Aaron Hatfield

Aaron Hatfield is a seasoned software engineering leader with over 25 years of experience in building mature software engineering organizations and solutions. Currently serving as the Senior Director of Software Engineering at Travelers since October 2022, he leads engineering strategy for enterprise web platforms with a focus on cloud and Everything as a Service (XaaS). In this role, Aaron is the lead engineer for travelers.com and numerous related enterprise sites utilizing Optimizely DXP, as well as the lead engineer for a 40,000-user employee experience platform powered by Unily. He has been instrumental in modernizing quality engineering practices by implementing automated visual and functional regression tests using Playwright, thereby improving efficiency, reliability, and time-to-market. Additionally, Aaron is responsible for an enterprise design system adopted by over 100 development teams, ensuring consistency and accessibility compliance. He also delivers technical evaluations across development, quality engineering, cloud, SaaS, Martech, and GenAI domains to enhance informed decision-making and strategic planning. His mentorship of software engineering leaders and enhancement of talent acquisition processes have fostered a culture of growth and innovation within the organization.

Prior to his tenure at Travelers, Aaron was the Director of Software Engineering at ServiceTitan from April 2022 to October 2022. In this capacity, he directed software engineering strategy and oversight for FieldRoutes, an AWS cloud-native SaaS platform generating eight figures in annual recurring revenue (ARR). He implemented strategic talent acquisition improvements, contributing to the growth and scalability of the FieldRoutes engineering team. Aaron also mentored and developed software engineering leadership, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

From December 2018 to March 2022, Aaron served as the Director of Software Engineering and Quality Engineering at Appriss Insights, an Equifax Company. He was the software engineering lead for the $1.825 billion acquisition of Appriss Insights in 2021. Aaron led development and quality engineering direction for multiple AWS cloud-native SaaS platforms, producing nine figures in ARR. These platforms included the Intelligence Platform, the nation’s most comprehensive source of incarceration and national criminal data with industry-leading continuous monitoring; the IDS Platform for background screening; and the CDaaS Platform for court case research. He also led quality engineering and site reliability engineers for Appriss Insights, delivering M&A transformations of engineering teams, SDLC maturity, technology stacks, cloud adoption, risk reduction, security controls, and product rationalization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Aaron expanded his organization from seven to twenty-nine team members, effectively managing both managers and individual contributors. He regularly communicated complex technical concepts clearly and concisely, facilitating understanding and collaboration among cross-functional teams and stakeholders, including C-level executives.

Earlier in his career, Aaron held significant roles at Appriss, Lexmark, ExxonMobil, and Motorola. At Appriss, from June 2013 to December 2018, he served as a Software Architect and Senior Software Engineer, leading the design and development of AWS native architectures, achieving five nines of availability for services such as VINE, the nation’s victim notification service, and BuyCrash.com, a vehicle crash report e-commerce platform sold to LexisNexis in 2015. At Lexmark, from May 2005 to June 2013, Aaron was a Senior Software Engineer, leading full-stack web development for Lexmark’s global e-commerce platform and developing the company’s first production mobile app for Android. At ExxonMobil, from August 2002 to April 2005, he served as an Advanced IS Analyst, acting as DevOps lead for a global e-commerce platform using over 1,300 servers and improving deployment accuracy of desktop applications from 73% to 97%. His career began at Motorola, where he was a Software Engineering Intern from January 1999 to August 2000, serving as a test automation engineer and firmware reviewer for automotive electronics with eight-figure lifetime production volume.

Aaron’s educational background includes a Master of Engineering in Computer Engineering and Computer Science from the Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville, where he graduated summa cum laude with a 4.000 GPA. He also earned a Bachelor of Science in the same field from the same institution, graduating summa cum laude with a 3.859 GPA. His areas of interest include software engineering leadership opportunities with an organizational need for comprehensive best practices, mentorship, and culture building. Outside of his professional pursuits, Aaron is a Kentucky Colonel, a Kentucky Governor’s Scholar, an unofficial bourbon connoisseur, a reality TV show vote influencer, and a mild yet rarely predictable prankster.

Aaron Hatfield has held the following positions:

Senior Director, Software Engineering at Travelers (October 2022 – Present)

Director, Software Engineering at ServiceTitan (April 2022 – October 2022)