# Matthew Perry

Raleigh, NC · matt@mattperry.info · [linkedin.com/in/matthew-perry-27606](https://linkedin.com/in/matthew-perry-27606) · [mattperry.info](https://www.mattperry.info/)

*Markdown twin of the canonical resume ([PDF](https://www.mattperry.info/Matthew_Perry_Resume.pdf)). Phone number available on the PDF or by email.*

## Summary

Engineering leader and hands-on builder with 25 years across full-stack development, cloud architecture, and applied AI. Currently direct a ~50-person organization delivering production agentic-AI systems; previously 23 years at SAS as a pre-sales technical architect, principal instructor (#1 globally, 2014 and 2015), and software developer. Build and operate a multi-tenant agent platform — Java/Spring Boot, React/TypeScript, PostgreSQL/pgvector, Terraform on AWS — where agents, knowledge bases, and MCP tool integrations are versioned configuration rather than code. Ship production code daily with AI coding assistants and lead a team doing the same, with an evidence-based view of where they help and where they do not. Seeking a hands-on engineering management role on a public-facing developer product. Patent contributor. Navy veteran.

## Technical Skills

- **Front End & Web:** React · TypeScript / JavaScript · Vite · Responsive and accessible UI · Static and server-rendered delivery · Structured data and crawlability for AI agents
- **APIs & Identity:** REST · OpenAPI / Swagger (spec-driven tool generation) · OAuth 2.0 / OIDC · Okta · Microsoft Entra ID / Azure SSO · Scoped service tokens · RBAC
- **AI Engineering:** Anthropic Claude · AWS Bedrock (Converse) · Agentic orchestration and multi-step flows · RAG: chunking strategy, retrieval evaluation, coverage analysis · Model Context Protocol (MCP), publish and consume · LLM-judge evals with regression gates · Guardrails · Per-call cost attribution
- **AI-Assisted Development:** Claude Code in real delivery work · Team adoption patterns · Guardrails for code review, data handling and IP · Measuring impact on delivery speed and code quality
- **Cloud & Platform:** AWS (ECS Fargate, RDS PostgreSQL, S3, Lambda, CloudFront, ALB, Secrets Manager, CloudWatch, ECR) · Azure (Entra ID integration) · Terraform · Docker · CI/CD pipelines · TLS and certificate lifecycle · Multi-AZ high availability · OpenTelemetry
- **Languages & Data:** Java (Spring Boot) · TypeScript / JavaScript · Python · SQL · PostgreSQL / pgvector · SAS
- **Leadership:** Hiring and performance management · Career development · Roadmap ownership · Agile delivery (Jira, Confluence) · Vendor and offshore management · Budget oversight · Executive communication

## Professional Experience

### Director — Technical Automation & Technical Integrations
**Holland America Line (Carnival Corporation)** · Seattle, WA (Remote) · October 2024 – Present

- Direct ~50 professionals — managers, project managers, technical leads, and onshore/offshore engineers — with multimillion-dollar capital budgets; own hiring, performance reviews, and career development.
- Built and operate an internal agent platform (Java/Spring Boot, React 19/TypeScript, PostgreSQL/pgvector, Terraform on AWS ECS Fargate and RDS) that lets operators configure agents, knowledge bases, tools, and multi-step flows as versioned data — no code deploy needed to change behavior. Running in production across Holland America, Princess, and Seabourn.
- Own the platform's entire cloud footprint: Terraform-provisioned ECS Fargate across two availability zones, RDS Multi-AZ, edge TLS with certificate lifecycle, secrets management, monitoring, disaster recovery, and cloud spend — accountable for availability and performance.
- Built an OpenAPI-to-agent-tool pipeline: published API specifications are imported and turned into governed, callable tools for LLM consumers — direct experience of what makes API documentation machine-legible, and where it breaks down in practice.
- Publish and consume Model Context Protocol (MCP) endpoints in production with per-tenant authentication, treating agent-facing interfaces as a first-class product surface.
- Lead the team's adoption of AI-assisted development — tool evaluation, effective usage patterns, and guardrails for code review, data handling, and intellectual property — and ship production code the same way: AI-authored changes with tests, tracked tickets, and reviewed deploys.
- Designed the governance layer enterprise AI requires: per-tenant row-level data isolation, RBAC, content-hashed configuration snapshots pinned to every run for reproducibility, input/output guardrails, and an eval harness with LLM-judge scoring and regression gates so changes are measured before release.
- Pioneered the enterprise AI strategy adopted across multiple Carnival brands and championed by the CEO and Board of Directors; established corporate-wide API development standards and a Java microservice layer handling 10M+ daily transactions.

