Hands-on engineering leader

Stylized illustrated portrait of Chris Klingler on a rainbow graphic background.

Founder mindset. Enterprise discipline.

Twenty years shipping software. From a 12-person VR startup to a 120-engineer global org, I lead the people, the architecture, and the delivery, then hand over something built to last.

Still frame from a live experiential project—a placeholder while the reel loads.

Past performance

Revenue, reach, scale, and reliability.

4.8 / 5

Meta Quest storefront

Public customer rating for the Ace VR app on the Meta Quest store.

Customer Focus

SOC 2 ready companies

2 at Solera, 1 underway with Ace. Enterprise and government-grade security posture required. Closed all Critical and High severity vulnerabilities across all organizations.

Security

120

Engineers at peak footprint

Solera-span org across mobile, VR, claims, and dealership lines, with directors and principal architects layered within. Shrunk last team from 12 to 7 after completing large project and migrating to AI-assisted development.

Scale

25%

Faster delivery cycles

AI-assisted development with mandatory reviews, tests, and governance. Speed without fragility.

Velocity

80+

Countries reached

Active consumer, enterprise, and agency customers across six continents.

Reach

99.9999%

Uptime on uplifted SKU

A DMV-associated product lifted from sub-95% to six nines — reliability built into engineering culture, not bolted on through incident heroics.

Reliability

Timeline

Experienced leader and developer

Over 20 years shipping software, leading engineering organizations, and building products at scale.

RoleTenure

Mar 2023 – Present
Ace Virtual Shooting
Interim CTO & Sr. Director, Head of Software Engineering
Tenure3 yrs
Sep 2017 – Jan 2023
Solera, Inc.
Jun 2020 – Jan 2023
Global Sr. Director of Software Engineering
Sep 2017 – Jun 2020
Senior Manager of Software Development
Tenure6 yrs
Feb 2015 – Aug 2017
Ohsome Interactive
Mobile and VR Tech Lead
Tenure2.5 yrs
Mar 2013 – Feb 2015
Department of Defense
Senior Software Developer
Tenure2 yrs
May 2011 – Sep 2013
T-Mobile
Software Engineer · Fraud Prevention
Tenure2 yrs
2010 – 2013
Opdrop
Cofounder, CEO / CTO · Senior Software Developer
Part-time · concurrent with studies and other roles
Tenure3 yrs
2010 – 2011
University of Nevada, Reno — School of Medicine
Immunization Clinic Manager & Webmaster
Tenure2 yrs
2001 – 2004
Access Computer Services
Junior Software Developer & Systems Administrator
Tenure3 yrs

Leadership style

Calm urgency. Domain-driven teams. Steady delivery.

Company and product truth come first. High-bar hires, candid feedback, fast corrections keep teams healthy. Modular seams, automated checks, and AI under guardrails keep the code sound.

Philosophy
“Hook users and improve team velocity with cutting-edge technology. Scale with proven methods while improving quality. TDD / DDD for maintainability.”

What Chris is like in the room

Executive sponsors and engineers both get specifics; calendars stay sane and delivery stays credible.

Organized

Agile planning and standups without hovering. Tickets carry enough technical detail that teams execute on day one. QA, support, and engineering backlogs stay aligned so fewer issues reach customers.

Empowering

Full hiring lifecycle: sourcing, interviews, onboarding, coaching, with clear feedback and fair exits when performance does not recover. Cross-team forums and AI-assisted workflows with reviewers, tests, and ownership.

Approachable

Straightforward to engage in hallways, standups, and escalations alike. Keeps cool and collected when timelines compress or incidents flare. Conscious about minimizing ego alongside ICs and executives while holding real pride in the products we ship and the companies we represent.

Architect

Honest seams between services and modular monoliths. Event storming and DDD vocabulary when domains disagree. C4-style diagrams and docs that graduate into backlog instead of lingering unread; security alongside maintainability.

Good Partner

Builds shared context with product, business leadership, boards, designers, support and CS, customers and clients, and partner teams, planning on facts so delivery matches commitments. Ownership from first ship through growth, care, resilience, and honest wrap-ups when priorities shift.

