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David Camargo

Engineering leadership for the AI-native era.

17 years building software from MVP to enterprise. I co-founded Instaleap — acquired by Instacart — and led its engineering from zero to $10M ARR and a team of 100+ engineers across 7 countries.

Today I lead engineering at Pizza Hut Digital & Technology and teach leadership and AI engineering at Lidr.co, helping teams adopt AI in ways that stick beyond the pilot.

View my experience Accelerate your eng team

Built & led at

  • Instaleap by Instacart
  • Pizza Hut Digital & Technology
  • Torre
  • Lidr.co
  • Mercadoni
  • Vapi
  • Littio

[ 01 ] My work in a nutshell

Real Outcomes

Numbers from companies I built or led, across revenue, team growth, engineering depth and AI adoption.

  • ID: SUM_01 // Track recordVerified

    $0 → $10MARR

    Proven track record

    Led companies from 0 to $10M ARR (Instaleap, acquired by Instacart) and grew teams from 0 to 100+ engineers, delivering value daily while maintaining healthy service levels for customers.

  • ID: SUM_02 // LeadershipVerified

    102hires · 7 countries

    Generative leadership

    Prioritizes strong relationships with teams and stakeholders, a product-focused mindset, and a generative culture; improving processes to drive productivity and, increasingly, to make AI adoption stick beyond the pilot phase.

  • ID: SUM_03 // ExpertiseVerified

    17yrs · MVP → enterprise

    17 years of engineering expertise

    Extensive experience building solutions from MVP to enterprise across different stacks (mainly JS and Python), from nimble startups to complex scale-ups.

  • ID: SUM_04 // AI enablementVerified

    AIGenAI · RAG · agents

    AI enablement & mentorship

    Mentors engineering leaders at Lidr.co on personal leadership, balancing business results with engineering excellence, and adopting AI responsibly; covering GenAI, RAG, agents, and agent security for both engineers and managers.

[ 02 ] Experience

Where I've built and led.

Four roles that shaped how I lead. Open any of them for the full story, or read the complete CV.

  1. 01Pizza Hut Digital & TechnologyEngineering Manager2025 — Present · 1 yr 9 mos7% → 21% conversionLeading 12 engineersMore
  2. 02Lidr.coAdjunct Professor — Leadership & AI Engineering2022 — Present · 4 yrs 7 mosPart-time contractGenAI · RAG · AgentsEng leadership trainingMore
  3. 03Instaleap[ Acquired by Instacart ]VP of Engineering & Co-founder2019 — 2023 · 4 yrs$0 → $10M ARRHired and led 100+ engsMore
  4. 04Bright SendCTO2023 — 2024 · 11 mosEurope → AfricaRemittances platformMore

+ 8 more roles since 2009

View full CV
ID: EXP_01 // Pizza Hut Digital & Technology
Diagram of the shared MACH platform serving web and React Native apps, with key delivery metrics.

Pizza Hut Digital & Technology

Engineering Manager

Period
Jan 2025 — Present · 1 yr 9 mos
Type
Full-time
Location
Remote
Signature outcome
7% → 21% conversion
Leading 12 engineers

Leading web and React Native commerce for two markets on a shared MACH platform, with AI-native delivery practices.

  • Launched React Native and web apps for two markets on a MACH architecture, enabling faster market rollout (from 9 months to 3 months) on a shared platform.
  • Led AI-native tooling and process adoption (Lite LLM, spec-driven development, AI-assisted code review), improving DORA metrics: 50% reduction in lead time, 10% reduction in change failure rate, and deployment frequency up from biweekly to multiple times per week.
  • Steered technical decisions balancing launch speed with long-term scalability, contributing to a conversion rate increase from 7% to 21%.
  • Led the implementation and data strategy for marketing tools (Branch, Appsflyer, Meta, TikTok, Braze), driving a 35% increase in revenue.
  • React Native
  • React
  • MACH
  • LiteLLM
  • Spec-driven development
  • Branch
  • AppsFlyer
  • Braze
View in full CV
ID: EXP_02 // Lidr.co
Lidr.co program banner for technology leadership training.

