About Me
I’m Patrick Torbett, a San Diego-based staff software engineer specializing in high-scale abuse prevention architecture and ML-powered risk decisioning systems. I spent over 10 years at Amazon as a technical leader with a focus on cross-functional collaboration, infrastructure optimization, and elevating engineering practices through mentorship and architectural guidance.
What I Do
I specialize in distributed systems and ML-powered risk platforms. My work typically involves:
- Abuse Prevention Architecture: Designing systems that protect e-commerce platforms at scale (10k+ TPS)
- Technical Leadership: Driving engineering strategy across multiple teams and domains
- Mentorship: Scaling engineering excellence through office hours, guides, and cross-functional workshops
- Infrastructure Optimization: Achieving significant cost reductions through profiling and right-sizing
My Approach
I believe in “Respect What Came Before”—a principle that’s shaped how I approach engineering. I like to be a code archeologist: researching the legacy I’m building on, understanding why decisions were made, and iterating from stable foundations rather than throwing everything out.
Some principles I follow:
- Understand before changing - Research the history and context of code before modifying it
- Ship and iterate - Get working software in front of users and improve from there
- Clear communication - Whether in code, documentation, or conversation
- Chesterton’s Fence - Don’t remove something until you understand why it was added
Beyond Code
When I’m not working, you can find me:
- Reading Hacker News and technical blogs
- Collecting LEGO Star Wars sets
- Playing board games
- Gaming
Get in Touch
I’m always interested in discussing interesting projects or opportunities. Feel free to reach out via email, connect on LinkedIn, or check out my work on GitHub.