Hands on

Comfortable deep in code and architecture when stakes are high: Unity / VR, Flutter, Swift / Kotlin, React (including Next.js), NestJS, .NET, REST and GraphQL, Postgres, Mongo, AWS or Azure. Full stack attention when SLIs slip.

Key Initiatives

Cloud migrations & platform modernization

Three zero-downtime datacenter exits at Solera (AWS/GCP to Azure/Tanzu) with no customer-visible impact. Re-platformed Ace from generic PaaS onto modular AWS (ALB + WAF, RDS, RabbitMQ, Cognito, CloudFormation). Spaghetti monoliths migrated to modular services.

Identity, SSO & security posture

Delivered Solera-wide universal MFA/SSO via Azure AD B2C across a multi-product portfolio and Cognito rollout at Ace with Magic Links. Coached three organizations through SOC 2 readiness. Closed all Critical and High vulnerabilities at Ace through AWS Security Hub discipline.

AI-assisted SDLC governance

Shortened delivery cycles ~30% at Ace with Cursor/Claude Code workflows — review gates, test requirements, and CodeRabbit in the loop so speed compounded without eroding modular design. Governance frameworks that scale across larger orgs without ad hoc improvisation.

Team turnarounds and agile implementation

Four acquihire/struggling-team rescues at Solera. Asked to parachute in, restored planning cadence and backlog health, tightened architecture seams, and returned ownership to peers once KPIs recovered. Flagged organizational dysfunction early and resolved it before it reached customers.

Production readiness and observability

Institutionalized end-to-end production readiness at Solera — CI/CD, synthetic checks, observability, pen-test SLAs, MTTR discipline — then rolled the program company-wide. +5% YoY uptime gains during tenure. Uplifted one product from ~95% to 99.9999%.

Design systems & white-label pipelines

Co-led accessible, themeable component libraries at Solera with head designer that cut per-region rework across web and mobile products. Built Fastlane white-labeling pipelines deploying hundreds of branded insurance and dealership SKUs from a single codebase.

Case Study · Ace Virtual Shooting

B2C/B2B VR/AR training platform

Show VR as legitimate training tool for individuals and enterprise shooters with realistic peripherals/scenarios, data platform, and live service features.

Ace Virtual Shooting

Interim CTO & Head of Engineering

Realistic enough to train on. Dependable enough to build businesses on.

Consumer-subscription-supported application first, built from the ground up. B2B Enterprise and agency programs followed with white-glove implementation, remote headset stewardship, and traveling onsite events—all on the same VR, mobile, and web stack.

Example Ace VR handgun peripheral molded to OEM-licensed production geometry. — Global OEM roster · in-game firearm licenses · peripherals matched to factory models.

Pieces users and buyers actually touch

Ace gun tracking demonstration in virtual reality. — Gun tracking fidelityUnity VR experience with custom inverted peripheral tracking that required over 100fps performance targeting for competitive and tactical use.

Law enforcement trainee in uniform using Ace VR handgun training. — Enterprise trainingAgency and military units run repeatable qualifying scenarios on the same B2C-first product core with adaptive permission system to allow for enterprise-only features and content.

Ace VR multiplayer session demonstration. — MultiplayerHangout-style Photon-backed multiplayer combining turn‑based pacing, synced lobbies, quick join, live room play, and asynchronous worldwide competition.

Ace VR daily drill challenge with leaderboard and progress tracking. — Live Service FeaturesRankings, seasons, cosmetics, leaderboards—plus live and recurring daily/weekly challenges for daily training, weekly competitions, and monthly events.

Ace companion Flutter app Performance tab with training metrics, Ace score, and drill tiers. — Flutter mobile companioniPhone and Android beside the Quest SKU—60k+ MAU with career/season/events stats, social features, stage/series/unlockable content details and actions, savings, and shared progression with headset sessions.

Ace VR leaderboard and scoring display. — Progression & scoringLeaderboards and trend views so leaders and coaches see completion, time-on-task, and improvement.

Close-up of a handgun peripheral molded to OEM-licensed production geometry. — Realistic peripheralsHandsets molded to OEM-licensed production geometry and licensed firearm replicas paired with mechanical triggers and buttons to allow for instant input and feedback to help ground the product in reality.

