About
Lee Chapman · DevOps Lead · DataKnifeAI
Intro
I’m a DevOps Lead at Solidigm (December 2021–Present), with earlier roles at Intel spanning validation, software engineering, and DevOps. I build and operate Kubernetes platforms, CI/CD, and infrastructure-as-code: Node.js backends for internal engineering tools, production operators, CSI storage, and GitOps, so teams can ship reliably without drama.
Outside the day job I run DataKnifeAI: open infrastructure, agent pipelines, and tools meant to stay maintainable. Sacramento-based; remote-friendly.
Experience highlights
- DevOps Lead · Solidigm · Rancho Cordova, CA · Dec 2021 – Present Lead DevOps for engineering teams; Kubernetes operators, Terraform/GitOps CI/CD, Node.js test-platform backends, observability, and incident response.
- DevOps Engineer · Intel · Folsom, CA · Apr 2020 – Dec 2021 Automated deployment for storage and semiconductor environments with Python, Go, and Terraform.
- Software Engineer · Intel · Folsom, CA · May 2019 – Apr 2020 Web applications and tooling for test automation and internal platforms.
- Validation Engineer · Intel · Folsom, CA · Jan 2018 – May 2019 Test automation frameworks for storage devices; root-cause analysis on firmware and storage systems.
- Earlier · Kelly Services (Intel) · Adecco (HPE) · 2011 – 2018 Firmware and storage validation, automated test frameworks, and large-scale R&D test environments.
Skills
- Platform: Kubernetes (RKE2, Rancher), Docker, Helm, GitOps (Fleet), Terraform, Ansible
- Operators & storage: RabbitMQ, Redis, CloudNativePG / Postgres, MongoDB, GitHub ARC; CSI / TrueNAS NFS
- Languages: Python, Go, Rust, Bash, PowerShell, Node.js, Java; HTML/CSS/JS, Angular
- CI/CD & cloud: GitLab CI (image builds), GitHub Actions; Azure, GCP; Proxmox, VMware, Hyper-V
- Observability: DataDog, New Relic, Splunk, ELK, Grafana
- AI tooling: Cursor, GitHub Copilot; MCP servers; GPU workloads on Kubernetes (CUDA, Device Plugin)
Education
- Bachelor of Science, Electronics & Communications Engineering Technology ITT Technical Institute, Rancho Cordova · 2010–2012
- Associate of Science, Computer & Electronics Engineering Technology ITT Technical Institute, Rancho Cordova · 2008–2010
DataKnifeAI / open work
Public work is listed on the Projects page. Highlights include pulseblade (Rust infrastructure monitor: collectors, hub, Postgres journal, MCP), model serving on real hardware via enodios (Hermes Agent + vLLM) and freya (GPU workloads on Kubernetes), Proxmox → RKE2/Rancher GitOps (rancher-deploy), TrueNAS CSI upstream engagement, and agent-pipeline experiments aimed at boring, operable automation.
Personal
Family comes first, and I keep a real work-life balance. I take priorities, timelines, and the weight of the work seriously, and I’m clear on what matters most. I’m dependable at home and on the job. There will be good stretches and hard ones; stressing out helps nobody. Better to stay clear-headed, read the room, and plot the next step. People set the direction; what runs should stay boring and reliable.
Interests / Outside work
I like anime and gaming. Favorites: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Titanfall 2. Outside of that, the hobby is learning, whatever’s useful next. Right now that means using AI to solve problems; DataKnifeAI is that work.
Links
Contact via LinkedIn only. No phone or email on this site.