### Senior Manager — Guest Commerce
**Holland America Line** · Seattle, WA (Remote) · April 2024 – October 2024

- Transformed automation from ad-hoc development into standardized, scalable processes that enabled efficient multi-vendor collaboration.
- Designed and delivered revenue-critical guest-facing systems including Shore Excursions and the "Come Back and Sail" campaigns, generating hundreds of millions in annual revenue.
- Built an AI-powered crew-onboarding proof of concept that demonstrated clear business value and led directly to promotion and the creation of the Technical Automation team.

### SAS Institute — Cary, NC · 2001 – 2024 (23 years)

#### Principal / Advisory Pre-Sales Technical Architect · 2016 – 2024

- Drove $10M+ in annual pipeline and closed sales across 50+ strategic engagements with Fortune 500 clients including BNSF, McDonald's, FedEx, Carnival, Travelport, and UPS.
- Built custom analytics web applications embedded in SAS Viya — replaced an incumbent Palantir solution at BNSF, delivered a price-optimization UI for McDonald's ($823K), and real-time bot detection for Travelport ($3.6M deal) scoring 3,400+ transactions per second.
- Created the Viya Data Editor, a full CRUD web application evaluated by SAS R&D and Dr. Goodnight for enterprise deployment; authored SAS Console, a simplified analytics interface reviewed for public release.
- Developed predictive models and recommendation engines, including a shore-excursion recommender deployed to 26 cruise ships.
- Served as Technical Account Manager for Carnival Corporation, rebuilding executive relationships and expanding platform adoption organization-wide.

#### Principal Training Consultant · 2011 – 2016

- Ranked #1 SAS instructor globally in 2014 and 2015 on customer evaluations and training-effectiveness metrics.
- Authored and delivered the SAS Demand-Driven Forecasting curriculum; taught across the United States, Helsinki, and Barcelona.

#### Senior Software Developer & Consultant · 2001 – 2011

- Led front-end development for flagship products including SAS Drug Development and Contact Center Planning & Optimization.
- Architected BI dashboards and reporting engines for enterprise clients across healthcare, finance, and utilities.

## Military Service

### Sonar Watch Supervisor & Sonar Technician
**United States Navy** · Jacksonville, FL · December 1993 – February 1999

- First sailor aboard to qualify as Sonar Supervisor during a first enlistment; led a team of 10 technicians in mission-critical operations.
- Deployed in support of Operation Sharp Guard (NATO enforcement of UN sanctions in the Adriatic Sea).
- Qualified Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS); awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and a Letter of Commendation.

## Awards & Recognition

- AI strategy championed by Carnival's executive leadership; recognized with the founding of the Technical Automation team and promotion to Director (2024–25)
- Replaced a deeply entrenched Palantir solution at BNSF with the modern CIQ (Continuous Improvement in Quality) analytics application (2023)
- Top SAS Customer Advisory Performer of the Year — the "Technical Decathlete" award (2021)
- Patent contributor — outlier detection system (2019)
- $3.6M Travelport win — real-time bot detection at 3,400+ TPS (2018)
- Top Global SAS Instructor, two consecutive years (2014, 2015)
- Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal and Letter of Commendation — U.S. Navy (1993–99)

## Education & Certifications

- **MBA, Information Technology Management** — North Carolina State University
- **BBA, Computer Information Systems (Honors)** — James Madison University
- **Certifications:** AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner · Advanced SAS Programming · Base SAS Programming

## Outside of Work

Nights and weekends: Collection Innovations — a production SaaS for collectors (AI valuations, image recognition, 100k-item catalog) built solo on the same stack led at work: Spring Boot, React, Postgres, Terraform on AWS, and heavy AI-assisted development. [collectioninnovations.com](https://collectioninnovations.com)