Ace AR modes project targets and scenarios onto your walls and floors. — Augmented Reality (AR) modesTurn your living room into a shooting range with AR modes that project targets and scenarios onto your walls and floors.

Ace competition or event participant laughing during a training session. — Competitive On-Site EventsOnsite events at trade shows, conferences, partner product reveals, and community gatherings. The fun and interesting way to get people familiar with firearms in a safe and controlled environment.

Ace VR handgun peripheral molded to OEM-licensed production geometry. — OEM partnerships & peripheralsPartnerships spanning most pistol manufacturers worldwide—licenses for faithful in-game firearm replicas, plus molded peripherals built to mirror each manufacturer’s production models for transferable ergonomics.

Ace checkout product modal for a licensed handset and Quest bundle with pricing, membership, and regional shipping note. — Checkout, hardware & subscriptionsAce checkout sells OEM handsets, holsters, and Quest headset bundles—with Best Buy retail partnerships—alongside Stripe subscriptions, Stripe promotion codes, Rewardful affiliate links, VerifyPass military/first-responder verification, Shippo fulfillment signals, dynamic shipping quotes, and region-aware catalog rules (e.g. handset+headset bundles ship only where policy allows; international buyers steered to headset-free kits).

Ace VR support for 3D printed accessories and molded peripherals from community members. — Aftermarket accessory supportSupport for 3D printed accessories and molded peripherals from community members.

Problem → Potential Solution → Proven Market Leader

Problem. Shooters don't go to the range enough—especially military and police. Need a simple solution and data platform to help them train and improve.
Potential Solution. Easy to set up and use Unity VR Quest app alongside Flutter companion and React admin/ops. B2B Enterprise and agency features/content on the same codebase but permission-locked.
Proven Market Leader. Made VR live-fire training a reality to establish a new market category with amazing retention and growth.

Stack (the short list)

Node.js / NestJS

Unity3D / VR

Flutter

React

AWS

PostgreSQL / Redis

Stripe

Revenue

$12M+

ARR anchored in Quest subscriptions plus OEM/handset commerce on the Ace stack—not a headline disconnected from how the storefront and field programs actually monetize.

Reach

60k+

Companion app MAU with 35K+ paying subscribers in 70+ countries—the same NestJS / Quest / Flutter core enterprise buyers later bolted onto without a rewrite.

Enterprise clients

50+

Law-enforcement, military, and institutional security units grown from consumer pull—plus SOC 2 readiness in motion and Critical/High AppSec remediation closed on AWS.

Subscribers

35K+

Paying Meta Quest storefront subscribers referenced on the résumé—paired with companion mobile traction and repeat handset buyers in the cohort.

Customer satisfaction

4.8

At Ace, 4.8 / 5 on the public Meta Quest store—reviews explicitly about training value and realism at national scale.

Reliability

99.9999%

Post-cutover uptime story on RDS/ALB-era Ace infrastructure—the stretch where tooling briefly paused capability toggles yet revenue and storefront retention stayed intact.

Team elasticity

12→7

Three squads at peak (~12 hires) then a deliberate resize after the migration/feature wave—paired with tighter AI-augmented delivery loops instead of brute-force staff-up.

Governed velocity

25%

Material cycle-time reduction from Cursor/Claude-style workflows with reviewer + test gates—a differentiator callers can diligence, not implied release cadence alone.

What players wrote on Meta Quest

Quoted word-for-word from the public Meta Quest store. Display names reflect Meta profiles.

“Tremendously helpful for my dryfire training — I’ve seen real world results. The monthly fee is nothing next to ammo and drive time… I won my first Glock certificate less than six months after purchasing Ace, and cash awards from Glock besides.”

“Bought a Quest 3 exclusively for ACE Virtual Shooting. With a busy schedule, it’s easy to maintain and improve skills with regularity… saved over $11,000 worth of ammunition in under four months. Met every expectation and more.”

“Order to door in roughly 10 days — to South Africa. Setup was dead simple… the game is super realistic and the handset weight sells it. Easily the next best thing to live range time.”

