This Week's Album Picks
The past 2 weeks have been hectic with travel and work so I'm looking forward to finally catching up on some music.
Brett DeWoody
Engineering
Leadership AI-First Software Development
20+ years building and leading engineering teams, shipping products,
and crafting AI tooling and workflows
that help engineering teams do more.
Scotland-based, US-born.
Frontend architect turned engineering leader.
About
I'm an engineering manager and frontend architect based in Aberfeldy, Scotland (originally from the US). At Legatics I lead engineering on transaction management software — building the team, the process, and the product in equal measure.
My background is deeply technical: I've spent years as a lead frontend engineer and architect, which means I bring hands-on craft to the management role. Lately that's meant going deep on AI tooling and process — building the systems, workflows, and integrations that let engineering teams move faster without cutting corners. AI to enable teams to deliver faster.
Outside of work: cycling (Highland Perthshire is an absurd place to ride), music, and volunteering with Draft & Flow and Highland Perthshire Cycling.
Principles
01
Work Hard
Whatever lands in front of you, go all in. No coasting, no going through the motions. Just dig in and do the work.
02
Be Open
People should feel they can walk up to you at any time with anything. Be generous with what you know. Be honest, be transparent, no hidden agendas.
03
Get Shit Done
Done beats perfect. Momentum matters. Get it out there, see how it lands, make it better. Waiting until it's perfect usually means it never ships.
Experience
Engineering Manager
Legatics- Managing a team of developers and QAs — 1:1s, sprint planning, backlog refinement, retros, and hiring.
- Key contributor to TechOS, an AI-native operating system for engineering teams with role-specific AI agents, automated quality gates, and a living standards library.
- Built a parallel multi-reviewer code review system that dispatches frontend, backend, security, and DevOps agent reviewers and consolidates findings into a single verdict.
- Designed new SDLC workflows around AI, including spec-driven development and a "Daily Relay" process for keeping work flowing when coding itself is fast.
- Created custom automation for hotfix workflows, git worktree creation tied to Jira tickets, and branch lifecycle management.
- Run AI Dev Experience sessions and lead an AI-native working group.
Lead Frontend Engineer
Legatics- Frontend technical lead on a legal transaction management platform used by top-tier law firms — TypeScript/React monorepo with 18+ microservices, GraphQL APIs, and MongoDB.
- Led frontend architecture decisions and set patterns across a large monorepo (pnpm workspaces, shared component libraries, GraphQL codegen).
- Led large-scale codebase migrations: 74-file GraphQL typed conversion, 50-file type safety cleanup, styled-components to MUI theme refactor.
- Scoped CI/CD pipelines to only lint, format, and test changed files, cutting merge request feedback time significantly.
- Pioneered AI-assisted development workflows, building custom Claude Code agents for automated code review and pre-merge quality validation.
Community
Director, Volunteer Mechanic
Draft & Flow- Co-founded Draft & Flow — a community cycle workshop in Aberfeldy offering tools, supplies, expertise, and support for riders of all abilities, budgets, and styles.
- As a founding Director, helped get the workshop off the ground: company setup, securing a commercial lease, and fundraising to cover start-up costs.
- Got hands-on in the workshop — fixing bikes, teaching maintenance courses, onboarding volunteers, and whatever else needed doing.
- By 2026 the organisation had grown to employ a full-time shop mechanic/manager and an apprentice.
Senior Frontend Engineer & Engineering Advocate
Theorem- Built custom web applications for start-ups and international brands on small, cross-functional teams — projects for Apple, AT&T, and other Fortune 500 customers, including apps to control digital displays in Apple retail stores, dashboards for tracking international cargo ships, and IoT platforms.
- Transitioned into an Engineering Advocate role, building relationships between Theorem and software engineers worldwide — conducting interviews, onboarding new team members, and supporting engineers in progressing their careers.
- Contributed to recruiting throughout: sourcing candidates, optimising job postings, reviewing applications, and leading candidates through the hiring process.
Code Mentor
Thinkful- One-on-one mentor for students in the Full-Stack Flex and Engineering Immersion courses, meeting 1–4 times per week to guide them through course material via examples, assignments, and encouragement.
- Conducted mock technical interviews and helped students optimise their CVs to prepare for careers in software development.
Founder & CTO
Digital Wax Works- Founded and ran a web and digital agency, delivering custom software and SaaS products for clients across a range of industries.
- Handled everything from client strategy and scoping through to architecture, development, and delivery.
- Notable projects included travel, hospitality, and non-profit work across the US.
Community
Chair / Trustee
The Birks Cinema- Served as Trustee on the Board of Directors of The Birks Cinema — a beloved independent cinema at the heart of the Aberfeldy community — including 2 years as Chair of the Board.
- Joined just before the pandemic and helped guide the cinema through lockdown and the subsequent cost of living crisis.
- Led technology initiatives: Google Workspace adoption, expansion into on-demand video, email marketing, and a migration from WordPress to a JAMStack-based website.
CTO / Tech Lead
Ideal Bite- Led the technical build of Ideal Bite — a pioneering green lifestyle media brand that delivered daily eco-friendly tips to hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
- Built and scaled the platform from early-stage product through to acquisition.
- Ideal Bite was acquired by Disney in 2008 — a notable exit for an independent green lifestyle brand.
Skills
AI Tooling & Workflows
Languages & Backend
Frontend
Architecture & Patterns
Leadership
Tooling & Platforms
Latest Writing
View all postsThis Week's Interesting Album Releases
Fall is here and music releases are picking up in both quantity and quality.
Statamic Add-on: Global Variable Editor
Based on feedback and requests I've updated my Global Variable Editor add-on for Statamic. Namely the ability to use Statamic's fieldtypes within the global var
Contact
Say hello.
Whether you want to talk engineering, have a question about something I've built, or just want to connect — I'm always happy to hear from people doing interesting work.
The best way to reach me is email. I'm also responsive on LinkedIn.