Dakota Kronberger
building and shipping software
dealerships on Toyota SmartPath's Digital Garage
users on a PwC platform I led
annual program proposal authored and presented
performance gain from a re-architecture

Previously delivered for

  • PwC
  • Toyota SmartPath
  • Pariveda Solutions
  • Outlier

01Selected work

Products I've built, programs I've led.

Velum dream detail screen with an AI summary of the entry
Velum archive screen in the dark theme, grouped by week
Velum dream work screen listing guided methods such as Re-entry and Gestalt Dialogue

Featured · AI product

Velum

A private dream archive and AI-guided dream work app, designed and shipped end to end by one person.

Founder & sole engineerTestFlight beta

  • React Native
  • Claude API
  • Firebase
Visit siteJoin beta
Problem
Dreams vanish within minutes of waking, and existing journals are just notes apps. There was no tool for capturing dreams quickly, seeing patterns across months of entries, or working with a dream in a structured way, all while keeping deeply personal data private.
What I built
  • A React Native iOS app with custom native modules, built using an AI-assisted development workflow with Claude Code.
  • A privacy-first architecture: Firebase handles only auth and user claims, while all dream content is stored privately and never used as training data.
  • A custom orchestration layer over the Claude API that enriches every entry by extracting symbols, emotions, people, places, and themes, and categorizes the archive automatically.
  • Multi-step AI workflows for six structured dream work methods, including Amplification, Re-entry, and Gestalt Dialogue, run as guided, stateful sessions.
  • Pattern-visualization “Boards” (recurring motifs, emotional patterns, frequency over time), a searchable archive, voice capture, and three visual themes.
  • The full launch surface: marketing site and published privacy, AI, and data retention policies.
Outcome
In public TestFlight beta, ahead of App Store release.

Toyota SmartPath: Digital Garage

2021–2023

Delivery leadership for the used and CPO inventory platform inside Toyota's national digital retailing program.

dealerships
95
600+
annual proposal
$3M
engineers on release calls
10+
3

Managing Consultant, Pariveda Solutions

~20 people across 2 teams

  • Next.js
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Node.js
Problem
Toyota needed dealers nationwide to adopt a digital retailing experience for used and certified pre-owned inventory, with a delivery operation that could scale with that adoption.
What I did
  • Led a 15-person engineering team and a 5-person dealer operations team.
  • Owned client stakeholder relationships, backlog, and roadmap.
  • Hardened the CI/CD pipeline, moved the release process in-house, and built credibility directly with dealership franchises.
Outcome
Grew adoption from 95 to 600+ dealerships, with data showing participating dealers sold more vehicles. Authored the $3M proposal that funded the team's continuation.

Varilead

BuilderWorking product

A lead intelligence platform that turns raw local business data into qualified, outreach-ready leads.

  • Web app (mobile-first)
  • LLM integration
Problem
Tools like Clay are powerful but expensive and generic. Selling to local service businesses requires knowing which ones have weak websites, who to contact, and what to say, quickly and from a phone.
What I built
  • A pipeline aggregating public data from 80+ verified sources, starting with Chicagoland businesses.
  • Website quality audits that combine automated programmatic scoring with a fast manual review tool.
  • Contact enrichment for key decision-makers, phone numbers, and emails.
  • LLM-generated personalized outreach, configurable for brand voice, tone, writing style, and signatures.
  • Gmail and Apple Mail integrations built for deliverability rather than spam volume.
  • A mobile-first interface designed for working leads quickly from a phone.
Outcome
In active use as the engine behind Future Built Digital's outreach.

PwC Engagement Plan

2017–2021

Replaced a spreadsheet maintained by hundreds of people with the system of record for PwC's AWM, PCS, and PFS tax practices.

users
300
1,000+
faster
500%+
ETL imports
8 hrs
15 min

Tech Lead → Development Manager, PwC

5 major marketsProof of concept in 2 weeks

  • React
  • Vue
  • .NET Core
  • MongoDB
Problem
Tax teams tracked entities, filings, and return status in a massive shared spreadsheet, which was slow, messy, and error-prone at scale.
What I did
  • Maintained the original tool (BPM), then led its full rewrite after delivering a proof of concept in two weeks.
  • Grew into managing a 15-person team across 3 sub-teams on a $2M/year platform.
  • Re-architected core components for performance and added a client-facing portal.
Outcome
Adopted by 1,000+ tax professionals across Dallas, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston, with 500%+ performance gains, tens of thousands of dollars in annual cost savings, and a promotion to Development Manager.

