The Challenge
QVC Group needed to modernize its digital product delivery while simultaneously laying the groundwork for AI-driven capabilities. This required transforming engineering teams, processes, and culture - all while maintaining delivery velocity on high-impact digital experiences.
My Approach
As Software Engineering Manager, I owned end-to-end product delivery while driving architectural modernization, AI experimentation, and organizational transformation.
Team Structure & Scaling
I managed and scaled cross-functional teams including:
- Senior engineers across mobile, web, and backend
- Designers and QA specialists
- DevOps engineers
- Multiple feature teams operating in parallel
Each team was structured for delivery speed, reliability, and long-term maintainability.
Architectural Modernization
I led several key technical initiatives:
- Legacy modernization: Oversaw integration of legacy systems into modern architectures through Lift-and-Shift and service decomposition strategies
- ML infrastructure: Introduced Azure Databricks as the core data and ML backbone, integrated with graph databases for personalization
- Cloud architecture: Provided architectural oversight across cloud infrastructure, CI/CD, and security frameworks (Azure-first)
Cultural Transformation
Beyond technical changes, I drove organizational transformation:
- Introduced Agile at scale across engineering teams
- Led cultural shift toward design thinking, experimentation, and collaborative ownership
- Partnered with product, design, and business leads to align technical execution with user-centric goals
People Development
- Mentored tech leads and guided career growth for engineers transitioning into AI, architecture, and leadership paths
- Built career frameworks that enabled engineers to grow in both IC and management directions
Key Decisions & Trade-offs
Gradual modernization: Chose Lift-and-Shift for initial migrations followed by incremental service decomposition, rather than risky full rewrites. This maintained delivery continuity.
AI experimentation alongside delivery: Allocated capacity for ML/GenAI prototyping within the Databricks platform while keeping product delivery on track. The prototyping work directly informed the long-term technical strategy.
Impact
Over three years, the engineering organization transformed from traditional product delivery to a modern, AI-aware engineering culture. The teams, processes, and technical infrastructure I built became the foundation for QVC Group's current AI architecture capabilities.