Benjamin Garrard

Full-Stack Engineer • AI & Image Systems • Founder
Austin, TX
903-830-2348
benjamingarrard5279@gmail.com
GitHub
LinkedIn
bengarrard.com

Summary

Full-stack engineer and founder with 5+ years of hands-on experience building AI-assisted tools, image-related workflows, and production web apps. I’ve led engineering for a venture-backed logistics platform that reached a $5M valuation, built an AI-powered Photoshop plugin with 100+ daily active users, and shipped internal tools that saved ~$200K annually in engineering time. I own systems end-to-end—front-end interfaces, async job pipelines, and backend APIs—often as the primary engineer responsible for both correctness and speed. I use AI tools daily to move faster, but I still deeply understand the systems I’m building and debug aggressively until they work. I thrive in high-responsibility, in-person startup environments where output, iteration speed, and learning rate matter more than titles.

Core Skills

AI & Image / Media Workflows

Photoshop plugin development (React/TypeScript), Stable Diffusion integration
Async job pipelines for image generation (Python/Flask, GCP)
GSAP-driven animation and visual feedback UIs
Experience with Whisper transcription, vector DBs (Pinecone, Qdrant)
Local AI stacks: OpenWebUI, Ollama, n8n-based AI workflows

Languages & Web Development

Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, C#, SQL (Postgres & SQL Server), Go
React, Next.js, Node.js, REST APIs, async patterns, polling flows
Relational data modeling and persistence for user-facing apps

Architecture & Systems

Cloud Run, Cloud Tasks, microservices, worker queues
Event-driven design, concurrency, streaming responses, real-time workflows
Reporting, reliability, and correctness for revenue and partner-facing features

Founder-Level Execution

Zero-to-one product delivery, rapid iteration from vague requirements
On-call mentality, field debugging, talking directly to users
Using AI tools as a force multiplier without treating them as a crutch

Selected Projects

  • Photoshop AI Plugin (Bashful.ai) — Built a constrained React/TypeScript plugin UI that sends jobs to a Stable Diffusion backend, polls for completion, and updates “before/after” images directly in the editor; grew to 100+ daily active users.
  • Meeting Transcription RAG Pipeline — Used Whisper to transcribe meetings, stored embeddings in a vector database, and built LLM chains to retrieve past decisions and context.
  • n8n + Qdrant AI Workflows — Built ingestion pipelines that embed documents and connect LLM nodes to vector search, enabling document-aware chat and automation.
  • Cross-Machine Mouse Sharing (Go + Sockets) — Implemented a concurrency-driven socket system that transfers mouse control between machines in real time.

Education

B.S. Computer Science
Texas State University

GPA 3.7

Additional Work History

Earlier roles that show long-term engineering depth, performance tuning, and applied ML—useful for image algorithms and backend systems.

Python Developer — Charter Communications
2019
  • Migrated APIs from MuleSoft → Python microservices, reducing response time from ~3 minutes to 11 seconds.
  • Implemented optimized REST patterns and improved reliability for high-volume traffic.
Doctoral Assistant — Texas State University
2018
  • Built PyTorch models for maritime object detection, reaching ~85% accuracy with fewer than 200 samples.
  • Used genetic algorithms for hyperparameter tuning and performance optimization.
Software Developer — Mayachitra, Inc.
2018
  • Authored a Python library (CVJSON) for computer vision data management and pipelines.
  • Built data augmentation and Detectron-based inference workflows for maritime detection.
VR Lab Software Developer — Texas State University
2017–2018
  • Led a small team building VR simulations in Unity3D/C#, including PTSD exposure therapy research tools.
  • Worked with 3D environments, spatial interaction, and performance-sensitive rendering.

Professional Experience

Founder & CTO — Colorfull
Oct 2023 – Jul 2025
Austin, TX

Built and operated a real-time logistics and ordering platform as the primary engineer, responsible for full-stack development, integrations, and production reliability. The company grew to a $5M valuation.

  • Implemented full-stack features using Next.js and Python APIs, shipping changes daily in a high-pressure environment.
  • Designed event-driven workflows on GCP (Cloud Run + Cloud Tasks) to process external events reliably and in order.
  • Built internal admin tools for operations, monitoring, and revenue reporting for partners and restaurant owners.
  • Experimented with Pinecone-based vector search to improve recommendation and search experiences using natural language.
  • Rebuilt critical flows (authentication, onboarding, menu-sync) days before a major event after discovering failures, then debugged issues live with users.
  • Acted as driver and on-the-ground operator to gather feedback, then turned that directly into product and backend changes.
Founder — Bashful.ai
Jan 2023 – Oct 2023
Austin, TX

Built a Photoshop plugin and backend pipeline to integrate AI image generation directly into creative workflows, serving 100+ daily active users.

  • Developed a React/TypeScript plugin UI inside Photoshop’s constrained environment, handling state, previews, and UX details.
  • Built a Python/Flask backend on GCP for Stable Diffusion jobs, including job submission, polling, and returning generated images.
  • Implemented “before/after” flows and visual feedback patterns similar to image editing and transformation tools.
  • Used GSAP and Zustand for responsive animation and interaction, making visual changes feel fast and intuitive.
Customer Success Engineer — Moveworks
Sep 2021 – Dec 2022
Enterprise AI Platform

Delivered and supported AI-powered automations and internal tools for enterprise customers, with a focus on reliability and speed.

  • Built a Python CLI used by 30+ internal users to debug and inspect AI workflows, cutting tasks from hours/days to minutes and saving an estimated $200K annually in engineering and support time.
  • Shipped frequent code and configuration updates for live customer environments under time pressure.
  • Integrated with Slack, Teams, ServiceNow, Active Directory, FreshDesk, and NetSuite to link AI systems to real production data.
  • Used logs, metrics, and dashboards (ELK, Grafana, Airflow) to diagnose issues and improve workflows.
Software Engineering Consultant — CGI
Jan 2020 – Sep 2021
Consulting / Healthcare Clients

Worked on performance-sensitive .NET and SQL Server systems where correctness and throughput were critical.

  • Normalized large SQL datasets and implemented indexing strategies to improve query performance and responsiveness.
  • Fixed a mission-critical queue system that processed items out of order (LIFO), restoring correct FIFO behavior.
  • Collaborated with teams using Azure DevOps, CI/CD, and modern software delivery practices.