational AI, Hugging Face models for specialized NLP tasks, and OpenAI integration for intelligent responses, plus real-time analytics, conversation memory, and multi-agent orchestration.
Advanced ML Pipeline & Agent System
End-to-end ML pipeline with multi-agent orchestration: data preprocessing, PyTorch/TensorFlow training, evaluation pipelines, and deployment automation. Agent-based systems for automated data processing, model validation, and intelligent decision-making.
AI-Powered Career Platform
Intelligent web application connecting Clark University students with alumni for career guidance, using LangChain matching, Hugging Face resume analysis, and OpenAI-personalized recommendations. Reduced manual effort by 80%.
04 · Open source
1,180+ COMMITS
Contributions in production
Softmax
Metta AI: Multi-Agent RL Platform
1,180+ commits to an open-source multi-agent reinforcement-learning platform: Claude Code plugins (86 skills across 6 plugins), MCP tool harnesses, a Kubernetes job-lifecycle watcher with automated failure classification, a Datadog + OpenTelemetry observability pipeline, and the 21-table PostgreSQL data layer with zero-downtime Helm migrations.
Climb Together
Goldi: AI Career Assistant
Core engineer on an AI career assistant that teaches students a better way to land internships and jobs. Conversational AI with LangChain, OpenAI, and Anthropic Claude; natural voice via Hume AI; distributed onboarding architecture that scaled to 100K+ users. Supported by Google.org and Walmart.org.
UMass Chan Medical School
Factorbook 2.0: Genomic Research Platform
Led implementation of a genomic research platform (React, Next.js, GraphQL): 40% faster First Contentful Paint, data-heavy genomic visualizations, Prometheus dashboards for distributed job queues, and 500+ tests at 98%+ coverage.
05 · Credentials
VERIFIED
Certifications
06 · Kind words
PEER REVIEW
What people say
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.
Having worked with Akshay for 2 years, I must say he is an excellent professional. 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. But what makes him stand out is his willingness to help others. I have no hesitation recommending him to potential employers.
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!
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.
07 · Apps
MY OWN PRODUCTS
Apps I build on the side
Wingline
AI texting assistant in your iPhone keyboard
- Beta
- In review
Free public beta on TestFlight · App Store version in review
Copy a message and tap Reply for three options in your own texting style, tap Polish to clean up a draft without sounding like a robot, or get dating openers written from the other person's actual profile.
- Runs on-device with Apple Intelligence; cloud only after the user opts in
- Full custom keyboard: autocorrect, predictions, Apple-style emoji panel
- Never logs keystrokes; App Attest and rate limits on the backend
Liftspark
Gym and calorie tracker with live heart rate
- In development
Private beta
Guided workouts and set logging, with live heart rate from WHOOP, Garmin, chest straps or Apple Watch, a 0–21 strain score and heart-rate zones per session, food logging with barcode scan, and a muscle-map summary to share to Strava.
- Bluetooth heart-rate pairing plus Apple Health import and sync
- Apple Watch app, Live Activity and home-screen widget
- Food search and barcode scanning (Open Food Facts, USDA)
iPhone · Apple Watch
Built on openGym by Duarte Santos (AGPL-3.0), with his permission.
Spark Studio
Creative studio for images, video and voice
- In development
Personal tool · working name
One place to generate thumbnails, short vertical videos and voiceovers across OpenAI, Google Gemini and MuAPI models, with every prompt and every output checked by a moderation-first safety pipeline before anyone sees it.
- Provider and model picker with live cost and a daily spend cap
- Blocks real-person likeness, sexual content and gore; fails closed
- Every output labeled AI-generated
Mac · iPhone
Whosnear
Meet people where you are right now
- Concept
Validating demand before building
Location-bound rooms that open only while you're physically there, like a campus, an airport layover or a conference, with 18+ verification and coarse presence only. Nobody ever sees a gate, a dorm or a pin.
iPhone (planned)
08 · Contact
Ready to ship agents that work?
I'm open to AI agent, platform, and forward-deployed engineering roles, or a conversation about multi-agent systems, MCP servers, evals, and shipping production AI. Reach out and I'll get back to you quickly.