Shalini Sah · Engineering Leadership · AI, Mobile & Product Infrastructure

Make the call that
moves the business.

When architecture, execution, and revenue start depending on the same decision, I help make the system legible: what is working, what is dragging, and what needs to change. Engineering leadership and infrastructure architecture across iOS, mobile, AI, 0-to-1, and billion-user products. Former Staff Engineer / Engineering Manager at WhatsApp, with engineering across Instagram, Google, Meta, and Amazon.

For founders & leaders ↓ For companies ↓

What to reach out for

For individuals

Founders & engineering leaders

Bring me one high-leverage problem. I take a few engagements where a single architectural call changes the trajectory or the bottom line. Hands on the design and tradeoffs, not a deck.

→ The hard-to-reverse decisionThe call you cannot easily walk back: data model, platform bet, migration path, launch risk, or system boundary.
→ Systems & infrastructure architectureBackend, mobile, or AI. Where product speed, reliability, and operational cost start depending on the same design.
→ Technical judgment on callThe problem without an obvious playbook. A senior second read when the decision affects revenue, velocity, or risk.

Graphite abstract engineering leadership visual

For companies

Hiring an engineering leader

I lead teams through ambiguous, high-stakes product and infrastructure bets: setting direction, aligning stakeholders, building execution systems, and creating the technical clarity that moves velocity, quality, and revenue.

→ VP / Head of EngineeringLead the team, own delivery, and stay technical. Engineering leadership on flagship products from 0-to-1 bets to billion-user scale, with attention to detail and big-picture judgment.
→ Product-platform leadershipThe operating model behind launch speed, reliability, data lifecycle, and cost. Platform thinking as product leverage.
→ AI-native architectureAI features with clear boundaries, threat models, tool permissions, and failure modes a team can reason about before launch.

About

I work where product ambition, technical architecture, and business consequence meet. The problems I care about are rarely isolated to code: they show up as launch risk, platform debt, unclear ownership, slow execution, or engineering choices the business has started to feel.

Previously, I led messaging, privacy, and infrastructure work at WhatsApp at 2B-user scale, owned engineering and product leadership for Instagram Stories creation, and shipped consumer products at Google used by hundreds of millions of people.

Open to thoughtful LinkedIn DMs from visionaries, founders, and tech leaders working on consequential systems.

Where the judgment was forged

WhatsAppInstagramGoogleMetaAmazon

infra, privacy, and consumer messaging primitives at 2B-user scale.

Instagram

EM-PM work on Stories creation, driving engagement as a beloved feature became a platform.

Google → AI

consumer products used by hundreds of millions, with the same systems lens now applied to AI.

What I write about

// ai systems

AI-native architecture and development

Boundaries, tool permissions, threat models, and development workflows that make AI features legible before launch.

// engineering

Engineering Gems

Systems design, infrastructure instincts, API contracts, interface guarantees, and judgment calls that turn engineering taste into product leverage.

LinkedIn ↗

Reach out

Have a decision you
can't easily walk back?

Choose the lane that best fits your situation, and include a bit of context. I read every DM, and if it feels like I can genuinely help, I'm happy to set up a coffee chat.