Brian Fudge

San Diego, CA
858-876-2220
bfudge [at] bfudge [dot] com

Summary

Manager, engineer, mentor, teacher, entrepreneur. Builds products in areas including web, mobile, cloud, desktop, enterprise, embedded, ASIC, and FPGA. Currently focused on data foundations and AI/ML systems, building the real-world data infrastructure that makes intelligent products possible. Excels at taking vague ideas and working with others to turn them into reality.

Qualifications

• 20+ years of team leadership, project management, and product management
• 20+ years of software development experience
• 15+ years of executive experience with startup ventures
• Experienced in building data foundations, ML systems, and AI agents for production use
• Creative and intuitive leader with the ability to turn vague ideas into concrete deliverables and functioning products

Technical Expertise

• Product Areas: Data Foundations, AI/ML Systems, Mail and Communications Data, Video Codecs, Consumer Electronics, Home and Commercial Automation, Wireless Communication, Proximity and Location, Financial Services, Travel and Hospitality, Real Estate, Startups
• Languages: JavaScript, Python, Objective-C, SQL, PHP, C, C#, Java
• Frameworks: React, Node, iOS, .NET, Android
• AI/ML: AI agents, tool calling, RAG, vector search, knowledge ingestion, LangChain, OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock
• Cloud: AWS, Azure, Terraform, Docker, CircleCI, GitHub
• Processes: CI/CD, TDD, observability, automation, agile, data pipelines, ML pipelines
• Database: MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redshift

Work History

itrvl, San Diego, CA, Director of Engineering
January 2019 - Present

• Built a SaaS travel booking platform for the African safari and eco-tourism industry
• Led a team building data foundations, AI/ML systems, and provider integrations across multiple real-time APIs
• Built a knowledge-ingestion system that turns travel-agent emails and phone-call transcripts into structured knowledge for AI agents and ML pipelines
• Built an ML-based itinerary recommendation engine and a full-stack AI agent with tool calling, vector search, and SQL querying
• Recruited and mentored engineers across feature, QA, SDET, and test roles, building a remote-first culture

UCSD Extension, San Diego, CA, Instructor
July 2018 - February 2019

• Developed course material and taught a full-stack web software development bootcamp covering the MERN stack: Mongo, Express, React, and Node
• Helped 52 students from varied technical and career backgrounds transition into software careers, with individual mentorship and feedback

Empire Software, Los Angeles, CA, Director of Engineering
July 2013 - June 2018

• Built a financial and estate management application from idea to commercial launch, supporting web and native iOS clients
• Integrated with external accounting software, financial data providers, and document management partners
• Owned bug triage, release gating, and final QA signoff as the product's quality accountability point
• Recruited and managed an engineering team across in-house and offshore developers

NewAer, Los Angeles, CA, Technology Lead
May 2013 - August 2016

• Architected a cross-platform proximity sensing and communication SDK leveraging WiFi and Bluetooth
• Implemented SDKs and example applications on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux
• Acted as SDK evangelist at conferences and hackathons

Gickup, Los Angeles, CA, Co-Founder
September 2010 - June 2014

• Built a platform for real-time multiplayer casual gaming with video-chat and audience broadcast capabilities
• Developed an SDK for outside developers to build on the platform

DCS eMAP / Bitvore, Los Angeles, CA, CTO
May 2009 - August 2011

• Built mail-data analysis technology that parsed, indexed, and visualized email archives including POP3, IMAP, and Microsoft Exchange formats
• Created communication-graph models correlating identities across email, phone, IM, and call records, supporting legal discovery and the intelligence community
• Presented to the U.S. National Counter-Terrorism Center through In-Q-Tel
• Recruited and managed a team of software developers

Level2Realty, San Diego, CA, Founder
February 2007 - February 2009

• Built a real-estate intelligence platform for investors, normalizing data from multiple MLS systems, public property records, and other sources into a unified, searchable model
• Exited via technology acquisition

Code Brilliant, San Diego, CA, Founder
February 2007 - Present

• Run a full-service software development agency focused on early-stage startups
• Architect and develop web, mobile, and desktop applications for clients using a wide range of technologies including JavaScript, Python, Objective-C, PHP, Java, Node, React, MongoDB, and MySQL

DivX, San Diego, CA, Engineering Lead
May 2002 - February 2007

• Architected and built SDKs and certification kits for codecs, media formats, and multimedia streaming technologies
• Built golden-file regression suites and certification signoff criteria, working as peer-lead with the dedicated certification and QA team
• Products grew the consumer electronics business unit from inception to 70% of company revenue, contributing to the company's IPO

Qualcomm, San Diego, CA, ASIC Engineer
May 1998 - August 2001

• Developed video decompression ASIC logic blocks in VHDL
• Created a bit-accurate decompression simulator used for full-chip verification before tape-out, enabling first-pass tape-out success
• Designed an imperceptible fingerprinting system for video

Patents

• US-10257443-B2: Multimedia distribution system for multimedia files
• US-10210481-B2: Relational presentation of communications and application for transaction analysis
• US-10032485-B2: Multimedia distribution system
• US-9582551-B2: Method and Apparatus for Display of Disparate Data
• US-9015244-B2: Bulletin board data mapping and presentation
• US-7856149-B2: Digital image encoding
• US-7664872-B2: Media transfer protocol
• US-7376243-B2: Apparatus and method for watermarking a digital image

Education

UCSD, San Diego, CA
Master of Engineering, March 2002

• Coursework in electrical and computer engineering, focusing on digital signal processing.

Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA
B.S. Engineering, May 1998

• Graduated with Distinction. Graduated with Honors in Engineering.
• Coursework in systems, electrical, computer, mechanical, and materials engineering.