Alex Main
Welcome. Choose your experience.
Current Focus: AI Engineering
- Agents: agent loops, tool calling, harnesses, benchmark evals (Claude API, Claude Code)
- Infrastructure: Linux, Docker, SSH, a self-hosted Ubuntu server for agent work
- Recent: web frontend for headless Claude Code; custom agent harness with benchmark tests (Harvard CS2680)
- Next: open-source contributions to the Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Side Quests
- KiCad (PCB design), Autodesk Fusion (CAD), robotics, embedded C/C++
Before Software: 12 Years in Lobbying
- Negotiation & coalition-building: I've negotiated with legislators, executives, and opposing interests with high stakes on every side.
- Business & policy judgment: MBA, 2023. I understand what makes technology fundable, regulatable, and deployable, not just buildable.
- Working through ambiguity: I spent a career making progress when the rules, players, and goals were constantly changing.
- People first: I explain complex ideas to non-experts and build trust across very different stakeholders.
Foundations (since January 2026)
- Computer science: Harvard CS50x, CS50P, CS50AI
- Programming: Python, C++, Git, agentic coding
- Math & physics: applied linear algebra, circuit analysis, classical mechanics/electromagnetism
- Electronics: circuit design, bench testing, hardware
Education
- Self-directed engineering study, January 2026–present
- MBA, CSUS, 2023
- BA, Cal Poly Humboldt, 2013
Projects: Coming Soon
I spent twelve years as a corporate lobbyist and earned an MBA along the way, watching technology reshape the world from the policy side. Its pace convinced me not to watch from the sidelines anymore, and I left to study software engineering full time and build real things.
Since January 2026, I’ve focused on fundamentals and first principles: from bare metal to the cloud. I'm AI native to accelerate, not replace, my understanding. Now I’m going deep into agents, harnesses, and orchestration.
After a career spent working with people, they're still at the center of how I think about building. This site documents my journey. I live in Marin County, just north of San Francisco.
Alex Main
Marin County, CA
PENNY
O.A.P.C
Penny is an Organic Autonomous Pest Control (OAPC) System. Strong vs. rats, moles. Weak vs. coyotes. Toss up: deer. *Maintenance: 2 meals/day, belly rubs*