Meet RJ Lindelof

Your Partner in Strategic AI-Augmented Technology Leadership

I help companies turn technical vision into real business outcomes. With over two decades of experience leading high-performing engineering organizations, I focus on aligning technology with growth, elevating developer experience, and integrating AI across every layer of the software lifecycle. Whether as a full-time executive or fractional CTO, I bring clarity, momentum, and execution.

I believe the modern SDLC must evolve. AI is not just an add-on. It is the catalyst to reimagine how we build, test, deploy, and scale. From generative tools and copilots to intelligent agents and automated QA, I help teams shift from legacy workflows to AI-native delivery. This means fewer bottlenecks, faster feedback loops, and smarter teams shipping higher quality software.

My leadership approach is rooted in servant leadership and pragmatism. I do not micromanage. I mentor, coach, and remove obstacles. I work hands-on with engineering, QA, DevOps, and product teams to unlock potential and drive measurable improvement. Every business is different. My strategies are always tailored, always grounded in context, and always aimed at impact.

I thrive in full-time CTO, VP or Senior Director roles where I can lead transformation from within. I also provide flexible consulting and fractional CTO engagements that bring strategic insight to companies ready to move faster and smarter with AI.

How I Lead

Servant Leadership

I clear the path. I do not command from above. I build trust through action - one commit, one conversation, one unblock at a time. The best engineering cultures I have built are ones where engineers feel safe to raise problems, take ownership, and grow without fear of blame.

Player-Coach

I stay hands-on. I engage in code reviews, debug production issues, and prototype architectures to stay sharp. Leaders who collaborate directly with engineers make better decisions because they understand the constraints. I have never believed that executive level means detached from the work.

Mentorship as a Multiplier

Cultivating talent is how organizations scale sustainably. The mark of a great engineering leader is a team that does not need the leader present to make good decisions. I invest in 1:1s, career conversations, and technical mentoring because the ROI compounds long after the engagement ends.

A Specific and Highly Valued Intersection

The most valuable technology leaders in 2026 sit at the bridge between high-level strategic leadership and hands-on technical execution. That is where I operate. I am the translator between the business goals of the company and the technical realities of the engineering floor.

AI-Native Engineering Leader

Because I understand multiple languages and architectures, I am perfectly positioned to leverage AI at every layer. I do not just manage teams - I orchestrate AI to accelerate the software development lifecycle, shifting focus from writing syntax to designing scalable systems and governing autonomous agents in production.

Player-Coach CTO / VP of Engineering

I refuse to step entirely away from the keyboard. By staying hands-on with architecture, code reviews, and build pipelines, I maintain the technical respect of every team I lead. I can jump into a complex deployment debate and zoom out to a board meeting within the same day - because I live in both worlds.

Pragmatic Technologist

Two decades spanning FinTech, MedTech, EduTech, and B2B SaaS means I have survived enough hype cycles to know the right tool for the job is the only sustainable philosophy. I am language-agnostic by conviction. I care about business outcomes, system architecture, and deployment strategy far more than dogma about any specific technology.

Chief Architect

Even when the title is VP or Director, my function mirrors a Chief Architect. I possess the vocabulary to design entire ecosystems - conceptualizing how a modern frontend, a legacy backend, and a new AI agent layer communicate with each other, then guiding the specialists who write the bulk of the code. No part of the stack is a black box to me.

How I Measure Engineering Success

Delivery Performance (DORA)

The four DORA metrics provide an objective baseline for engineering velocity: deployment frequency, lead time for changes, change failure rate, and mean time to recovery. These are industry-standard, benchmarkable, and tell a clear story to boards and operating partners.

Deployment frequency | Lead time | Change failure rate | MTTR

Developer Experience (SPACE)

The SPACE framework measures what DORA cannot: how engineers actually experience their work. Satisfaction and wellbeing, performance, activity, collaboration, and efficiency. Teams that score well here retain talent and compound output over time.

Satisfaction | Performance | Activity | Collaboration | Efficiency

System Reliability

Uptime, defect escape rate, security posture, and technical debt trajectory. Reliability is not just an engineering concern - it is a business risk factor at every stage of the company lifecycle, especially in PE-backed environments where platform risk affects valuation.

Uptime | Defect escape rate | Security posture | Debt trajectory

Business Impact

Feature adoption, revenue tied to engineering initiatives, time to market, and cost optimization trends. Engineering metrics only matter if they connect to outcomes the business cares about. I track the full chain from engineering output to business result.

Feature adoption | Revenue impact | Time to market | Cost trends

Technical Depth

Languages and Frameworks

Java JavaScript TypeScript C# React Kotlin PHP Node.js

Cloud and Infrastructure

AWS Azure GCP Kubernetes Docker Terraform

AI and Developer Tooling

Claude Cursor GitHub Copilot MCP Protocol MLOps GitHub Actions Jenkins SonarQube Datadog OpenSearch

Methodologies

Agile / Scrum Kanban SAFe SRE DORA SPACE