# Reece Vela

> Making Sand Speak @ Bland | Founding Engineer

Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/reecevela

I love building new things and optimization problems, most recently:
- Engineering realtime AI systems at Bland, working on my μ-law degree and chasing those 200 millisecond response times
- Solving unique problems in the linguistics, human speech, and audio signal processing domain
- Pushing the boundaries of what's possible by designing systems, collaborating, and constantly learning!

My career started far from software engineering - juggling high school, full time college, and a full time job as a manager at Taco Bell at the height of covid. I had the opportunity to land an IT role at Kent Corp, where I found an amazing mentor in Pat Phelan. My personal goal was to automate all the human work possible in my department, and I had the opportunity to own quite a few projects during my time there. 

I continued building the most complex, ambitious side projects I was (almost) capable of. They led to my next as a .NET developer for Modern Woodmen where I learned quickly enough to onboard employees that started a month earlier - until Bland found me through my AI phone calling project in 2023. It's been a wild ride and I am incredibly excited to see where we go next!

Check out what we're building at Bland!
https://bland.com

## Work Experience
### Founding Software Engineer - Backend @ Bland AI
Jan 2023 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States
Shhh… (it’s top secret)

### Software Developer @ Modern Woodmen of America
Jan 2023 – Jan 2023
• Developing data processing applications in .NET (Batch processing and message-queue based)
• Building systems to capture, store, and retrieve data used in insurance calculations, user info, etc. 
• Full stack development with a heavy focus on databases (MS SQL) and backend work (VB, .NET)
• Training and mentoring other developers in troubleshooting techniques and getting up to speed

### IT Automation & Desktop Support (Dual Role) @ KENT® Corporation
Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 | Muscatine, IA
• Developed internal web applications using JavaScript, HTML, CSS and shell scripting
• Automated IT work using PowerShell, such as laptop setup and IT communications
• Provided IT support for ~2000 users, troubleshooting hardware, software, network and printers
• Taught IT techniques and processes to employees, along with creating documentation

### Production Lead @ CDS Global, Inc.
Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | Wilton, IA
• Supervised production team, printing 300,000+ pieces of mail daily with industrial printing equipment
• Trained/cross-trained employees, carried out quality checks, planned production and prioritization

### Assistant General Manager @ Border Foods Companies
Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | Muscatine, IA
• Led team through training and iteratively seeking the most effective processes possible
• Doubled service speed during year as AGM, leading to greatest speed improvement in 200+ stores
• In charge of scheduling, training, hiring, inventory ordering, and navigating safely through COVID
• Began as Team Member, promoted to Team Trainer (1 mo.), Shift Lead (6 mo.) and then AGM (~1 year)


## Education
### Associate's degree in Information Technology
Eastern Iowa Community College


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/reece-vela
- Portfolio: https://bland.com

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Source: https://flows.cv/reecevela
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/reecevela/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-03-29