Philip Ludington

Senior software engineer building developer tooling and reliable AI-assisted software.

I've owned the systems other engineers depend on — build pipelines, test automation, and live game and simulation features — and I bring that discipline to building with coding agents.

Get in touch See my work

About

I build developer infrastructure and reliable AI-assisted software. I've owned the unglamorous systems other engineers depend on — CI/CD pipelines, automated test harnesses, data pipelines, and live game and simulation features.

At Zynga I migrated a brittle legacy build system onto corporate Jenkins single-handed and built the first automated harness to validate slot RTP (Return to Player) math across 5+ titles, and acted as a de facto technical lead for a 7-engineer team. Earlier work spans IGT, enterprise software, and U.S. Army contractor systems.

Today I build with coding agents the way a senior engineer should — design docs, phased delivery with verification gates, continuous review, and multi-model debugging — to keep agent output correct, not just fast. Recent independent builds include Changesmith (an AI tool that turns git history into release notes), MCPAtlas (a Model Context Protocol server registry), and Klar (an AI-native language with its own compiler in Zig). Based in Austin, TX.

How I work with coding agents

I treat agents like capable but fallible engineers, not magic. Pin down the concept in conversation, capture it in a design doc and a phased plan, then drive the agent one phase at a time with gates that prove each phase is correct before moving on. Review the code continuously to keep tech debt down. When a problem gets stubborn, switch the agent's persona, stage cross-model debates, and feed in my own hunches to break the deadlock.

A recent example: in my strategy game Stellar Throne, every unit test for a residual-damage mechanic passed, but the behavior was wrong in real play. The damage was stored as a fractional carry and masked by rounding in both the turn processor and the UI. The tests were green; the behavior wasn't. Trusting play over the checkmarks — and my own hunch — is what found it.

Featured Work

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Experience

Independent Software Engineer

Dec 2024 — Present

Self-employed · Austin, TX

  • Building AI-native developer tools and AI-assisted software as an independent engineer.
  • Recent builds: Changesmith (AI changelog tool), MCPAtlas (MCP server registry), Klar (AI-native language with its own compiler in Zig), and Stellar Throne (turn-based strategy simulation).
  • Developed a repeatable agentic-engineering workflow — design docs, phased delivery with verification gates, and continuous code review — to keep coding-agent output correct and low-debt. Stack: Claude Code, MCP, Anthropic SDK, TypeScript, Next.js, Astro, Zig.

Senior Software Engineer

Oct 2023 — Nov 2024

Ainsworth Game Technology

  • Sole engineer on Atomic Gold, a Unity slot title built on an immature proprietary SDK — owned the bonus games, free-spin system, slot-math integration, on-reel animations, and performance work, fixing SDK-level bugs and engineering workarounds.

Senior Software Engineer

Jun 2020 — Jul 2021

Boss Fight Entertainment

  • Unity/C# development for MyVegas Bingo and Kingdom Boss — telemetry, gameplay, and UX systems
  • Mentored engineers through code reviews, pair programming, and coding challenges

Senior Unity Developer

Aug 2019 — May 2020

Cerberus Interactive

  • Gameplay developer for Atlas Empires, a location-based mobile game with IoC, dependency injection, and Protocol Buffers

Senior Software Engineer

Jul 2015 — Jun 2018

Zynga

  • Solo-migrated an acquired product's brittle legacy build system onto corporate Jenkins, and built the first automated harness to validate slot RTP (Return to Player) math across 5+ titles in the Black Diamond Casino product — replacing a slow, manual process.
  • Acted as a de facto technical lead for a 7-engineer frontend team: code reviews, engineering best practices, and coaching estimation accuracy. Gameplay and feature work across Hit It Rich, Spin It Rich, and Black Diamond Casino.

Software Engineer

May 2013 — Jul 2015

IGT

  • Developed premium casino games at Studio 1A using Unity3D on IGT's proprietary Ascent Platform

Solutions Engineer

Apr 2009 — May 2013

Eastport Analytics

  • Full lifecycle development for clients in media, satellite operations, drug manufacturing, and law enforcement
  • ETL pipelines, competitive intelligence platforms, and data science using ASP.NET, C#, SQL Server, and AWS

Consulting Services Specialist

Sep 2003 — Jun 2007

AT&T Government Solutions

  • Designed and maintained applications for the U.S. Army using C++, C#, ASP.NET, and SQL Server

Developer

Sep 1999 — Sep 2003

Procurement Automation Institute / SAP

  • Developed Document Builder integrating with SAP R/3, SRM, and Enterprise Buyer using C/C++, Java, and ABAP

Skills

TypeScript C# JavaScript C/C++ Zig Node.js Claude Code Model Context Protocol (MCP) Anthropic API AI Agents AI/LLM Integration Next.js Astro React Tailwind Vercel Drizzle PostgreSQL Stripe Solana Unity Godot iOS & Android AWS Git

Education

University of Maryland at College Park

B.S., Logistics, Materials, and Supply Chain Management

Get in Touch

I'm interested in senior software engineering roles in developer tooling, AI-assisted engineering, and production systems. Let's talk.