Marco Lee

Marco Lee

Applied AI Engineer

12+ years taking software to production. Now I help teams ship AI features and automations, and I'm open to senior Applied AI roles and contracts.

Guatemala (UTC-6) · English C1 · Remote

I led engineering for Guatemala.com's media network (5M+ monthly users) until March 2026, built native mobile apps and my own web products, and build AI features and agents in my own products. Since 2026 I work independently, remote and on US hours.

Get in touch

Experience

12+ years of shipping, leading, and owning production systems.

  1. Jun 2020 — Mar 2026

    Technology & Development Coordinator / Tech Lead

    Guatemala.com
    • Scaled multi-brand content platforms to 5M+ monthly users on auto-scaling AWS.
    • Drove the backend migration from monolithic WordPress to headless WordPress + NestJS APIs.
    • Owned ad systems, performance, and backend architecture across the network.
    • Mentored the engineering team and introduced AI-assisted development workflows — fully remote.
    AWSHeadless WordPressNestJSNode.jsTeam Leadership
  2. Sep 2015 — Jun 2020

    Full-Stack Developer

    Guatemala.com
    • Built Laravel REST APIs and data models for multi-brand media properties, with React/JavaScript frontends on top.
    • Shipped web + hybrid mobile products on high-traffic LAMP/WordPress systems at scale.
    • Delivered continuously at media scale for five years.
    LaravelREST APIsMySQLHybrid Mobile
  3. 2018 — Present

    Founder & Product Engineer

    Independent Products

    • Design, build, and operate independent products end to end, from architecture and payments to deployment and maintenance.
    • Built Ring Light Mirror with native iOS and Android versions using an AI-assisted engineering workflow.
    • Shipped GamingLab in 6 languages and agente-ia.dev, a paid course platform about AI agents.
    Next.jsSEOAdSenseApplied AI
  4. Jan 2014 — Sep 2015

    Web Developer

    XYZ Network Inc

    • High-traffic LAMP/WordPress delivery for brands including Star Media.
    • Frontend and backend feature work under production load.
    LAMPWordPressHigh Traffic

Case Study

Architecture, delivery, and team leadership at scale.

Scaling Guatemala.com's platform to 5M+ monthly users (2020–2026)

The challenge

A multi-brand media network running on legacy monolithic WordPress, under heavy and spiky Latin American traffic — with ad revenue directly tied to speed and uptime.

What I did

Led the backend re-architecture to headless WordPress + NestJS APIs on auto-scaling AWS, with Next.js frontends consuming them. Owned ad systems and performance, planned the migration path, and mentored the team while introducing AI-assisted engineering workflows.

The outcome

A modern platform serving 5M+ monthly users, faster pages that protect ad revenue, and a stack a fully remote team ships on with confidence.

Featured Projects

Products I design, build, ship, and operate end to end.

ringlightmirror.com screenshot

ringlightmirror.com

Lighted mirror app with native versions for iOS and Android. Turns your phone into a live mirror with adjustable screen lighting for makeup and touch-ups.

Native iOS & Android, built with AI-assisted engineering.

iOSAndroidNative apps
Live site
agente-ia.dev screenshot

agente-ia.dev

AI agents course platform. Built with Next.js, Turso DB, and Lemon Squeezy for payments.

0→1 paid course platform, built and operated solo.

Next.jsTursoAI
Live site
calcufast.com screenshot

calcufast.com

Suite of fast, SEO-optimized online calculators. Built with Next.js for performance and organic search growth.

SEO-first finance tools for Guatemala & Central America.

Next.jsTypeScriptSEO
Live site
gaminglab.dev screenshot

gaminglab.dev

Browser games portal with 6-language internationalization. Monetized with AdSense and validated for ads.

80+ games in 6 languages, AdSense-approved.

Next.jsi18nAdSense
Live site
singlesbar.net screenshot

singlesbar.net

Website for Single's Bar, Puerto Barrios. Built with Astro and Tailwind CSS for maximum speed.

Real client work — WhatsApp bookings for a live venue.

AstroTailwind
Live site

Skills & Tools

AI-assisted workflows, backed by hands-on product engineering.

Applied AI

AI-assisted engineeringClaude Code · Codex · Gemini CLIAgent workflows

Frontend

ReactNext.jsTypeScriptJavaScriptTailwind CSS

Mobile

Native iOS & AndroidReact NativeIonic

Backend & APIs

LaravelPHPNestJSNode.jsPostgreSQLMySQL

Cloud, CMS & Tooling

WordPress (Headless)AWSDockerVercelGitHub

GitHub Contributions

Consistency compounds — a snapshot of my open activity.

What you get when you hire me

Beyond the stack — how I actually add value.

Architecture ownership
From the first product decision to architecture, implementation, and operations: I own the work beyond the prototype.
Team leadership
Experience leading remote engineering teams serving millions of users, with mentoring and clear communication in English (C1) or Spanish.
AI-assisted delivery
I use coding agents in real product work, including Ring Light Mirror, and have introduced AI-assisted workflows within an engineering team.

Hiring for Applied AI or product engineering?

I'm open to senior roles and contracts, remote and on US hours. Tell me about the team and the problem, in English or Spanish.

Email meOr connect on LinkedIn

I reply within 24 hours.

Based in Guatemala (UTC-6) — full overlap with US time zones.