About Matt G. Wagner
Fractional CTO & Forward Deployed Engineer for Agentic AI. I build agentic AI systems that take real work off real teams.
Who I Am
I'm Matt G. Wagner, a Forward Deployed Engineer and fractional CTO for agentic AI, based in Lakeland, Florida. Through my veteran-owned company, Red Leg Dev LLC, I embed with AI product teams and SMBs to turn messy real-world workflows into production agents: Claude Code, custom MCP servers, and orchestration operators can trust.
What I do: Forward Deployed Engineering for AI companies (customer-embedded delivery), fractional CTO engagements, agent architecture, MCP development, and hands-on leadership when you need senior judgment without a full-time hire.
Proof: Eighteen years shipping production software, from Fortune 50 to startup co-founder. Active ventures include Esferas.io, IdeaBloom.io, Readerful.com, WriteMyNCOER.com, and Log Cannon. I also built and run AiVersary, the threat-intelligence platform owned by Sittadel. Fifteen years as an Army National Guard officer leading soldiers in emergency response and training.
My Journey
Two careers that have run in parallel since 2011, and a habit of starting companies.
Software Engineering
Started as a web applications developer at JPMorganChase in 2008, then AutoLoop, DealerTrack, CertiPay, MercuryWorks, and InContext Solutions. Red Leg Dev since 2018. Most of that work was .NET, cloud architecture, and distributed systems; most of it now is agents.
Military Service
Field Artillery officer in the Florida Army National Guard since 2011. Commanded an M777A2 battery and a HIMARS battalion headquarters battery, and led coordination through five major hurricanes.
Entrepreneurship
Founded or co-founded 9 SaaS products. Some are still running: Esferas, IdeaBloom, Readerful, WriteMyNCOER, Overlap. Some ran their course: JobGuruAI, WOTC Genius. Each one taught me what a product costs after launch day.
Hobbies
In my free time, which seems to be less and less these days, I can probably be found reading somewhere around the house on my Kindle, crushing a game of wiffleball with the kids in the backyard, going for a run, or biking on local trails.
Values & Approach
- 01
Attention to Detail
Excellence is in the details. Whether I'm writing code or leading a team, I focus on getting the small things right, because they decide the end result.
- 02
Continuous Learning
Technology moves fast and I move with it. I regularly try new tools and methods so the work I deliver keeps getting better.
- 03
Leadership & Mentorship
The military taught me to value strong leadership and team development. I mentor developers and share what I know so the whole team gets stronger.