Gerard Braad

Background

Distinguished Full-Stack & Platform Engineering Leader with 20+ years of experience architecting scalable systems across cloud-native environments, Linux virtualization, developer tooling, and AI execution platforms. Proven track record leading distributed engineering teams, scaling open-source platforms (OpenShift, Kubernetes, Podman), and establishing industry-wide standards like preflight environment validations and microVM isolation patterns. A strategic, multi-disciplinary consultant adept at bridging low-level system engineering with modern Agile product delivery.

Core Competencies

Cloud & Platform Engineering: Kubernetes, OpenShift, Podman, OpenStack, MicroVM Isolation, Docker/Containers.
Virtualization & Systems: Multi-OS Virtualization (Linux, macOS, Windows), System Administration, Performance Tuning, Linux Kernel/Tooling.
AI Enablement & Tooling: AI-Assisted Development Workflows, Local Developer Environments, Cross-Platform Architectures.
Engineering Leadership: Distributed Team Management, Technical Strategy, CI/CD Pipeline Architecture, Agile & DevSecOps.

Employment history

Independent Consultant
March 2008 - Present · 18+ years
Red Hat - Manager, Software Engineering
January 2017 - July 2026 · 9+ years
UnitedStack - Technical Director
November 2015 - December 2016 · 1 yr 2 mos
ThoughtWorks - Senior Full-stack Engineer
November 2013 - September 2015 · 1 yr 10 mos
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Who am I?

mindmap
   root)@gbraad(
      (Hobbies)
         ["`<a href='https://amiga.gbraad.nl'>𝑨𝑴𝑰𝑮𝑨</a>`"]
         ["`<a href='https://music.gbraad.nl'>Music & DSP</a>`"]
         Electronics
         RC cars
         ["`<a href='https://gaming.gbraad.nl'>Magic TCG</a>`"]
         ["`<a href='https://ai.gbraad.nl'>AI</a>`"]
      (Employment)
         Sogyo
         ThoughtWorks
         ["`<a href='https://redhat.gbraad.nl'>Red Hat</a>`"]
            Principal Software Engineer
            Engineering Manager
      (Open Source)
         Linux
         ["`<a href='https://fedora.gbraad.nl'>Fedora</a>`"]
         OpenStack
         ["`<a href='https://containers.gbraad.nl'>Containers</a>`"]
         Virtualization