# Ryan Ly

> Staff Software Engineer based in Toronto, Canada. Specializing in enterprise AI systems, resilient web platforms, autonomous agent workflows, and full-stack architecture with TypeScript, React, Next.js, and Node.js.

## Overview
Ryan Ly is a Staff Software Engineer with nearly a decade of full-time software engineering experience across high-growth startups and large-scale tech companies. He holds a Bachelor of Computer Science (BCS Honours Co-op) from the University of Waterloo (2017). After building systems in San Francisco, CA, he is currently based in Toronto, ON.

- **Current Role**: Staff Software Engineer at [Felicity](https://askfelicity.ai/) (September 2025 – Present)
- **Website**: [https://www.ryanly.ca/](https://www.ryanly.ca/)
- **Email**: [ryan@ryanly.ca](mailto:ryan@ryanly.ca)
- **GitHub**: [https://github.com/RyanLy](https://github.com/RyanLy)
- **LinkedIn**: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanly1/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanly1/)

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## Work Experience

### Staff Software Engineer — Felicity (askfelicity.ai)
*September 2025 – Present | Toronto, ON*
- Architecting enterprise AI software for regulated industries (healthcare and complex enterprise operations).
- Developing autonomous agent workflows, tool calling, structured output generation, agent self-healing systems, and resilient full-stack infrastructure.

### Staff / Senior Software Engineer & Tech Lead — Square / Block (squareup.com)
*2017 – 2025 (8 Years) | San Francisco, CA & Toronto, ON*
- **Square Banking (Tech Lead)**: Led technical architecture for cash flow products, engineering critical money movement flows (inbound & outbound transfers for Square Checking and Savings) and high-reliability financial interfaces.
- **Bill Pay (Founding Team • 0 → 1)**: Founding engineer for Square Bill Pay, taking the product from inception to production.
- **Invoices Team**: Built recurring invoices, estimates, payment workflows, and contributed to the core orders model migration.

### Software Engineering Intern — Apple (apple.com)
*Sunnyvale, CA*
- Built improvements to internal tools for Apple Maps enabling operators to manage and update transit data worldwide.

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## Education

### University of Waterloo
*2012 – 2017 | Waterloo, ON*
- **Degree**: Bachelor of Computer Science (BCS), Honours Co-op
- **Focus**: Algorithms, distributed systems, human-computer interaction, networks, with 6 software engineering co-op internships.

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## Core Technical Skills & Stack

- **Frontend & Web Architecture**: TypeScript, React, Next.js, Ember.js, Design Systems, Modern CSS (Grid, Flexbox, Subgrid), Web Performance (Core Web Vitals), State Management, Vite, Accessibility (WCAG).
- **AI & Agentic Systems**: Vercel AI SDK, AI Agent Frameworks, Tool Calling & Function Execution, Structured Outputs, Model Orchestration, Autonomous Workflows.
- **Backend & Distributed Systems**: Node.js, Ruby on Rails, Python, PostgreSQL, Redis, REST & GraphQL APIs, Distributed Microservices.
- **Cloud & DevOps**: AWS (EC2, S3, CloudFront, Lambda), Cloudflare, Fastly, Vercel, Supabase, Docker, Datadog, Sentry, OpenTelemetry, CI/CD Automation.

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## Featured Projects

- **[Chores Weekly](https://choresweekly.com)**: Weekly chore planner and gamification web application for households. Built with React, TypeScript, Supabase, and Vite (PWA).
- **[Smart Home & Homelab Infrastructure](https://www.ryanly.ca/#projects)**: Self-hosted home automation and private mesh network using Home Assistant, Tailscale Mesh VPN, AdGuard Home, and VLAN subnet isolation.
- **[PianoShelf](https://www.ryanly.ca/#projects)** *(Archived)*: Co-Founder & Engineer. Sheet music community platform serving thousands of pianists with an interactive viewer, community sharing, and REST API (Python, Django, PostgreSQL, TypeScript).

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## Canonical Links & Social Profiles

- Personal Website: [https://www.ryanly.ca/](https://www.ryanly.ca/)
- GitHub: [https://github.com/RyanLy](https://github.com/RyanLy)
- LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanly1/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanly1/)
- Contact: [ryan@ryanly.ca](mailto:ryan@ryanly.ca)