SHAE SMITH
AI / automation engineer15+ yrsAtlanta

SHAE
SMITH

AI and automation engineer. Currently at Epic Games. Founding engineer at Lantern (acq. 2023). Building toward forward-deployed.

Shae Smith
15+ yrs
Shipping software
9 orgs
Startup to enterprise
AI
MCP · Agentic · Automations
Shipped at
EPIC GAMESLANTERNTEACHERS PAY TEACHERSDOSOMETHING.ORGGLAADIHGGOTO FOODSYOMICLIMB CREDIT
About

I build with AI.

Native AI builder. Sometimes that's a full product from zero. Sometimes it's an automation that takes manual work off people's plates. Sometimes an MCP server, an agentic CLI, or a Lambda. The shape depends on the problem. The skill is the choice.

Fifteen-plus years fullstack. Four as founding engineer at Lantern, sitting close to the COO and CEO through the 2023 acquisition. Now contracting at Epic Games on AI and automation work. Aiming at forward-deployed engineering.

AI has been a multiplier on what I'm already good at: defining problems precisely, mapping the right solution, overseeing execution, and validating the work holds up under real production load. The teammates happen to be agents. The judgment, the design choices, and the production outcomes are mine.

Impact

What shipped, and what it moved.

Fortnite global expansion support
Globalized ~101 in-app purchases for Fortnite iOS in 20 minutes of API runtime. Net-new capability, scoped Friday → in production Tuesday.
Epic Games · CLI tool
Game offer launch automation
When a new in-game offer lands upstream, work gets routed to every downstream team that touches it — localization, art, engineering, catalog, test. 77 production runs · 0 failures since March 2026.
Epic Games · Workato recipe
Video game marketing asset QC
A QC artist used to eyeball every image in a delivery against its spec — dimensions, file type, size, rating icon, border. Now a deterministic + Claude Vision pipeline does the per-image check. Hours-per-delivery → minutes.
Epic Games · QC pipeline
Lantern, founding engineer to acquisition
Built the end-of-life planning product. Grew the engineering team to four globally. Led it to its 2023 acquisition.
Lantern · 2019 – 2023
Selected work

Five systems.

Agentic CLI · Apple · Google Play · ONE Store

A CLI for managing mobile in-app purchases

Pricing, store copy, and localization updates across all three storefronts. Hybrid agentic + deterministic.

Pricing · store copy · localization · resumable runs
Read →
MCP server · TypeScript

A curated MCP server for an internal Airtable system

Read-only, scoped so the model sees what the user sees. Curated views, not raw tables.

42 tools across 16 domains · read-only · live in production
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Workato · FDE example

Picking up a stalled recipe (when embedded beats correct)

Routes launch work across every team that touches a new in-game product: localization, art, engineering, catalog, QA. The clearest FDE-shaped work in my Epic engagement.

77 runs · 0 failures · since March 2026
Read →
Claude Vision · Airtable

Spec-driven QC (not filename-driven)

An AI vision pipeline that validates every image in a delivery against its spec. What used to take hours of artist eyeballing now runs in minutes.

Dimensions · file type · rating icons · visual compliance · deployed
Read →
Airtable · production-scale

Engineering for a production Airtable system (not building one)

This Airtable system anchors how a creative-services team at Epic operates day-to-day. I keep it running with AI as my coding partner: writing the automations, fixing what breaks, building admin tooling.

Live in production · continuous engineering
Read →
Work history

Fifteen years, nine orgs.

Epic Games
2025 – Present
Creative Operations Engineer · Remote · Atlanta
GoTo Foods
2025 – 2025
Technical Product Manager · Remote
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group)
2024 – 2024
Technical Lead · Remote
Yomi
2024 – 2025
Technical Product Manager · Remote
Climb Credit
2023 – 2023
Lead Engineer · Remote
Lantern
2019 – 2023
Founding Engineer & Technical Lead · Greater New York City Area
Teachers Pay Teachers
2018 – 2019
Software Engineer · Greater New York City Area
DoSomething.org
2014 – 2018
Senior Software Engineer · Greater New York City Area
Software Engineer · Greater New York City Area
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
2013 – 2014
Frontend Developer · New York, NY
GLAAD
2010 – 2013
Senior Manager of Online Production · New York, NY
Online Production Coordinator · New York, NY
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
2009 – 2011
Data Analyst · New York, NY
Condé Nast
2008 – 2009
Consultant · New York, NY
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Computer Science
Smith College2004 – 2008
What colleagues say
Shae is the kind of player on your team that always shows up for the game ready to win. He is extremely reliable, proactive, and detail oriented. While at MSLO, Shae was key in solving critical issues facing many time-sensitive initiatives. With his flawless executions and efficient solutions, I would highly recommend Shae to any organization looking to take their products to the next level.
Blair Arora
Product & Privacy Compliance Leader · Meta
I had the opportunity to work with Shae Smith when he joined GoTo Foods as a contractor in a Technical Program Manager role. From day one, Shae showed an impressive ability to dive into our complex systems, quickly understand them, and translate that knowledge into clear, high-quality documentation and data flow charts. He worked closely with our principal engineers and architects to ensure everything was aligned with the intended design and business goals. His attention to detail, technical understanding, and ability to communicate across teams made a real impact in just a few months. Shae's a strong asset to any team tackling complex technical projects, and I'd gladly work with him again.
Leonardo Fontes
Global Technology Leader · Universal Destinations & Experiences
At MSLO, Shae was instrumental in the development of several new templates, advertising integrations, and core to overhauling the site registration experience. He is a problem solver with a creative mind and embraces challenges with enthusiasm and passion. He has great potential and I hope to work with him again in the future.
Kristie Wauthier
Product Executive · Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
Writing

In public, on Substack.

AI, clarity, systems, and what it means to stay human in the automation age.

Shae at Breakpoints →

AI for real productionClarity over hypeSystems thinkingFDEQueer tech worker life
Contact

Get in touch.

Emailshae@hostechnology.comLinkedInin/shaebryantsmith →GitHub@sbsmith86 →ResumePDF →ConsultingHosTechnology →