RenderATL Speaker
150+ live attendees
Talk focused on senior-level execution and team uplift through Becoming a Coding Kage: The Senior's Path.
Watch the talkEXECUTE ⚔️
Sovereign • Shadow Dominion
DeVonta JohnsonShips clarity at scale
I build AI-backed engineering systems that ship fast, stay governable, and keep leaders clear on what is actually happening.
Sovereign AI Builder
Sovereign execution for product and platform teams.
Faye is named in honor of my late aunt, Glenda Faye McPhail.
Open Faye RepositoryBuilding cool shit with AISovereign mode activeShip fast, stay sharp
For founders, hiring managers, and technical leaders who need staff-level ownership with plain-language communication.
Proof, Not Promises
High-signal evidence for hiring teams and founders evaluating execution readiness.
Delivery Tenure
10+ years shipping
Led product and platform work across startups, education, and enterprise.
View experienceOpen Build Record
Public repo trail
Full GitHub profile with active projects, experiments, and shipped systems.
Open Full GitHubSovereign Arsenal
Real systems, real outcomes. Switch modes to read each build through a sovereign or civilian lens.
Technical execution details across real shipped systems.
Full GitHub ProfileThe Shadow Dominion
A production multi-agent Nexus with orchestration, agent memory, and automated reporting.
Open project linkShadow Gate
Gamified accountability layer that maps commits to XP, ranks, streaks, and policy rules.
Open project linkSeven Shadow System
Open-source governance baseline for AI-influenced pull request review quality with deterministic controls to detect, block, and audit low-trust AI review patterns.
Shadow doctrine: Deterministic guard layer active for low-trust AI review patterns.
Faye
Always-on voice layer for OpenClaw with wake-word activation and local speech response.
Faye is named in honor of my late aunt, Glenda Faye McPhail.
Open project linkGrimoire
Spaced repetition study platform with retrieval-practice workflows and chapter-based filtering.
Open project linkSyncLink
Cross-platform media synchronization using browser extension capture and cloud-side data handling.
Open project linkThe Armory
Terminal-focused utilities for vault workflows, diagnostics, backups, and system observability.
Open project linkBingo Book
Anime ranking platform with profile sharing, custom grading, and social comparison workflows.
Open project linkShadow Dojo
Structured 12-week curriculum for multi-agent orchestration and autonomous engineering practices.
Open project linkFocused Impact
Senior-level outcomes across product, platform, leadership, and public speaking.
This is the track record behind the claims.
Peer Supply
Senior Software Engineer
Client win
Infrastructure reset that unlocked first major client contract
Led migration from Neo4j to PostgreSQL, cutting recurring infra cost and reducing key query latency from seconds to milliseconds.
Tools and domains:
ReactNext.jsPrismaNestJSPostgreSQL
Dayslice
Senior Software Engineer
+50% bookings
Scheduling capability drove measurable booking growth
Built a real-time scheduling workflow with Google Calendar integration that improved user throughput and operational reliability.
Tools and domains:
TypeScriptSvelteNestJSSQL
RenderATL 2023
Conference Speaker
150+ attendees
Career and leadership talk for engineers scaling past senior
Delivered Becoming a Coding Kage: The Senior's Path, a practical framework for engineering growth, influence, and team uplift.
Watch the RenderATL talkTools and domains:
LeadershipCommunicationMentorship
Instruction + Team Enablement
Lead Instructor and Mentor
Top ratings
High-impact teaching translated into better team execution
Led live coding instruction for 50+ students and designed advanced curriculum while coaching teams to ship stronger final projects.
Tools and domains:
Curriculum DesignTeam CoachingJavaScriptReact
Field Proof
Validation from founders, engineering leaders, and collaborators.
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“It's often not easy to find an engineer who is both well-rounded beyond engineering but also deeply talented as an engineer himself, but DeVonta is definitely one of them.”
IA
Ishita Arora
CEO at Dayslice
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“DeVonta had a real talent for understanding the needs of our customers and translating them into effective solutions. Beyond his technical skills, he was a great person to have on the team — always positive and a great team player.”
JZ
Jeremy Zaborowski
Head of Engineering at SEEN
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“He is a force multiplier — someone who can increase the output of a team with his unique blend of soft skills and earned experience. He listens & provides support, motivates & encourages, and delivers on his stated goals.”
DM
Dan Minkevitch
Technical Staff at eBay
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“What stood out most was his combination of technical expertise and thoughtful leadership. He created a culture of quality and continuous improvement, regularly asking for feedback to make the whole team stronger.”
KP
Kolden Prue
Software Engineer at Peer Supply
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“DeVonta is an excellent problem solver, a pragmatic engineer, and makes others around him better. He clearly demonstrated how to operate well at an early stage startup and was an absolutely joy to work with.”
CG
Corey Griggs
CTO at Peer Supply
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“DeVonta is one of the best full-stack software engineers I have had the pleasure of working with. I could always depend on DeVonta to do whatever it took to complete projects on schedule.”
EC
Earnest Chestnut Jr.
Senior Software Engineer
Featured Battle Logs
Ideas for teams shipping serious software, with civilian context near every technical claim.
Sovereign Contact
Need senior execution with clear communication?
I help teams make hard technical bets, ship them fast, and explain tradeoffs in plain language to leadership.
Less guesswork, better delivery, and cleaner decisions for your team.
Email
djohnson@djws.io
GitHub
Public portfolio and repos
RenderATL
Conference talk proof
LinkedIn
Direct collaboration channel
Start the conversation
Share goals, constraints, and timeline. I will reply with a practical path forward.