Weyland Joyner

Senior Software Engineer — Applied AI / Special Projects

Location: Los Angeles, CA
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weylandjoyner/

Summary

Senior software engineer with 12+ years of experience building applied systems across AI, cloud infrastructure, and client-facing products. Early contributor to conversational AI systems (IBM Watson era), long-time technical lead delivering AWS/GCP architectures for Fortune 500 and public-sector clients, and trusted advisor to executive stakeholders on technology strategy. Known for operating effectively under ambiguity, rapidly prototyping novel systems, and translating cutting-edge technology into real-world use.

Selected Experience

Applied AI & Special Projects

Mercer Street Labs / Moth+Flame Founder · Consultant · Acting Head of Engineering · 2023-Present

  • Brought in as a solo consultant to design and build a new AI-first flagship product for VR training used by U.S. military clients (Army, Air Force, Navy, SOCOM)
  • Architected a generative system enabling subject-matter experts (e.g., drill sergeants) to author immersive training experiences via natural language, producing structured specifications consumed by video, audio, and VR pipelines
  • Integrated modern LLM APIs into end-to-end content generation workflows, coordinating multi-modal outputs and downstream processing
  • Conducted a ground-up audit of legacy systems, decommissioned outdated tooling, and rebuilt core engineering workflows
  • At CEO request, spun up and led a distributed skunkworks team (including displaced Ukrainian engineers), effectively acting as head of engineering to execute organizational and technical transformation
  • Worked directly with executive leadership outside the formal org chart to deliver new capabilities under tight timelines and sensitive client constraints

Cloud Architecture & Delivery Leadership

Cloudreach Senior Engineer / Technical Lead · 2018-2023

  • Led design and delivery of cloud-native systems on AWS and GCP for Fortune 500 and public-sector clients
  • Technical lead for a 7-person team building streaming and data-processing systems for transportation and infrastructure use cases
  • Architected pipelines consolidating weather, incident, and operational data into BigQuery for real-time and analytical workloads
  • Built internal tools and web applications supporting operational decision-making
  • Served as senior technical interface to client leadership, participating in strategy discussions and advising on modernization efforts
  • Maintained hands-on ownership of core codebases while leading architecture and delivery

Conversational AI & Full-Stack Engineering

IBM Watson (via Langa) Consulting Engineer · 2015-2018

  • Designed and built full-stack Node.js applications leveraging Watson NLP APIs (chat, information extraction) for education use cases
  • Advised Watson Education leadership on adoption of Node.js and React in a historically Java-centric organization, mentoring internal engineers on modern JS practices
  • Led UX and data-visualization design (React + D3.js) for nontechnical users, working directly with teachers and administrators to translate real-world workflows into AI-assisted tools
  • Operated as a skunkworks team delivering multi-month proof-of-concept products presented to IBM leadership for productionization

Technology Strategy & Executive Advisory

Blackstone (BXII)
Technical Advisor (Additional Responsibility)

  • Personally requested by Blackstone infrastructure leadership to assess portfolio company technology
  • Led stakeholder meetings with private equity leadership and operating companies
  • Produced architecture reviews, roadmaps, and written assessments to inform investment and modernization decisions

Operations & Crisis Leadership

Humanitarian Aid Organization (Ukraine)
Co-Founder / Operations Lead

  • Co-founded and led an international aid organization during the early Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Built and operated supply chains across 3–4 continents under wartime constraints
  • Led a distributed team (~10 people) coordinating evacuations and humanitarian logistics from active conflict zones
  • Managed security, logistics, and rapid decision-making in high-risk environments

Education

B.A., English & American Literature — Middlebury College
Departmental Humanities Prize (Thesis)
Former journalist

Technical Breadth

  • Languages: JavaScript / TypeScript, Python; working knowledge of functional programming (Haskell, Lisp)
  • Platforms: AWS, GCP
  • Focus Areas: Applied AI systems, generative workflows, distributed systems, cloud architecture, client-facing engineering