Jesse Peplinski

Hi, I'm Jesse.

I build software with AI

About Me

I'm a founder/operator and applied AI engineer based in Syracuse, NY.

I use Codex and Claude Code as part of my daily engineering workflow, and I'm focused on turning real problems into shipped software people can react to quickly.

My recent work includes:

  • Vibe Storefront, a solo-built AI product-validation app with an MVP live within 4 hours.
  • TryLaunchLoop, a developer-marketing tool my friend and I are building in public on Twitch for builders trying to turn real product progress into useful distribution.
  • PortDeck, a native macOS menu-bar app for local development services and read-only deployment health.
  • TrySignalHire, a solo-built AI hiring MVP I'm building to make real candidate evidence easier to collect, review, and trust.
  • Gridiron Rumble, a solo-built playable web arcade football game with an iOS TestFlight release.

I also bring 8+ years of production engineering from Equitable, where I ship customer-facing software in a regulated environment: high-traffic product pages, enterprise platform migrations, internal portals, chatbot work, and reusable systems.

I also bring founder/operator experience through Hack Upstate and Careers in Code. I helped run a 6-month coding bootcamp across 6 cohorts, taught developers, built admissions and operations systems from scratch, managed grant-backed programs, admitted 102 students, graduated 74, and helped 24 graduates move into tech roles. I've also organized 100+ person hackathons that brought developers, students, sponsors, and local organizations together to help advance Central New York’s tech community.

I'm most interested in applied AI, AI product engineering, automation, developer tools, and roles where I can bridge product judgment, technical execution, and real user problems.

Experience

Senior Software Engineer

Equitable · Syracuse, NY · July 2017 - Present

  • Use Codex and Claude Code/Opus as part of my daily engineering workflow to accelerate planning, implementation, debugging, and legacy modernization while keeping enterprise security, SDLC, and compliance constraints in view
  • Rapidly prototyped the PCR Rates page in days when business stakeholders were stuck in abstract requirements discussions, then led the production redesign that now drives thousands of daily views and generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in business impact
  • Migrated 150 pages from Sitecore to Adobe AEM with zero downtime, collaborating with vendor teams to compress an originally 9-month migration plan into roughly 3 months
  • Led the migration of an Angular to vanilla JavaScript Retirement Guide, architecting the separation of content and code
  • Used AI-assisted modernization to migrate RIG, a 10+ year-old Angular 1 retirement-planning app with outdated dependencies and security vulnerabilities, into a modern AEM component while preserving the core calculator behavior in ~3 weeks
  • Enhanced FMG website intake forms by simplifying a feedback workflow spanning hundreds of questions and enabling PDF email summaries of advisor responses; improved usability and documentation for the intake process
  • Drove the enterprise CMS through 3 major version upgrades (Sitecore 9.1 → 9.3 → 10.2 → 10.3), organizing data migration processes and issue tracking to ensure smooth cutovers
  • Shipped the OBP customer portal (React, Java) to help onboard new brokers from outside firms into the organization
  • Led chatbot development with Microsoft Bot Framework on Azure, serving as lead engineer and managing the project backlog from prototype through MVP
  • Served as lead engineer across major customer-facing web initiatives, taking projects from requirements and stakeholder alignment through implementation, production launch, and post-launch reliability

Partner

Hack Upstate LLC · Syracuse, NY · 2017 - Present

  • Directed and taught in Careers in Code, a 6-month coding bootcamp, as the founder/operator for day-to-day program delivery across 6 cohorts (2019-2024)
  • Admitted 102 students, graduated 74 (72.5% graduation rate), placed 24 graduates in tech roles
  • Managed approximately $1.1M in grant-backed program funding across local government and economic development partners
  • Built the operational stack from scratch: admissions workflows, automation, student tracking, reporting, stipends, partner communications, and EOS-based goal tracking using Pipefy, Zapier, Notion, PEX, and related tools
  • Organized 100+ person hackathons that brought developers, students, sponsors, and local organizations together to advance Central New York’s tech community

Education

B.S. Computer Science, Mathematics Minor

SUNY Potsdam · 2015 - 2017

  • Benjamin F. Bradley Memorial Award — High achievement & outstanding department contribution
  • Founded Hack Potsdam (grew from 49 to 116 attendees, $10K raised, MLH partnership). President of ACM. GPA: 3.25
  • Speaker at HackCon V — "Getting Your Alumni Involved," presented to a national audience of student hackathon organizers

What People Say

Here's what colleagues and collaborators are saying about me on LinkedIn.

Let's Connect

I'm always interested in hearing about new opportunities, interesting projects, or just connecting with other builders.

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Jesse Peplinski

I'm shipping AI-powered products