Lidr.co

Adjunct Professor — Leadership & AI Engineering

Period
Mar 2022 — Present · 4 yrs 7 mos
Type
Part-time contract
Location
Remote
Signature outcome
GenAI · RAG · Agents
Eng leadership training

Teaching applied AI engineering and engineering leadership to developers, managers and the companies they work for.

  • Built and delivered applied AI curriculum covering generative AI, RAG, agent architectures, and agent security for software teams.
  • Enabled developers and managers to adopt AI tooling in daily workflows, from IDE assistants to LLM-driven automation pipelines.
  • Helped senior engineers transition into leadership roles through mentoring on engineering management, team development, and decision-making under ambiguity.
  • Guided companies on where AI adoption created leverage and how to roll it out without disrupting delivery.
  • Coached tech leads through career inflection points and leadership growth.
  • Generative AI
  • RAG
  • Agent architectures
  • Agent security
  • LLM automation
  • Engineering management
View in full CV
ID: EXP_03 // Instaleap
Instaleap platform dashboards and mobile apps for eCommerce orchestration.

Instaleap

[ Acquired by Instacart ]

VP of Engineering & Co-founder

Period
Mar 2019 — Mar 2023 · 4 yrs
Type
Full-time
Location
Remote
Signature outcome
$0 → $10M ARR
Hired and led 100+ engs

Co-founded and led engineering for an eGrocery fulfillment platform from zero to $10M ARR and $1B GMV, later acquired by Instacart.

  • Led the tech team to develop a product with $2M ARR within two years, achieving $1 Billion GMV in four years.
  • Architected a distributed system for 16 products with an API-first methodology, integrating distributed databases.
  • Expanded the team by recruiting 102 global members across 7 countries, enhancing a distributed team environment.
  • Executed strategic product and architectural decisions, leading software engineering and support teams.
  • Implemented Terraform for automated AWS resource provisioning, boosting infrastructure efficiency.
  • Coordinated stakeholders to drive business results and foster a collaborative work culture.
  • Distributed systems
  • API-first
  • AWS
  • Terraform
  • Node.js
  • Python
View in full CV
ID: EXP_04 // Bright Send
Diagram of the Bright Send remittance flow from Europe to Africa, with KYC, compliance and payout steps.

Bright Send

CTO

Period
Apr 2023 — Mar 2024 · 11 mos
Type
Full-time
Location
Remote
Signature outcome
Europe → Africa
Remittances platform

Built the product team and launched a Europe-to-Africa remittance app with payout, KYC and compliance.

  • Built and led a focused product team, enhancing effectiveness through hands-on mentoring and collaboration with stakeholders for a clearer product view.
  • Launched a remittance app for Europe-to-Africa money transfers, integrating payout, KYC, and compliance to enhance functionality.
  • Led the integration of Flutterwave for payouts across Africa and Machnet for pay-ins, KYC and compliance.
  • Drove technical decisions and established code review and continuous delivery practices across product development.
  • Utilized a tech stack including React, TailwindCSS, NextJS, GitHub Actions, Serverless, Java, and Spring Boot.
  • React
  • TailwindCSS
  • Next.js
  • GitHub Actions
  • Serverless
  • Java
  • Spring Boot
View in full CV

[ 03 ] Accelerate your eng team

Leadership and AI adoption, practically explained and developed.

I work with a small number of leaders and teams at a time. Pick the format that fits and book a free 15-minute intro call.

  • ID: OFR_01Recurring 1:1 sessions

    1:1 mentorship for new engineering leaders

    For senior engineers stepping into tech lead or EM roles: team development, stakeholder management, and making decisions under ambiguity — balancing business results with engineering excellence.

    Book a call
  • ID: OFR_02Team workshops

    AI transformation workshops

    Hands-on workshops for engineers and managers: GenAI, RAG, agents and agent security, plus AI across the SDLC — IDE assistants, spec-driven development, AI-assisted code review.

    Book a call
  • ID: OFR_03Advisory engagements

    Consultations

    Where does AI create leverage in your delivery, and how do you roll it out without disrupting it? Engineering velocity, DORA metrics, reliability and team scaling reviews.

    Book a call

Not sure which one fits? Start with a conversation.

See all call options Email me
15-min calls · Fridays 2–6 pm (Bogotá)