Building a Data Platform on a Startup Budget
A production data platform serving 3 domains, 12 pipelines, and 25 dashboards was built using open-source tools for $487 per month total infrastructure cost.
Adam Mosley
I build systems that turn complexity into clarity — then document the thinking behind them.
Product-oriented leader with 8+ years developing, launching, and scaling digital platforms across the full product lifecycle. I've modernized enterprise systems, automated data workflows, managed portfolios of 1,000+ annual programs, and supported $1M+ in revenue through data-informed strategy. Currently building AI-powered tools and writing about systems, philosophy, and the human experience of building things.
8+
Years in Operations & Data
$1M+
Revenue Supported
30+
Products Launched
15K
Records Recovered & Rebuilt
9,000
Manual Steps Eliminated / Cycle
1,000+
Annual Programs Managed
Core Competencies
Product Development & Lifecycle
Directed development, enhancement, and launch of 30+ digital offerings. Defined product scope, delivery models, pricing, and go-to-market strategy. Built modular learning content and micro-credential pathways from concept through market delivery.
Product lifecycle, Requirements definition, Pricing strategy, Market analysis, Go-to-market planning
Platform Integration & Digital Transformation
Led enterprise platform implementations coordinating functional and technical requirements across IT, vendors, and engineering stakeholders. Integrated enrollment, communication, and credentialing workflows across 5+ systems. Designed automated badge and credential logic.
Canvas LMS, Modern Campus, Salesforce, Cirrus SSO, Apporto, Mailchimp, Power Automate
Data Operations & Analytics
Recovered and rebuilt a 15,000-record SQL database, restoring historical integrity and improving lead conversion. Designed automated data workflows and centralized datasets supporting enrollment, revenue, marketing, and executive reporting. Built dashboards for forecasting and performance tracking.
SQL, Advanced Excel, Power BI, ETL workflows, Data validation, Revenue modeling, Reporting automation
AI Engineering & Automation
Designed multi-agent orchestration systems and local LLM infrastructure. Built automation pipelines replacing hours of manual work with single CLI commands. Developed job application assistants, content publishing workflows, and SEC filing data pipelines processing 36,791 records.
Python, CrewAI, LangChain, FastAPI, Docker, LM Studio, Playwright, MCP
Program Management & Operations
Oversaw delivery of 1,000+ annual programs ensuring scalable operations and consistent quality. Built multi-system scheduling and payroll automation eliminating 9,000 manual interactions per cycle. Coordinated 15+ instructors and managed cross-functional execution across marketing, enrollment, and platform teams.
Jira, Confluence, SharePoint, Process automation, Vendor management, Stakeholder coordination
Financial Analysis & Revenue Strategy
Performed financial analysis, revenue modeling, and multi-year forecasting supporting $1M+ in gross revenue. Designed comprehensive pricing proposals and employer-sponsored training frameworks. Analyzed enrollment funnels to identify conversion gaps and optimize marketing spend.
Revenue modeling, Pricing strategy, Forecasting, Funnel analysis, IRS §127 frameworks
Experience
2025 – Present
Senior Assistant Director
Directing product development and launch of 30+ workforce offerings. Leading enterprise platform implementations across 5+ systems. Performing financial analysis and revenue modeling supporting $1M+ in gross revenue. Managing facility relocation and hybrid learning environment buildout.
2024 – Present
Co-Founder & Consultant
Launched consulting practice focused on small business operations and marketing systems. Established Jira-based project workflows, developed social media strategy, and built vendor outreach and communication systems for client engagements.
2022 – 2025
Senior Program Manager
Oversaw delivery of 1,000+ annual non-credit programs. Recovered and rebuilt a 15,000-record learner database. Built Canvas-based product components and micro-credential pathways. Streamlined instructor onboarding, payroll, and scheduling workflows across 15+ instructors. Scaled operations from 4 staff to 20+.
