Fosco Marotto

Chief Technical Officer | Full-Stack Engineer | AI and Systems Expert

Email: fosco@fosco.com

Phone: (415) 583-5600

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/33fosco

Professional Summary

Innovative technology leader with over two decades of experience in software development and infrastructure management, and more recently, cutting-edge AI implementations. Self-taught programmer since age 5, known for understanding and building anything. Proven track record of turning complex challenges into efficient, scalable solutions in both startup and large corporate environments.

My Stance on Free Speech

For the last several years, I have been a strong defender of free speech in my professional work. Like Spinoza, I believe that the pursuit of truth and the development of a vibrant, democratic society depend on the unfettered expression of ideas, even those that may be uncomfortable or controversial. Similarly, Ben Horowitz's emphasis on open communication resonates with me, as I recognize the importance of allowing diverse perspectives to contribute to the growth and success of communities and organizations. I want to make it clear that my personal beliefs are separate from the content that users may post on platforms I've worked on. Instead, I view my role as upholding the right of all individuals to express themselves freely, without censorship or bias, within the bounds of the law.

Professional Experience

Chief Technical Officer

Gab AI, Inc. | November 2020 - Present

  • Dramatically improved stability, performance, and scalability of Gab Social, an existing platform serving 6 million users with up to 120M monthly page views
  • Designed and implemented Gab AI, an uncensored AI chat and image generation platform, from concept to production
  • Developed an entire advertising platform, Gab Ads, from scratch, complete with a self-service dashboard and lightning fast ad serving
  • Led end-to-end technical operations, including data center negotiations, server installation, and software development
  • Managed and optimized a lean engineering team, significantly improving overall platform reliability and efficiency
  • Developed expertise in AI model fine-tuning and large-scale inference
  • Maintained 24/7 on-call availability for four years, ensuring continuous platform operation
  • Implemented and ran an open-source bug bounty program, enhancing platform security
  • Completely rebuilt and optimized GabTV's video ingestion pipeline, reducing processing time from video length to minutes
  • Developed a custom SMTP validation service, significantly reducing operational costs
  • Built a streamlined donation collection system, improving user experience and conversion rates
  • Managed a 250TB media storage cluster for Gab Social
  • Developed the Dissenter web browser, a high-performance fork of Brave with custom features
  • Engineered custom solutions across various domains, including email infrastructure, content delivery, and user authentication

Developer Advocate / Production Engineer

Facebook & Parse | February 2013 - October 2020

  • Created Parse Server, becoming a top open-source project at Facebook with 14k+ stars and 160+ contributors
  • Managed the MySQL fleet, responsible for all deployments to the full cluster
  • Optimized MySQL upgrade deployment process, reducing release cycle time from 3 months to under 1 week
  • Worked on the Open Source team, the OSMeta team, and the Apache Spark and RocksDB teams, helping manage their respositories and working with the communities around them
  • Developed both the Parse and Facebook SDKs for PHP, garnering over millions of downloads and growing huge communities
  • Served as Developer Advocate, conducting Q&A sessions, speaking at F8, Oktane, and other tech conferences

Lead Developer

Optimo IT | 2011 - 2013

  • Developed a dynamic application platform for rapidly building native mobile apps for schools and organizations
  • Built diverse projects ranging from Windows Mobile barcode scanners to early adoption of Node.js for web APIs

Systems Analyst Specialist

TMG Health | 2006 - 2010

  • Worked across multiple departments, becoming an expert with the Trizetto FACETS application and database
  • Co-developed a secure provider portal with isolated data warehouse and ETL orchestration
  • Led a team in building a CMS reconciliation process, saving the company over $1M annually

I'm happy to provide further history, and more details on any of these experiences, upon request.

Skills