Adam KangasAdam Kangas

Full-Stack Engineer ✨ Founder ✨ Product & Technical Leader

Software, AI, comedy, and strong communication – all in one package.

Hi, I'm Adam – I've spent my career creating both software and educational / entertainment experiences, managing teams of all disciplines that move faster because good communication is treated as core to the work. I believe that as we enter the age of AI-native software development, the human side of communication is more important than ever.

LinkedInadam@adamkangas.com

Originally trained as a computer scientist, I started out working as a backend software engineer in US-based startups. I then moved to Melbourne, Australia and built a thriving comedy, education and hospitality business using a startup mentality.

In addition to staying active with full-stack development for my own business and taking on freelance projects and contracts, I perform weekly in sold-out improv comedy shows, and have also been a corporate trainer for over a decade, where I regularly teach applied communication and improvisation for corporate teams and clients including LinkedIn, Medibank, Mars Incorporated and K-Mart.

I love working at the intersection of product, strategy and the deeply technical full-stack work that makes it possible to dream big, then iterate and ship fast, without breaking things.

The ability to communicate effectively and empathetically across disciplines and levels of technical detail is a superpower that I bring to my work and teams.

Career Narrative

From elite CS training to founder-led technical leadership.

2001-2005

Harvey Mudd College - B.S. Computer Science

Claremont, California

I studied computer science at Harvey Mudd College , a highly selective undergraduate STEM school (~13% acceptance rate) known for strong engineering outcomes.

2005-2010

IdeaLab - Senior Software Engineer

Pasadena, California

At IdeaLab, the startup incubator founded by Bill Gross, I moved from writing backend systems in C to leading backend infrastructure work powering the consumer JavaScript product Snap Shots.

2010-2015

Freelance Developer + Consultant

Melbourne, Australia & Remote

After moving to Australia, I delivered a number of Ruby on Rails and iOS projects, including many for DT (Ogilvy). I also worked directly with American entrepreneur Bryan Johnson on A Little Kindness, a web service tracking pay-it-forward chains of good deeds and their impacts on the world.

2012-Present

Founder and Company Director - The Improv Conspiracy and Theory Bar

Melbourne, Australia

Following a passion for comedy and the arts, I founded The Improv Conspiracy Theatre and later acquired Theory Bar, building a hybrid hospitality/education/events business in Melbourne. Over these years, I've split my time between technical work on internal systems and tools, teaching communication and improvisation to general public and corporate clients, and developing popular weekly comedy shows. Being able to lead a non-technical team of ~25 while also iterating on the software that powers the business has been a rewarding challenge and learning experience.

2024-2025

CareCar - Staff Full-Stack Engineer

Fully remote from Melbourne, Australia

I was hesitant to return to industry work after founding and running my own business for so long, but the opportunity to work at CareCar under a previous colleague was too good to pass up. Rather than being inexperienced or out of touch, I found that my time away as a founder and leader actually made me a stronger engineer, with a deeper understanding of how to drive impact and ship high-quality work in a fast-paced remote environment. I was able to mentor existing employees towards becoming better TypeScript and React developers, and shape the technical direction of the company, implementing TypeScript-heavy refactors leveraging the power of generics, and creating their first Dockerized E2E test suite to prove my refactors were safe and generally increase confidence in releases.

Now

AI-Native Engineering + Leadership

Melbourne, Australia

Since the release of the latest Claude Opus and ChatGPT Codex models near the end of 2025, I have been extremely bullish on the use of AI and agentic software engineering workflows. I have been building internal tools and flows to help agents perform better in my own codebases, and giving my non-technical employees direct access to agents that can help them make changes to our tech stack without writing code. I see the next few years as a critical time for companies to adapt and evolve their engineering practices to leverage the power of AI, and I'm excited to be at the forefront of that change.