The short version

I'm a builder first. I take products from zero to one and care about the parts most people skip — the feel of the thing, the right-sized solution, the failure modes nobody wants to think about.

Most of my career has been at security and intelligence companies — Lookout, Synack, Delphos — so I build with a threat model in mind by default. Most recently I was employee #1 at Delphos Labs, taking an AI binary-analysis product and company from nothing to a working SaaS.

I've also led: Director of Engineering, CTO, team lead. I like building the team as much as the product.

What I'm good at

🚀 0→1 product engineering Taking things from nothing to working product. Architecture, infra, and the first version of everything — under real uncertainty, with judgment about what to build and what to skip.
🛠️ Full-stack craft React (incl. Remix / React Router v7), Node.js, Python, PostgreSQL. End-to-end ownership with taste — right-sized solutions and software that feels good to use.
☁️ Cloud & infrastructure AWS and GCP from scratch with Terraform, Kubernetes, Helm, Docker. Distributed processing (Celery, RabbitMQ), CI/CD, feature flags, observability.
🔒 Security-first engineering A career at security/intelligence companies means secure-by-default is a habit, not an afterthought. Led the work behind a company's first SOC 2.
👥 Engineering leadership Director of Engineering and CTO experience. Hiring, mentoring, code review, and the kind of culture where people feel safe enough to do their best work.
🤖 AI-augmented development Building with and around modern AI — most recently automating binary reverse engineering. I think in specifications, not just syntax.
Steve Regester

I started writing code because it was the closest thing I'd found to magic — the ability to make an idea real. Fifteen years later, that's still the part I care about. I've spent that time building in domains where the details matter: mobile security at Lookout, crowdsourced pentesting at Synack, pharma research at Studylog, AI binary analysis at Delphos.

The thing I keep coming back to is the feel of software — the difference between systems that flow and systems that grind. Good software respects momentum and the person on the other side of the screen. That belief shows up in everything I build, and it's the standard I hold teams to.

What colleagues say

"He goes above and beyond to break down complex concepts… while allowing you the autonomy to learn from your failures, creating a culture of intellectual vulnerability. Steve doesn't settle for mediocre code; he consistently delivers beautiful, clear, best-practice code."

— Christina Wright, who reported to Steve at Studylog

"I haven't before or since met anyone more passionate about engineering front-end applications in a structured way. His skills were in very high demand and allowed us to build web-based tools for very complex analysis workflows."

— Mikko Tervahauta, Staff Engineer at Oura (led Steve at Lookout)

"His ability to get a good overview of large and complex systems and design and implement elegant solutions for them is very impressive. He always pushed for the right solution first."

— Christophe Verbinnen, Principal Architect at KnowBe4

More references available on LinkedIn.

Let's build something

I'm looking for founding- and early-engineer roles where I can own real surface area and take something from zero to one. If that's you, let's talk.

Email me Read my résumé

Open to founding/early-engineer roles • Remote or Portland metro