Goods Operator

Founder & engineerEarly beta

A creator commerce platform for selling digital goods, with built-in product pages, Stripe checkout, file delivery, and buyer accounts.

  • Next.js
  • Node.js
  • Vercel
  • iOS companion app
goodsoperator.com

Future Built Digital

FounderVenture

A lead-generation agency model for Chicagoland contractors, roofers, and HVAC companies, covering conversion-focused websites, Google Ads, local SEO, and reputation management. Paired with Varilead, it's a vertical go-to-market system: the agency offer plus the tooling that powers it.

  • Go-to-market venture

02Services

Senior help, scoped to what you need.

  • 01

    AI Integration & Automation

    Put LLMs to work inside your product or operations.

    • LLM-powered features and custom orchestration (Claude, OpenAI)
    • Agentic workflows and business process automation
    • Data enrichment and generation pipelines
    • Model evaluation and prompt testing

    Proof Velum, Varilead, 2 years of LLM evaluation for Outlier

  • 02

    Full-Stack Product Development

    From zero to shipped, on web and mobile.

    • MVPs and production web apps (Next.js, Node.js)
    • iOS and cross-platform mobile apps (React Native)
    • Payments, auth, and integrations
    • AI-accelerated delivery with Claude Code and Codex

    Proof Velum, Goods Operator, Fragments OCR

  • 03

    Technical Consulting & Architecture

    Senior judgment before you commit budget.

    • Scoping, estimates, and technical roadmaps
    • Architecture and code reviews
    • Performance and cost optimization

    Proof 500%+ performance gain, 8-hours-to-15-minutes ETL, $50K/yr licensing savings

  • 04

    Fractional Technical PM / Delivery Lead

    Enterprise-grade delivery leadership without a full-time hire.

    • Backlog, sprint, and release management
    • Team leadership and stakeholder management
    • Budget, staffing, and velocity forecasting

    Proof Toyota SmartPath (95 → 600+ dealerships), PwC Engagement Plan, $3M program proposal

Available for hourly and fixed-scope engagements. Small, well-defined projects welcome.

03Experience

From writing the code to running delivery.

  1. Aug 2023 – Present

    Aug 2023 – Present

    Independent Technical Consultant

    AI & Software SolutionsRemote

    • Two years of AI model evaluation for Outlier: comparative assessment and prompt testing of frontier large language models, documenting model behavior and failure cases.
    • Designed, built, and shipped my own AI-powered products end to end, including Velum, Varilead, and Goods Operator.
    • LLM evaluation
    • Prompt testing
    • Claude API
    • React Native
    • Next.js

  2. May 2021 – Aug 2023

    May 2021 – Aug 2023

    Managing Consultant

    Pariveda SolutionsChicago, IL & Dallas, TX

    Led delivery of Digital Garage, the used and certified pre-owned (CPO) inventory platform within Toyota SmartPath, Toyota's national digital retailing program for buying, selling, and trading in vehicles.

    • Scaled Digital Garage adoption from 95 to 600+ dealerships, with dealer sales data showing measurable lift for participating stores.
    • Managed two teams totaling ~20 people: a 15-person engineering team (onshore and nearshore; Next.js, React, TypeScript, Node.js) and a 5-person dealer support and operations team.
    • Authored and presented a $3M annual continuation proposal directly to client leadership, covering staffing models, hour forecasting, team velocity, epic-level roadmap scoping, and multiple investment options with tradeoffs.
    • Hardened the CI/CD pipeline and rebuilt the release process in-house, reducing release-call headcount from 10+ engineers to 3 and eliminating a costly third-party Jira plugin.
    • Promoted 4 consultants and formally mentored 6.
    • Next.js
    • React
    • TypeScript
    • Node.js
    • CI/CD

  3. Nov 2019 – Apr 2021

    Nov 2019 – Apr 2021

    Development Manager

    PwCDallas, TX

    Led a 15-person engineering organization across 3 sub-teams building Engagement Plan, a $2M/year platform for the firm's AWM, PCS, and PFS tax practices.

