# Ahmad L. > Bridging Developments & Quality Location: United States, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/ahmadl I’m a hands-on Quality, Validation, and Systems Engineering expert with over a decade of experience bringing complex hardware-software systems from prototype to production - especially in high-stakes, fast-paced startup environments. My career spans Technical Ops, Autonomous Vehicles, Fleet Safely, GovTech AI, with a focus on building quality and operational excellence into everything from early experimentation to long-term deployment. As one of the first engineers at an AI-driven startup, I’ve helped build the company from the ground up - owning quality, validation, and deployment efforts across both hardware and software. From configuring and testing early prototypes to deploying field-ready systems and building out post-deployment maintenance and monitoring practices, I’ve been deeply involved in every phase of the engineering lifecycle. I established the company’s first QA/validation function, developing test plans, configuring lab setups, and building in-house tooling while directly supporting field engineering teams. I also led the development of our first contract manufacturing pipeline, helping us scale from early prototypes to production systems while maintaining traceability, reliability, and quality standards appropriate for government-grade systems. Prior to this, I worked in autonomous vehicle R&D, where I focused on validation and field testing of cutting-edge perception and control systems - merging high-reliability expectations from automotive with the agility of a startup. Even earlier, I held key roles in technical operations, which gave me a strong foundation in infrastructure, tooling, and cross-functional execution. What ties it all together is my ability to build from zero - whether it’s systems, processes, or teams without losing sight of long-term scalability, compliance, and quality. Core Strengths: * Full-stack Quality & Validation: hardware, software, and integrated systems * Field engineering, deployment, and post-deployment system maintenance * Early-stage systems engineering and lab/test infrastructure development * QA process design across the stack: manufacturing, software releases, field testing * Contract manufacturing: setup, scale, quality control, and vendor management * Experience across GovTech, AI, and autonomous vehicle R&D startups * Deep focus on traceability, repeatability, and root-cause analysis If you're building mission-critical systems where reliability can’t be optional, I thrive in the ambiguity of early stages and help create structure that accelerates, not slows your momentum. ## Work Experience ### Sr. Software Engineer (Release/Quality) @ Hayden AI Jan 2024 – Present | San Francisco, CA ### Sr. Engineer Device Software @ Hayden AI Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco, California, United States ### Deployment/Support Engineer @ Hayden AI Jan 2020 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco, CA Hayden AI is an artificial intelligence technology company and smart city solutions provider. We partner with the world’s most innovative cities to improve traffic safety and efficiency. ### QA Engineer @ Nauto Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 | Palo Alto, California Nauto is the only real-time AI-powered, driver behavior learning platform to predict, actively prevent, and reduce high-risk events in the mobility ecosystem. By analyzing billions of data points from over 400 million AI-analyzed video miles, Nauto’s machine learning algorithms continuously improve and impact driver behavior before events happen, not after. Nauto has enabled the largest commercial fleets in the world to avoid more than 25,000 collisions, resulting in nearly $100 million in savings. ### Localization/Mapping Specialist @ Nauto Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Palo Alto, California ### AV Test Engineer @ Cruise Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco, California Cruise is building the world’s most advanced, all-electric, self-driving cars to safely connect people to the places, things, and experiences they care about. Self-driving cars will help save lives, reimagine cities, redefine time in transit, and restore freedom of movement for many. ### Operations Engineer @ Shift Technologies, Inc. Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco, California Shift's mission is to make buying and selling cars fun, fair, and accessible to everyone and transforming the used car industry with a technology-driven, hassle-free customer experience ### Technical Operations @ Google Jan 2014 – Jan 2017 | Mountain View, CA Google Express, formerly Google Shopping Express, was a service from Google which became part of Google Shopping. At Google Marketing Live in May 2019, Google announced the integration of Google Express and its more than two thousand partner stores into the new Google Shopping. ## Education ### Software Engineering UC Berkeley Extension ### Bachelor of Science - BS in Agricultural Engineering Kabul University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ahmadlemar --- Source: https://flows.cv/ahmadl JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/ahmadl/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-01