Zach Smith — Fractional AI Leader & CTO

About

Deep product judgment meets hands-on engineering

From concept to working product — fast.

Zach is a full-stack engineer and technical leader who combines deep product judgment with hands-on engineering to go from concept to working product fast. With 22 years of experience building and shipping production software, he co-founded and scaled Channeltivity — a B2B SaaS platform — from zero to profitability and industry prominence over 18 years as CTO.

Now building AI-native applications with TypeScript, React, and Node.js, Zach uses tools like Claude Code to architect and deliver complete systems at startup speed. He brings a rare combination of strategic vision and technical depth, having led cloud migrations, SOC 2 audits, and globally distributed engineering teams while maintaining hands-on development velocity.

AISymmetric — Fractional AI Leader & CTO

Career

Professional experience

Quest Mouse (Analog Method LLC) Oct 2025 — Present

CEO & Developer

Building an AI-native voice application using TypeScript, Node.js, React, PostgreSQL, and Supabase
Integrated multiple LLMs (Gemini, ChatGPT) for real-time conversational AI with voice interaction via LiveKit
Full product lifecycle: concept, architecture, development, and deployment as a solo developer using AI-assisted tools

Written Word Media Jun 2025 — Present

CTO & Product Lead (Contract)

Hands-on CTO for a revenue-generating media platform, owning execution across product and engineering
Redesigned operational workflows using AI-assisted tooling and custom automation, reducing manual effort by up to 95%
Rolled out Claude Code to the development team, integrating AI-assisted development into daily engineering workflows
Implemented product analytics (PostHog) for data-driven visibility into user behavior and system health
Managed development team, led agile ceremonies, coordinated releases and migrations

Channeltivity Jun 2007 — Mar 2025

CTO & Co-Founder

Co-founded and built a B2B SaaS platform from zero, serving as lead architect, product strategist, and engineering manager for 18 years
Designed and built the full application stack: C# .NET backend, JavaScript/TypeScript frontend, SQL Server database, Azure cloud infrastructure
Led multiple cloud migrations and platform modernizations on Microsoft Azure
Implemented real-time translation using Azure AI for multi-language support
Built bi-directional integration framework syncing with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other CRMs
Hired, managed, and mentored a globally distributed engineering team
Led four SOC 2 audits with zero exceptions while maintaining development velocity

Analog Method Nov 2001 — Jun 2012

CEO & Co-Founder

Founded and scaled a digital agency, leading design and technical teams to deliver solutions for clients
Successfully sold the company in 2012

Impact

Key achievements

⚡

95% Reduction in Manual Operations

Through AI-assisted automation and workflow redesign

✶

18-Year SaaS Platform

Built and scaled from zero to profitability and industry prominence

⚖

4 SOC 2 Audits — Zero Exceptions

Maintained compliance while preserving development velocity

Skills & Technologies

Technical expertise

☁ Languages

TypeScript JavaScript C# .NET SQL PHP

❖ Frontend & Backend

React Next.js Node.js .NET PostgreSQL SQL Server Supabase

⚙ Infrastructure

Microsoft Azure Google Cloud Cloudflare Azure DevOps CI/CD Pipelines GitHub

⚖ AI & Tools

Claude Code ChatGPT Gemini Azure AI LiveKit (Voice AI) Cursor PostHog

Education

Academic foundation

University of Pennsylvania

BAS Computer Science, cum laude

2003

ZachSmith