Case Study · Solera

Global software coverage for international insurance and automotive markets

Global Sr. Director across seven product pillars across web, mobile, core engines and claims/estimating lines.

Solera · Insurance & automotive software

New applications, ML/AI rollout and monolith modernizations with no room for error

On critical business operations and regulatory compliance, that powers governments, vehicle OEMs, insurance carriers, rental car companies, dealerships, repair, salvage and more.

Qapter photo-based vehicle damage estimating flow on mobile. — Visual intelligence · photo capture through estimate delivery in carrier contexts.

Next generation claims and estimating platform

Mobile pocket estimate experience for insurer workflow. — Mobile self-service FNOL claimsHelped invent the carrier-grade mobile estimating first notice of loss (FNOL) experience sold through majors like State Farm, Progressive, Allstate, Allianz—and allied collision networks to help customers file and get paid for their claims faster while saving the carrier money.

Qapter photo estimating flow animation. — Automated Appraisal Engine (A2E)Used Solera's huge database of claims and repair data to train ML/AI models to estimate damage in minutes with a human review queue for appraisers—getting users paid in days rather than weeks. Rolled out to the US first in the most mature and toughest market for the POC.

Rental fleet inspection app interface. — Rental fleet inspection appTools for rental fleet managers to inspect vehicles, manage repairs, and manage the fleet. Sold to Avis, Budget, Hertz and others. Set up a process to integrate physical scanners onsite at airports and other large hubs to track fleet vehicle inspections captured automatically when driving in and out, plugging into our API.

Qapter visual intelligence and automated estimating demonstration. — Visual IntelligenceAutomated appraisal engine (A2E) matured from domestic seeds into multilingual, privacy and regional data-aware model deployments for global markets.

Vehicle mobile inspection app interface. — Fleet Service Center ToolsTools for fleet service centers to manage their vehicles, navigate to drivers in need of rescue, and inspect vehicles and manage repairs.

Dealer branding and mobile experience. — White-labeling and brandingCustomized modules for dealerships and insurance carriers to brand their applications and mobile experiences.

Claims assessor mobile companion app interface. — Claims assessor mobile companionTools for claims assessors to manage their claims, communicate with customers, and manage the claim process.

Fleet driver app screens showing signal lights, dashboard errors, radio control, mileage management and more. — Fleet driver appTools for fleet drivers to manage their vehicles, inspect their own vehicles, get familiar with signal lights and dashboard errors, control the radio, manage mileage and more.

Autosource mobile product screen. — Total loss and specialty vehicle assessment toolsTools for insurance carriers to assess the value of total loss and specialty vehicles to determine if the vehicle is worth repairing or if it should be written off.

OBD-II vehicle health companion app interface. — OBD-II vehicle health companionTools for insurance carriers to assess the health of vehicles using OBD-II data. Sold to State Farm, Progressive, Allstate, Allianz and others. Set up a process to integrate OBD-II dongles into vehicles to track engine codes, sensor health and driving habits.

Glass technician routing and scheduling app interface. — Glass technician routing and schedulingTools for glass technicians to validate they have the right parts for the day, route to customers, schedule appointments, check the weather to ensure conditions for glass repair, and manage the glass repair process.

Physical property content claims managementMigrated and rebuilt Enservio on a new web platform and completed new Guidewire features to allow for automatic price and content fulfillment.

VR mechanic classroom pilot with Volkswagen and Tesla. — VR mechanic classroomVR mechanic classroom pilot with Volkswagen and Tesla to train mechanics on new vehicle platforms and repair processes.

Repair solutions app interface. — Repair solutionsTools for mechanics/shop managers to communicate with customers, track the repair progress, and manage the repair process.

Pocket estimate app store listing screenshot. — Feedback and polish processProgram-wide feedback tools and backlog refinement process to prioritize items reported by customers to improve web and App/Play Store ratings.

