Tanner Hickey

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02

PROJECTS

What I have built

Highlights from my work designing production-grade AI systems, ranking algorithms, and high-throughput data processing pipelines.

Conversational AI Platform

PRODUCTION

Architected a multi-agent conversational AI system with hybrid retrieval (RAG) and model routing. Delivered significant improvements in latency and user satisfaction.

databackfill.com

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CORE TECH

Vertex AI · Vector Search · BigQuery

PERFORMANCE

Intent Accuracy

93%

Latency reduction

3.9m to 1.4m

Infrastructure

99.9% uptime

Data processing

Reliable systems

EXPERTISE

AI & LLM Integration

RAG · Agents · Orchestration

Data Pipelines

Beam · BigQuery · Pub/Sub

Conversational AI

Latency · Accuracy · Cost

System Design

Distributed · Scalable · Cloud

INFRASTRUCTURE

GCP

GKE · Cloud Run

Event Streaming

Kafka · Pub/Sub

Caching & Storage

Redis · PostgreSQL · BigQuery

Automation

CI/CD · Terraform

Conversational AI Platform

Led the architecture for a multi-agent AI platform serving over 1.8M monthly conversations, implementing model routing and tool-calling to improve first-contact resolution by 42%.

Designed a hybrid RAG engine using Vertex AI Vector Search and sparse retrieval. Achieved a 17% lift in conversion through continuous offline evaluation and online feedback loops.

Built high-throughput data pipelines using Apache Beam and Pub/Sub, processing 40k+ events per second while lowering average LLM costs by 31% through optimized model routing.

Search and Ranking Systems

Managed core ranking components for Google Search, improving suggestion relevance by 31% and CTR by 19% for 150M+ daily active users while maintaining strict latency budgets.

Engineered personalized feed ranking services that reduced latency from 115ms to 47ms (p95), directly contributing to an 11% increase in session duration through iterative experimentation.

Implemented streaming generation for Gemini-powered features, reducing average composition time by 26% and ensuring high availability across global web and mobile clients.

Marketing Automation Engine

Built scalable campaign automation services at Klaviyo that processed billions of events monthly, increasing retention campaign conversion rates by 22%.

Designed event-driven pipelines using Kafka that cut average time-to-send from minutes to under 12 seconds, supporting 3x growth in message volume.

Optimized recommendation and segmentation services with Redis caching, keeping the platform stable at 7k+ requests per second with 99.9% success rates.

Python

Go

PostgreSQL

BigQuery

Redis

Kafka

Vertex AI

LangChain

Kubernetes

Terraform

Docker

React

System Architecture

Senior Level

A decade of experience delivering end-to-end features for high-scale platforms including Reddit, Google, and Klaviyo. Focus on performance, reliability, and AI integration.

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10+

YEARS EXPERIENCE

99.9%

PLATFORM AVAILABILITY

1.8M

MONTHLY CONVERSATIONS

Building for scale?

Always open to discussing challenging distributed systems or AI infrastructure roles.

Tanner Hickey

Senior Software Engineer · San Antonio, TX

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© 2026 — Tanner Hickey

Senior Software Engineer

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