Earthquake-resistent buildings and serverless banking systems don’t sound like they belong in the same conversation. But for me, the path from structural engineering to cloud computing has always been about one thing: building resilient systems that can handle anything life throws at them.
During a recent interview with the Stack Overflow podcast, I had a great conversation with Ryan Donovan about my unconventional path into software, the role of curiosity in career pivots, and why serverless architecture is such a game-changer for banking. You can listen to the episode or read the transcript here. Below, I share some key takeaways from our conversation.
Engineering From the Ground Up
Before I ever touched an AWS console, I was designing earthquake-resistant buildings. Structural engineering is all about making sure the invisible forces—wind, earthquakes, weight—don’t bring your structure crashing down. And while I had programming classes during undergrad, using finite element analysis to simulate stress and strain on the beams and columns of a building was my “hello world” moment with code as part of my job.
That analytical thinking—breaking a complex structure into smaller, solvable parts—has stayed with me. It just shifted from rebar and concrete to functions and cloud services.
Curiosity Breadcrumbs: How I Found My Way Into Software
After engineering grad school at the University of Michigan and my first structural engineering job, I kept following the trail of curiosity. I explored technical consulting, professional services consulting, startups, and freelance web development before landing at Wired when media was grappling with digital transformation, then moved to Twitter during an era of massive growth and infrastructure change. Each step was a new puzzle: different systems, different scale, but the same thrill of asking, how do we make this run better, faster, safer?
That mindset eventually brought me to Capital One—where the stakes are even higher because the systems we build safeguard people’s financial lives.
Why Serverless in Banking?
Serverless isn’t just a tech buzzword here; it’s a business enabler. At Capital One, our goal is to be 100% serverless. Why? Because less time babysitting servers means more time solving real customer problems.
- Cost transparency: Pay only for what you use. No more “ghost servers” racking up bills in the background.
- Automation: Dashboards, alerts, and automatic teardown keep us from spending weekends chasing runaway costs.
- Focus: Engineers can spend time innovating instead of patching.
Serverless is like renting a car instead of owning one. You don’t have to think about oil changes, tire rotations, or surprise breakdowns—you just pick it up, drive where you need to go, and hand back the keys when you’re done. For your next trip, you get whatever car is available, and off you go again.
Innovating in a Regulated World
Banking is one of the most tightly regulated industries, and for good reason. But that doesn’t mean innovation is off the table. Serverless helps us experiment safely and responsibly.
We can prototype new AI-driven features faster, explore better digital banking experiences, and scale only when the idea works. Guardrails stay in place, but engineers get more freedom to test and learn.
It’s the best of both worlds: rigor plus agility.
Lessons From My Journey
Looking back, there are a few threads that tie everything together:
- Systems thinking translates. Whether it’s buildings or software, complex systems require breaking problems down.
- Curiosity is fuel. Following those “breadcrumbs” from finite element analysis to cloud architecture opened doors I couldn’t have predicted.
- Serverless is about people as much as tech. It frees up engineers to focus on creativity, not maintenance.
Closing Thought
If you’re an engineer or tech leader thinking about your next architecture choice—or your next career leap—ask yourself: Where can I strip away complexity so I can focus on what really matters?
Sometimes that’s choosing serverless. Sometimes it’s choosing a new path entirely. Either way, the payoff is resilience—whether in buildings, banking, or your own career.
And while you’re at it, remember to log off once in a while. Even cloud systems don’t achieve 100% availability, and neither can we.
Kathleen Codes 