Origins
About Heavy Chain Engineering
I spent three years building in the AI-native future so your team doesn't have to learn it the hard way.
Meet Jason Vertrees, PhD
Founder & Principal
I'm Jason Vertrees, PhD. For nearly 20 years, I've led engineering, product, and GTM teams across industries—from scientific computing to running technology at a $1B AUM investment firm, on the operator side of the table. Classical computer science training taught me to see patterns others miss, which helped me recognize the AI shift early.
So for the last three years, I deliberately focused on learning, building, and delivering with AI—real systems, real failure modes, real shipping. Most software leaders couldn't make that bet; they had companies to run, customers to support, and roadmaps to deliver. Heavy Chain is the result of that focused AI-native engineering work, compressed into a delivery system your team can adopt in weeks.
Today I put that work to use for lower middle-market vertical SaaS companies—often PE-backed, always under real delivery pressure. Hands-on engineering and senior judgment, installing practical AI workflows with the quality and architecture to make them stick.
Quick perspective
- 20 years leading engineering, product, sales, and GTM teams.
- Builder with three years shipping AI-native systems in production—not just decks.
- Operator who led technology at a $1B AUM investment firm.
"Family keeps me grounded and focused on building solutions that truly matter."
Top-down strategy
Proven methodology
Whether your team needs AI adoption or engineering performance improvements, I start by understanding your specific challenges and constraints.
- • Assess AI readiness and identify productivity opportunities
- • Establish clear AI adoption goals and success metrics
- • Bridge gaps between business objectives and technical execution
- • Create sustainable change management for AI integration
Bottom-up execution
Hands-on delivery
Then I apply my proven approach that addresses both strategic alignment and hands-on execution to unlock productivity gains that last.
- • Analyze current team skills and AI development readiness
- • Identify technical debt and process bottlenecks limiting performance
- • Implement AI tools and workflows teams actually use
- • Build repeatable practices that scale with organizational growth
Industries
Experience across domains
I've shipped in regulated, data-heavy domains—the same complexity profile as the vertical SaaS companies Heavy Chain serves today.