About

I'm Leonardo — Leo — Steffen. I've been building software professionally for over twenty years, across industries, team sizes, company stages, and technology stacks.

I started my career at ThoughtWorks, which shaped a lot of how I think about engineering: delivery matters as much as design, working software beats documentation, and the quality of the team determines the quality of what gets built. I carried those convictions through subsequent years at Guestlogix (travel commerce), CloudCosmos/Ryan LLC (enterprise software), and more recently GrowthX (AI-assisted product development).

My technical background is broad and backend-leaning. I've done full-stack work across .NET, Node.js, React, and various cloud environments. But what I care about most isn't the specific technology — it's whether the team is building the right thing, iterating on feedback, and maintaining the ability to change course.

How I work

I work best on teams where there's real ownership, clear thinking about what's being built and why, and a shared commitment to delivery over appearance. I tend to ask uncomfortable questions early, push for clarity before code, and treat simplicity as a design constraint rather than a nice-to-have.

I've been integrating AI tools into my workflow seriously for the past few years — not as a shortcut, but as a way to extend leverage while keeping judgment intact. I think about this a lot, and write about it occasionally.

Currently

I'm currently available for new opportunities — senior IC roles, staff-level positions, or consulting engagements in software delivery and engineering leadership. If something resonates, I'd like to hear from you.

Contact me or find me on LinkedIn.