A little about me

About Me

I'm Dylan Holmes — a software engineer, father, and musician based in the U.S. with over a decade of experience building healthcare and enterprise software. I enjoy focusing on usability and turning complex problems into intuitive, lovable products.

I’ve led teams, built platforms, and architected solutions across startups, hospitals, and Fortune 5 enterprises. Much of my work has focused on healthcare, where stakes are high and user experience matters deeply. My background spans cloud-native architecture, web development, DevOps automation, security governance, and AI integration.

On a professional level, I believe in:

Understanding your customer and their real-world constraints; "going to Cambodia"
Making your MVP lovable, not just functional
Iterating without premature optimization
Automating the boring stuff (especially governance)
Investing early in security, DevOps, and developer experience
Using AI to enhance productivity

I take pride in sweating the details, partnering closely with stakeholders, and helping teams scale with clarity and confidence.

Start a conversation

Available for select consulting projects

Independent software & technology consulting

Practical software for complex work.

I help teams modernize critical systems, turn tangled workflows into maintainable software, and adopt AI without losing sight of security, reliability, or the people using it.

Available for select consulting projects

13+
years building and leading software: 15+
business clients served through a prior consultancy: Millions
of daily healthcare transactions supported

Services

Senior technical help, shaped around the outcome.

Bring me in for a focused build, an architecture decision, or a practical path through a complicated technology problem.

Software development

Design and delivery of custom web applications, internal tools, APIs, and integrations - from early discovery through a dependable production release.

Modernize legacy software without stopping the business
Build secure web applications and operational tools
Connect systems and automate high-friction workflows

IT consulting

Hands-on guidance for cloud, infrastructure, security, and technology operations from someone who has led both enterprise IT and cloud product teams.

Create a practical cloud or modernization roadmap
Improve reliability, security, and delivery practices
Turn business needs into clear technical decisions

AI integration

Responsible AI adoption focused on useful workflows, not demos. I help teams select high-value use cases, integrate models, and put the right security and governance around them.

Add AI to existing products and internal workflows
Prototype and validate LLM or agentic use cases
Establish guardrails for secure, responsible adoption

How I work

Clear decisions. Useful software.

I keep the work close to the problem, communicate tradeoffs plainly, and leave teams with systems they can own.

01
Find the leverage
Understand the workflow, constraints, and cost of doing nothing. The goal is a well-framed problem before it becomes a big project.
02
Make the path visible
Turn ambiguity into a right-sized plan, with clear risks, milestones, and a technical direction that fits the organization.
03
Build and transfer
Deliver in usable increments, document the important decisions, and make sure the team can operate and extend what we build.

Especially useful when

A critical workflow still depends on manual work or spreadsheets
A legacy application is expensive or risky to change
Several systems need to exchange data reliably
A cloud or software architecture needs an experienced outside review
An AI use case looks promising but needs a secure implementation path
A regulated business needs pragmatic technical judgment

Have a difficult technology problem?

Send me a short note about what you are trying to change. I will reply with honest questions, practical next steps, and whether I am the right person to help.