About Richard Amerman
AI Engineer | Developer | Independent Exploration | Perpetual Scholar | Comfortable with What I Don't Yet Know
Professional Journey
My primary energy is directed toward understanding what genuinely capable AI systems would actually need to look like, and building open-source tools that explore these ideas in practice. I'm building UnaMentis, a voice AI learning platform, along with tooling that emerged from the challenges of doing AI-driven development at scale. After 30+ years navigating the intersection of development, infrastructure, and emerging technologies, I've found the work I believe I was always meant to do.
My journey through technology has been anything but conventional. From serving as a fifer in the US Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, to teaching hang gliding, working as an EMT, and performing as a professional musician, I bring a perspective shaped by embracing radically different challenges throughout my life.
Core Expertise
- AI Systems Thinking: Independent exploration of model architecture, safety constraints, and the structural requirements for genuine comprehension. Early-stage thinking on symbolic-neural integration, continuous learning, and representational grounding.
- Applied AI Engineering: Daily building with Claude Code and multi-agent systems. Governed agentic workflows, voice AI architectures, and AI-assisted development patterns that actually ship to production.
- Software Engineering & Systems: 30+ years across development, analysis, architectural design, and infrastructure. Python, C#, Java for the first half of my career, then Azure, Terraform, Kubernetes, and CI/CD for the second half. Full stack from bare metal to distributed services.
Beyond Technology
When not exploring AI systems or serving as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Ridgefield, I mentor our local FIRST Robotics high school team and sing bass with the Vivace Voices caroling troupe. I'm active in Portland's AI community, attending events regularly and speaking 2-3 times monthly on voice AI, multi-agent systems, and AI architecture, and increasingly sought out as a mentor and voice AI resource. The best solutions often come from those who see technology as just one instrument in life's larger orchestra.
Connect
I'm always interested in discussing AI architecture, safety, multi-agent systems, or what genuine machine comprehension might look like. I welcome connections from anywhere these problems are being worked on, and I'm especially engaged with the communities in Paris and London working on these questions.