Hi, I'm Shane.

I've spent 25+ years writing software and, for most of that time, leading the people who write it. Along the way I've managed engineering teams at CareSource and Ad Hoc, including work on Healthcare.gov. Most of the last decade has been in healthcare, on purpose. When the systems I'm responsible for work correctly, real people get access to care they need. I've turned down work in other industries specifically to keep doing something that matters. That's a values statement, not a marketing line.

What I bring is a specific combination. I've spent my entire career in software, close to 15 years of that specifically studying and practicing Agile, roughly the same stretch in cloud services (mostly AWS, more recently Azure), and the last two years hands-on with AI, both agentic and generative. I lead by serving my teams, but I stay technical enough to have a real conversation with my engineers, not just receive a status update from them.

Sturgeon Consulting isn't a new venture. I've run it in some form since 2000, sometimes as my primary work, sometimes as a side practice alongside a full-time role. It's how I pick up fractional or hourly engagements when the timing and the fit are right.

When I'm not working, I'm usually experimenting with pet projects in cloud services or AI. Right now that means using AI tooling to help revive older projects like HDTV Magazine, a publication I've run since long before "engineering manager" was in my title, and building new ones from scratch, like an AI chatbot that lets you interview me directly. I also write more about how I think through engineering leadership and Agile in practice on sturgeon.us.