Max Zelinski is a results-driven technology leader with over 15 years of experience in engineering leadership and software architecture.
Max specializes in building and operating platforms and services that power businesses where availability and agility are crucial competitive advantages. His primary areas of expertise include Platforms as a Service, developer experience, and technology transformations. Max has hands-on experience in working with and leading software (frontend, backend) and infrastructure (SRE, DevOps) teams and organizations.
Max is currently the Head of Service Platform at one of the biggest gaming companies, Riot Games, which serves hundreds of millions of players.
In his current role, Max successfully proposed and executed a technology and mindset shift to fully leverage Amazon AWS and other cloud providers. This strategic move significantly improved the reliability and availability of the company's infrastructure, increased customer trust, and reduced costs and burnout within his group.
Prior to his current role, Max was a Director of Engineering and worked in the retail and investment banking industry for over ten years, where he built a reputation as the go-to person for enhancing reliability and fostering a strong engineering culture. He was accountable for key mission-critical platforms, ranging from internet banking to payment processing solutions.
Max has a proven track record of increasing the availability of multiple critical platforms from 97% to 99.99%. He has introduced new technology stacks (frontend, backend, infrastructure) and guided engineering teams in adapting to these changes.
Moreover, Max has built engineering and product organizations from the ground up, nurturing new leaders along the way.