Problems → Opportunities → Solutions

Problems. Legacy systems were outdated, monolithic, and difficult to maintain. Poor reviews from customers and internal stakeholders. Built for single clients that made things hard to scale to new markets and clients, improve and add new features.
Opportunities. Huge database of claims and repair data to use to train ML/AI models to estimate damage and claims across all markets. Partnerships with the biggest carriers, OEMs, repair and dealership networks. Cloud migrations approved to allow strangulation and modernization of legacy systems. Architecture, Security and Design guilds to plan and evangelize secure, compliant, schema-defined modular codebases with design systems and whitelisting capabilities to transform our single-tenant applications into modern multi-tenant products.
Solutions. Improved UI/UX, AI-powered workflows, automatically tested and deployed code, development SDKs and libraries that allowed us to build and ship new products faster and more efficiently while allowing per-market customization for international markets.

Stack (the short list)

Azure · B2C / SSO

Kubernetes · Tanzu

ASP.NET Core

React / Redux

GraphQL

SQL Server

MongoDB

Elasticsearch

Org span

80–120

Person organization with directors, senior managers, and architects reporting to me—direct and indirect reports across NA, EU, and India.

Directorship ARR

$485M

Grew from $250M when I took leadership of that division—expanding mature solutions across omnichannel estimating, mobility, and new product pillars spanning DMV, VR, claims, repair, fleets, and more.

Reliability improvement

+5% YoY

Measured uptime deltas in KPI windows while also tackling MTTR drills with pen-test SLAs instead of one-off heroics.

Mobile pillar

$85M+

Prior Sr. Manager chapter: four insurer self-service claims lines (FNOL, A2E v1, hurricane photo SKU spun up in roughly a week, rental/glass/dealership fleets) that created/protected mid–eight-figure impact before the director portfolio.

Store quality

4.5+

Program-wide feedback tools and backlog refinement process to prioritize items reported by customers to improve web and App/Play Store ratings.

Zero-downtime exits

Datacenter sunsets with no customer-visible downtime against published KPIs; AWS/GCP workloads consolidated onto Azure/Tanzu where procurement pointed.

Global scope

80+

Countries where products were deployed to supported customers.

SOC 2

Subsidiaries coached through SOC 2 readiness while continuing to ship feature backlogs.

Previous case studies

Older projects, same focus on shipping.

Brief write-ups from interactive installs, telecom, government work, and an early startup. Tap a card to expand; closed by default to keep the page easy to scan.

Select a project

Tap a card above to open a condensed case narrative.

References

What executives and ICs saw on the ground.

Full texts live on LinkedIn.

“Thoughtful, strategic leader who is also not afraid to roll up his sleeves when necessary… pragmatic decision making, customer focus, and ability to build strong partnerships. An asset to any software organization.”

“The right mix of collaboration and healthy conflict… leads from the front… partnered on a configurable platform vision — materially lower cost structure and a foundation for revenue to multiply.”

“Leadership repeatedly placed Chris in the hardest parts of the business. He pulls teams together — trust, transparency, safety — while tying strategy to a detailed technical plan.”

“High velocity without jeopardizing quality or delivery timelines… hiring, team building, and training SMEs. I would unhesitatingly recommend Chris for engineering management and executive leadership.”

“Solutions-oriented… owns the product and is always available for his team… cuts through politics and focuses on the customer. Engineers love working with him.”

“Designed and built core backend and database architecture from scratch — a foundation for thousands of users and a complex production platform. The CTO title was never just a title.”

Contact

Straight answers. Fast follow-up.

If you need technical leadership at a company shipping real software, share the company stage and what success looks like over the next 12 to 24 months.

Stylized illustrated portrait of Chris Klingler with color graphic lighting.

Availability

Open to full-time roles

Hybrid / remote from Keller, TX · On site (DFW); hybrid or remote.

Focus

Technical cofounder, CTO, VP Eng, Sr. Director of Engineering, or Sr. Manager roles—including FAANG-class paths—with hands-on architecture when the work demands it.

Product-led B2B where reliability and trust matter: insurance, mobility, regulated buyers, or ventures shipping VR, mobile, and APIs at serious scale.

christopherklingler@gmail.com

Best for introductions and specific role conversations.

linkedin.com/in/chrisklingler

Background, mutual connections, and recommendations in full.

Ready to connect?