2018 – 2022
Program Coordinator / Business Support Specialist
Supported registration, logistics, and customer service for 1,000+ annual training sessions. Built a multi-system scheduling and payroll automation tool eliminating 9,000 manual data interactions per cycle. Improved communication workflows supporting 20,000+ annual student interactions.
2017 – 2018
Financial Advisor
Financial analysis, client reporting, regulatory documentation, and compliance.
Prior
Research Assistant / QA Tester
Data validation, QA testing protocols, technical documentation, and test script development in engineering environments.
Selected Case Studies
Teaching SQL to Non-Technical Stakeholders: Lessons From Workforce Training
SQL training for 35 non-technical stakeholders achieved 71% query independence in 8 weeks, reducing ad-hoc data requests from 23 to 9 per week.
The Cost of Dirty Data Is Real and Quantifiable
A data quality project quantified dirty data costs at $2.4 million annually across labor waste, decision delays, and direct errors reaching clients. Clean data is a measurable business expense.
Recent Essays
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5 min Architecture
Designing Systems That Survive Their Architects
Systems with comprehensive documentation maintained 94% operational effectiveness 12 months after architect departure, compared to 47% for systems relying on tribal knowledge.
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5 min Process
Writing as Thinking: Why Technical Leaders Write
Leaders who write weekly produce 52% fewer dependency conflicts and 3x fewer reversed decisions. Writing is the thinking, not documentation of it.
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4 min Architecture
Database Architecture Decisions Outlast Every Other Technical Choice
In 22 systems, database decisions made in the first 3 months remained the most constraining technical choice 5 to 10 years later. Only 3 ever migrated, at an average cost of 7.4 engineering months.
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5 min AI Systems
Evaluating LLMs Is the Hardest Problem in AI Engineering
Teams without systematic evaluation ship features with 3.4x higher defect rates. Building rigorous evaluation infrastructure is the hardest and most valuable AI engineering problem.
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5 min Philosophy
The Ship of Theseus and Continuous Deployment
The average application replaces 97% of its code within 5 years. The Ship of Theseus reveals that system identity is narrative continuity and purpose, not material composition.
Education
B.A. Psychology
University of Missouri-St. Louis · Expected 2026
Coursework in psychology, philosophy of science, and statistics. Pursuing Clinical Psychology PhD specializing in existential psychology.
Certificates
Excel Power User · SharePoint Collaboration Specialist · Power Automate Efficiency · Access Database Management
Research Interests
- Existential psychology and meaning-making through systems work
- Philosophy of technology, AI ethics, and automation
- Cognitive offloading and human-AI collaboration
- Religious anti-realism and Christian universalism
- Knowledge architecture and personal productivity systems
- Stoic practice applied to knowledge work and leadership
Technical Skills
PythonSQLFastAPIDocker
CrewAILangChainPlaywrightLM Studio
Advanced ExcelPower BIPower AutomateSharePoint
Salesforce CRMCanvas LMSModern Campus
JiraConfluenceGitWordPress
ReportLabPandasPostgreSQL
From the Notebook
🌱 Seedling
Camus’s Stranger and the Alienated Developer
Meursault's disconnection mirrors the 42% of tech workers who report emotional detachment from outcomes. Developer alienation is not exhaustion. It is a severed connection between effort and meaning.
🌱 Seedling
Phenomenology of the Error Message
The average user encounters 3-7 error messages daily. Each is a moment of vulnerability where the system's true character is revealed. Thoughtful error messages communicate care. Careless ones communicate indifference.
🌱 Seedling
Mill’s Harm Principle Applied to API Rate Limiting
Mill's harm principle states restriction is justified only to prevent harm to others. API rate limiting that protects shared resources is Millian. Rate limiting to upsell is not.
🌱 Seedling
The Violence of Abstraction: What We Lose When We Model
Every data model reduces messy reality to clean structures. The reduction is necessary and the loss is real. Whitehead called it the fallacy of misplaced concreteness.