Carlos Ancona Photo

Hi, I’m Carlos Ancona 👋

Engineering Manager and Tech Lead who loves building teams, products, and systems that scale.

A bit about me

I’ve spent more than 25 years in software — building, leading, and learning from great teams. Over that time, I’ve gone from writing APIs late into the night to guiding engineering organizations that power millions of transactions every day.

What drives me is building high-performing teams and creating the right environment for people to do their best work — where engineering, product, and design move together toward a shared goal.

At Kueski, for example, I led initiatives across loans, payments, and credit systems. We worked as one product-engineering unit, defining each project from idea to implementation, improving documentation, delivery rhythm, and autonomy along the way.

Before that, at ITJuana, I helped several international clients scale their engineering capabilities — focusing on mentoring, architecture, and process improvement. My goal has always been simple: build systems that last, and teams that thrive.

A few chapters from my journey

Earlier in my career, I served as Technical Lead at TaylorMade Golf, Senior iOS Engineer at Insulet, and CTO at DOT Studio, where we built SaaS, PaaS, and mobile applications before “full-stack” became a buzzword.

I also managed large QA teams at Gameloft and Lemonquest, leading almost 100 testers across multiple time zones, applying agile practices to boost quality and collaboration.

How I work

I believe in clarity, autonomy, and consistency. Agile methodologies like Scrum and Kanban are my foundation, but what matters most is building a culture where everyone understands the *why* behind what we do.

I’ve led migrations to new architectures, improved CI/CD pipelines, reduced cloud costs, and designed systems that make delivery faster, safer, and easier to maintain.

AI and the Future of Engineering

I truly believe AI is shaping the next era of engineering — not as a replacement for creativity, but as an amplifier of it.

I’ve spent the last few months exploring Large Language Models (LLMs), prompt engineering, and agent-based systems — experimenting with tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Jasper AI, DALL·E, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion. These technologies have become part of my daily workflow: from brainstorming ideas and generating technical docs, to designing product flows and optimizing development processes.

For me, understanding and integrating AI isn’t optional — it’s a key skill for any tech leader who wants to stay relevant and help their teams move faster and think bigger.

Tech that I love working with

I’m fluent in .NET, Swift, Node.js, React, and Kotlin, and comfortable designing cloud-native solutions across AWS, Azure, and GCP.

I also enjoy data visualization tools like Power BI and Looker Studio — because understanding data is key to making better engineering decisions.

Getting Started in the World of SCRUM

Everything You Need to Know to Get Started in Agile Methodologies

Getting Started in the World of SCRUM book cover

My book "Getting Started in the World of SCRUM" is a comprehensive guide for anyone looking to adopt the agile SCRUM methodology in their software development team.

The book explores everything from the fundamentals and history of agile and SCRUM, to roles, ceremonies, and best practices. It also discusses real-world challenges such as cultural change, resistance, and how to build strong, self-organized teams that deliver real value.

Each chapter provides clear, practical explanations on topics like Sprint Planning, Daily Scrums, retrospectives, and common pitfalls — helping both beginners and professionals to implement SCRUM successfully.

📘 View on Amazon

Some of my work

Over the years, I’ve led and collaborated on more than 70 projects — from financial systems and mobile apps to cloud architectures and game platforms.

Let’s connect

If you’re looking for someone who can align engineering with product, lead through clarity and empathy, and help your teams deliver at scale — I’d love to talk.

Get in touch