    • Replaced a sprawling, error-prone spreadsheet maintained by hundreds of people with a single system of record for entity tracking and return status, including a limited-view client-facing portal.
    • Re-architected a core component using NoSQL patterns, improving query and page performance by 500%+ and saving tens of thousands of dollars a year in data-transfer costs.
    • Coached and developed engineers through requirements clarification and career mentoring.
    • React
    • Vue
    • .NET Core
    • MongoDB

  4. Nov 2017 – Nov 2019

    Nov 2017 – Nov 2019

    Senior Software Developer → Tech Lead

    PwCDallas, TX

    • Maintained and enhanced BPM, the firm's return and extension tracking tool, then was selected to lead its full rewrite.
    • Delivered a working proof of concept in two weeks, which secured the rewrite and led to promotion to Development Manager.
    • Grew the user base from ~300 to 1,000+ tax professionals across Dallas, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston.
    • Rebuilt an ETL process, cutting data imports from 8 hours to 15 minutes.
    • Automated deployments with Azure DevOps (VSTS) CI pipelines.
    • Won the firm hackathon twice (2020, 2021; 3rd place 2019):
      • Automated time tracking inside Engagement Plan, piloted in several markets, improving timesheet speed and accuracy.
      • Idea Lab, an internal venture platform where employees pitched projects with business cases. It was adopted across multiple markets and spun up real, funded product teams.
    • ETL
    • Azure DevOps
    • CI pipelines

  5. Jul 2016 – Nov 2017

    Jul 2016 – Nov 2017

    Software Engineer

    InfogroupMarshfield, WI

    • Built .NET applications that interfaced with mainframe data via JCL for marketing teams.
    • Replaced proprietary reporting software with an in-house SSRS solution, saving $50K a year in licensing.
    • .NET
    • JCL
    • SSRS

Education

Northcentral Technical College

A.A.S., Software Development, 2016

Frank & Mary Walters Award of Excellence

Certifications

  • 2022AWS Partner: Cloud Economics Accreditation
  • 2020PwC Human-Centered Design
  • 2019PwC Digital Acumen
  • 2018Nielsen Norman Group UX Certificate

Toolkit

Tech stack

AI

  • Claude API
  • OpenAI API
  • Azure OpenAI
  • Claude Code
  • Codex
  • LLM evaluation
  • Prompt engineering

Frontend & mobile

  • React
  • Next.js
  • React Native
  • TypeScript
  • Angular
  • Vue

Backend

  • Node.js
  • .NET / C#
  • Python
  • Java
  • GraphQL
  • REST APIs

Data

  • SQL Server
  • MySQL
  • MongoDB
  • NoSQL
  • Firebase
  • SSIS / SSRS
  • ETL

Cloud & DevOps

  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud
  • Vercel
  • Kubernetes
  • CI/CD
  • Azure DevOps

Delivery

  • Agile / Scrum
  • Jira
  • Zephyr
  • Backlog and roadmap management
  • Estimation and forecasting

04About

Senior enough to own the outcome, hands-on enough to build it.

Portrait of Dakota Kronberger

Chicago, IL · Working with clients worldwide

I'm Dakota Kronberger, a software engineer who spent the last decade moving from writing the code to running the teams that ship it.

At PwC, I was handed a struggling internal tool, shipped a proof of concept for its rewrite in two weeks, and was promoted to lead the platform it became: Engagement Plan, used by more than 1,000 tax professionals across five major U.S. markets. At Pariveda Solutions, as a Managing Consultant, I led the Digital Garage team within Toyota SmartPath, Toyota's national digital retailing program, scaling it from 95 to more than 600 dealerships while managing two teams and a $3M annual program.

Since 2023 I've worked independently: evaluating frontier AI models for Outlier, and designing, building, and shipping my own AI-powered products, including Velum, an iOS dream archive powered by the Claude API, and Varilead, a lead intelligence platform.

I work best with founders and teams who need someone senior enough to own the outcome and hands-on enough to build it.

Earlier work

05Contact

Tell me what you're building.

Share a few details about the project and I'll come back with questions, a rough plan, and next steps.

I reply within one business day.