About

Kevin Pereksta — technology leader, systems builder, and problem solver working across manufacturing, automation, software, AI, and enterprise systems.

I have always tried to be the person people can depend on when something is broken, unfamiliar, or difficult.

Systems

My strongest skill is understanding systems. That can mean software, infrastructure, manufacturing workflows, business processes, controls systems, or the unspoken rules inside an organization. I like figuring out how the parts interact, what is necessary, what is accidental, and where the system can be improved.

Officially, I have spent much of my career in IT management. I do not think of my value as managing systems, though. My value is solving problems.

Users

A major part of that comes from working closely with end users. I have never seen users as an obstacle. I like service technicians, shop employees, engineers, controls specialists, and the people who build and maintain the physical systems that keep businesses running. I may not always share their background, but I respect their expertise. That trust allows me to understand how work really happens and to build solutions people will actually use.

Origins

I began programming when I was a child. I tried to make Flash games around age eight or nine, checked out programming books from the library, and entered game-development competitions before I was a teenager. I once built an entire game on an Eee PC during a road trip and found free Wi-Fi minutes before the submission deadline. I won $100, bought a Game Boy development cartridge, and immediately became obsessed with trying to make 3D games run on hardware never intended for them.

In high school, I wrote software on my PSP to solve homework problems. I would record the steps teachers used, then translate those steps into code. That was when I realized the part I loved was not really game development. It was problem solving.

The Pattern

That pattern has continued throughout my life. I have built games, hardware, browser extensions, Linux tools, AI systems, infrastructure platforms, machine-monitoring systems, internal business software, and automotive projects.

Outside of work, I have competed at a high level in StarCraft II and Rocket League, deadlifted 495 pounds, adapted a Mustang supercharger to a 2005 Ford Explorer, built an extreme multi-GPU computer, and reached varying levels of proficiency across guitar, bass, banjo, saxophone, clarinet, oboe, and piano.

I rarely sit idle for long.

Today

Today, I am most interested in problems that cross boundaries: controls and enterprise systems, engineering data and ERP, machine telemetry and service activity, spreadsheets and databases, people and process, software and the physical world.

The technology matters. Understanding the whole system matters more.