Josh Kornblum
Senior Platform Engineer | Defense & Regulated Cloud Environments
Active Security Clearance • IL4/IL5/IL6 Trusted
About
Cross-functional platform engineer and technical leader with 14+ years building secure, highly reliable cloud infrastructure across AWS, Azure, GCP, GovCloud, and air-gapped defense environments. Hold active security clearance and trusted with IL4/IL5/IL6 classified deployments for defense customers.
Currently the primary technical owner of 35+ Kubernetes clusters supporting 40+ engineers and hundreds of weekly deployments with 99.9%+ uptime. Led company's successful CMMC 2.0 L2 compliance passing as primary engineering lead, implemented strict mTLS via Istio service mesh across 20+ applications, and rescued mission-critical systems from catastrophic hardware failures.
Combine deep infrastructure expertise with hands-on development skills (TypeScript, Go, Rust). Known for disaster recovery saves, mature GitOps patterns, innovative CI/CD solutions (Software/Hardware-in-the-Loop testing for embedded systems), and creating self-service platforms that enable teams to move fast without compromising security. "Swiss army knife" engineer who bridges platform, security, application, and AI domains to accelerate delivery and eliminate bottlenecks.
Experience
Tangram Flex
Senior Platform Engineer | Defense & Regulated Cloud Environments
May 2024 – Present
- Security & Compliance Leadership: Led CMMC 2.0 L2 assessment passing as primary engineering lead. Implemented strict mTLS via Istio service mesh across 20+ applications. Built automated, Git-based compliance evidence repository dramatically simplifying audits. Trusted with IL4/IL5/IL6 classified customer deployments.
- Platform Ownership: Own lifecycle of 35+ Kubernetes clusters across AWS, Azure, GCP, GovCloud, and air-gapped networks supporting 40+ engineers. Achieved 99.9%+ uptime with near-zero Sev1 incidents through infrastructure-as-cattle GitOps model (FluxCD + Renovate).
- Disaster Recovery Hero: Rescued mission-critical MBSE system (Cameo/Teamwork Cloud) from catastrophic hardware failure with zero backups. Containerized to EKS with Velero daily backups, now rock-solid HA serving entire systems engineering org.
- Innovation - Embedded CI/CD: Pioneered Software/Hardware-in-the-Loop (SIL/HIL) CI pipelines for RTOS testing. Virtual board emulation + physical hardware runners report results to merge requests, enabling teams to validate embedded code before merge.
- Cross-Functional Impact: Active code contributor in TypeScript, Go, Rust. Built Software Integration Labs (isolated dev environments in GovCloud IL6). Created reusable CI templates eliminating deployment toil for 5+ teams. Manage $20k-$100k/month cloud footprint with telemetry-driven optimization.
Pomeroy Technologies
Platform & Cloud Consultant (Concurrent / Part-Time)
Mar 2012 – Feb 2024
- Long-term consulting engagement delivering cloud modernization, AI automation, and compliance solutions at enterprise scale (3,000+ employees)
- Built internal AI chatbot and automation systems used daily by 3,000+ employees, streamlining support workflows
- Designed and operated production AKS environments. Introduced IaC and CI/CD standards adopted across engineering
- Represented engineering during SOC2 audits. Collaborated directly with executive stakeholders on architecture and strategy
- Balanced agile startup velocity with large-organization governance, gaining cross-organizational insights on scaling and process maturity
Trek Bicycle Corporation
DevOps Engineer
Oct 2022 – Mar 2023
- Maintained and modernized infrastructure for trekbikes.com
- Increased performance by 40% through CDN and caching optimization
- Migrated legacy deployments to Terraform and automation
- Built CI/CD pipelines enabling faster, safer releases
Education
Gateway Community & Technical College
Computer & Information Technology
Jan 2014 - May 2015
University of Kentucky
Electrical Engineering
Aug 2009 - Dec 2011
Projects
AI Sales Agent Architecture
Multi-channel, AI qualification agent using GCP, Dialogflow, and custom RAG models for lead qualification and onboarding automation.
ChipGPT Enterprise Teams Bot
Enterprise-wide AI chatbot with data isolation, multi-tenant architecture, and custom Teams SDK integration for 3,000+ employees.
WKMGMT Construction Management
Digital construction management platform that transformed paper-based workflows, cutting administrative time by 80% for contractor businesses.
AI Sales Agent Architecture
Multi-channel, AI qualification agent using GCP, Dialogflow, and custom RAG models for lead qualification and onboarding automation.
ChipGPT Enterprise Teams Bot
Enterprise-wide AI chatbot with data isolation, multi-tenant architecture, and custom Teams SDK integration for 3,000+ employees.
WKMGMT Construction Management
Digital construction management platform that transformed paper-based workflows, cutting administrative time by 80% for contractor businesses.
AI Sales Agent Architecture
Multi-channel, AI qualification agent using GCP, Dialogflow, and custom RAG models for lead qualification and onboarding automation.
ChipGPT Enterprise Teams Bot
Enterprise-wide AI chatbot with data isolation, multi-tenant architecture, and custom Teams SDK integration for 3,000+ employees.
WKMGMT Construction Management
Digital construction management platform that transformed paper-based workflows, cutting administrative time by 80% for contractor businesses.
AI Sales Agent Architecture
Multi-channel, AI qualification agent using GCP, Dialogflow, and custom RAG models for lead qualification and onboarding automation.
ChipGPT Enterprise Teams Bot
Enterprise-wide AI chatbot with data isolation, multi-tenant architecture, and custom Teams SDK integration for 3,000+ employees.