Sebastian DouglasChief Technology Officer

Selected leadership work

Context. Decisions. Consequences.

A record of the challenges I was accountable for, the choices I made and what changed as a result.

40 M

Users on the platform

Across web, mobile and partner APIs

6×

Release frequency

With fewer production incidents

1,200

Engineers led

In five global engineering hubs

23

Patents granted

In payments and applied AI

Case 01

Platform transformation

A successful product was reaching the limits of its original platform. I worked with product and engineering leaders to identify the constraints that mattered most to customers, establish service boundaries and sequence migration without forcing a single high-risk cutover. The roadmap connected technical investment with the product capabilities it would unlock.

Case 02

Engineering scale

Engineering growth had introduced inconsistent delivery practices and unclear ownership. We clarified team missions, invested in shared development infrastructure and made reliability part of the product conversation. Technical leaders gained a common framework for decisions while teams retained the autonomy to solve problems within their areas of responsibility.

Case 03

Innovation programme

The organisation had many promising experiments but no consistent route from prototype to supported product. I introduced review points that considered user value, operational readiness, security and long-term ownership. The process helped teams distinguish an interesting demonstration from a capability the business could responsibly depend on.

In the words of others

Endorsements

Builds platforms the business can bet on, and engineering teams people want to join.
Elena MorettiChief Executive, Lumen Payments
Brought rigour and humanity to our AI decisions in equal measure.
Kenji ArataChair, Kestrel Systems