About
I'm Chris Fildes, a hands-on software engineering leader. I specialise in modern .NET, Azure cloud development, and using AI in practical ways to improve software delivery and business outcomes.
My recent work has involved taking AI initiatives from proof of concept to production, and introducing the architectural and engineering practices that make AI-assisted coding safe and effective.
My experience spans technical leadership, software architecture, CTO responsibilities in a startup, and co-founding a web agency. That mix has given me deep technical expertise and a broad view of how organisations work. Across roles with ESB, Electric Ireland, An Garda Síochána, TUSLA, AIG and others, I've delivered enterprise systems in complex, high-trust environments.
This blog is where I write about what I'm learning: architecture, AI-assisted development, developer experience and the human side of building software.
What I bring
- Hands-on technical leadership
- .NET and Azure cloud solutions
- Production AI ingestion pipelines for documents, email, handwriting and audio
- Safe adoption of AI-assisted development workflows
- Mentoring engineers through practical guidance, coaching and collaboration
- Strong engineering standards and architectural patterns
- Clear communication with technical and non-technical stakeholders
- An empathetic, pragmatic approach to solving problems
Technical expertise
- Application development: .NET, C#
- Azure: Functions, App Services, Service Bus, Event Grid, Storage, Monitoring, DevOps
- AI: Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Foundry, Azure Document Intelligence, Azure Cognitive Services, Microsoft.Extensions.AI, Azure AI Search, GitHub Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code
- APIs and integration: REST, design-first APIs, OpenAPI, GraphQL
- Quality engineering: xUnit, Moq, integration testing, CI/CD, Docker, GitHub
- Data: SQL Server, Entity Framework, Redis
- Frontend: JavaScript, jQuery, some React and Angular
- Architecture: modular monoliths, Vertical Slice Architecture, Clean Architecture, Domain-Driven Design