About Me
I help people understand complex technical systems — and use that understanding to grow their skills, careers, and opportunities. I bridge the gap between deep technical concepts and the clear, structured knowledge that actually enables people to move forward.
My natural mode is systems thinking. I don't just learn how things work — I learn how they connect, where they break down, and how to organize that complexity into frameworks other people can actually use. Complex systems only feel complex until someone takes the time to break them down the right way, and that's work I find genuinely energising.
What sets me apart is the combination of technical depth and a pedagogical instinct. I can go deep on infrastructure, automation, and cloud architecture — and then turn around and make that knowledge accessible to someone encountering it for the first time. Whether that's a well-structured diagram, a clear runbook, or a conversation that reframes a hard concept, I care about the moment understanding clicks for someone else as much as the technical work itself.
I'm drawn to the intersections between technology, learning science, and human behaviour — genuinely curious about how people build mental models, how teams transfer knowledge, and how thoughtful documentation can be as powerful as well-written code. I thrive in environments where growth is constant and intellectual curiosity is an asset.
I care about work that improves access, opportunity, and understanding — and I'm most drawn to organizations where the work has real impact, whether that's enabling people to grow their skills, improving access to technology, or building infrastructure that supports something that genuinely matters. Technical excellence is a means, not an end, and I want to direct mine toward something worth building.
If you're working at the intersection of technical depth, enablement, and meaningful impact, I'd love to connect.
Impact Story
When I joined Varonis, the deployment process was largely manual — engineers provisioning infrastructure by hand, deployments tied to individual knowledge, and no standardized path from code to production. It was slow, error-prone, and impossible to scale.
I led the end-to-end initiative to change that. We migrated from ad-hoc provisioning to a fully codified CI/CD model: Terraform for infrastructure-as-code, Azure DevOps YAML pipelines for every deployment, and a hub-spoke network architecture to give each application stack its own secure, autonomous footprint. We also migrated our core build agents from VMs to AKS — eliminating single points of failure and giving us elastic scale on demand.
The results were tangible. Infrastructure standup time dropped significantly and deployment risk fell because every change followed the same codified, reviewed path. But standardization did something else too — it made the connections between our services and systems visible in a way they hadn't been before.
Documentation had existed in scattered pieces with no cohesion or relationship to each other. Once everything was standardized, it became clear that all of our services and infrastructure were deeply connected — and that those connections deserved to be documented. I initiated the creation of a knowledge base from scratch, giving that structure a home and turning fragmented institutional knowledge into something teams could actually navigate, reference, and build on.
Core Values & Working Style
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Systems over shortcuts
Repeatable, documented processes beat individual brilliance every time. Good enough today is technical debt tomorrow — I build things that work consistently and look for ways to keep improving them.
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Clarity as a force multiplier
Complex ideas only stay complex until someone structures them well. I invest in documentation, diagrams, and knowledge bases because shared understanding moves faster than siloed expertise.
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Adaptability under ambiguity
I've navigated a lot of change across my career — new environments, shifting priorities, incomplete information. I've learned to move forward with what's available, make sound decisions without a full picture, and find solid footing in uncertain situations.
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Bridge-building across teams
The best infrastructure work happens at the intersection of technical and non-technical. I deliberately operate in that space — translating requirements, aligning stakeholders, and keeping the "why" visible.
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Intellectual curiosity
I'm genuinely interested in how things connect — not just technically, but across disciplines. Technology, philosophy, human behavior, learning science — I find the intersections between fields as interesting as the fields themselves.
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Purpose over output
I want to direct my skills toward things worth building. How something gets built matters — but so does what it's for and who it serves.
Skills & Experience
CI/CD & Pipeline Engineering
Designing and standardizing automated deployment pipelines that reduce risk and remove manual overhead from the path to production.
- Migrated an entire engineering org from manual deployments to standardized Azure DevOps YAML pipelines using Terraform IaC
- Built a templated Jenkinsfile with Groovy, establishing a consistent CICD standard for NodeJS and React applications
Infrastructure as Code
Replacing manual, error-prone provisioning with codified, repeatable infrastructure that can be reviewed, versioned, and trusted.
- Led IaC adoption across an engineering org, moving from hand-provisioned environments to fully Terraform-managed infrastructure
- Upgraded manual service provisioning into a full IaC configuration using Terraform and Packer
Cloud Architecture
Designing secure, scalable cloud environments across Azure and AWS — from network topology to application deployment patterns.
- Architected a hub-spoke network model to give each application stack a secure, autonomous deployment footprint
- Played a key role in migrating on-prem appliances to AWS cloud services
Containerization & Orchestration
Building and migrating containerized workloads to improve reliability, scalability, and operational consistency.
- Led the migration of core build agents from VMs to AKS, eliminating single points of failure and enabling elastic scale
- Implemented auto-scaling across compute infrastructure to improve HA and reliability
Security & Compliance
Embedding security into infrastructure and pipelines — from identity and access management to compliance standards and code scanning.
- Streamlined RBAC configurations, codifying security standards and reducing infrastructure standup time
- Implemented Veracode application security scanning in CICD pipelines and enforced CIS-hardened images
Automation & Scripting
Writing utilities and scripts that eliminate repetitive work, enforce consistency, and free up engineering time for higher-value problems.
- Built PowerShell tooling to manage 75+ firewall devices across the United States
- Created automated account lifecycle frameworks using Bash, JAMF Pro, BetterCloud, and Okta
Endorsements
"He possesses a mix of technical acumen, humility, and social maturity we rarely see in someone holding his position. He quickly established himself as a mentor to our junior team members — and was a star amongst our user community, inspiring confidence in his problem solving while putting people at ease in even the most trying times."
"Matt's incredible adaptability and resourcefulness in researching and implementing new solutions made him an exemplary case of what it means to be proficient in both technical support and system administration. His focus on building automated solutions increased efficiency tenfold — the impact will be felt far into the future of the organization."
"He's extremely kind, patient, and hilarious. Onboarding new employees, perfecting AV for events, brainstorming ways to improve our work environment — he left us with some big shoes to fill."