2022
Production AI before the boom
Joined OneReach.ai in October 2022 and began building conversational AI and orchestration systems at production scale.
Your startup architecture partner
I help early teams find the path before the playbook exists.
My strongest body of work is with founders and lean engineering teams making product, model, cloud, evaluation, and cost decisions while the product itself is still moving.
Through Microsoft for Startups, I see the patterns between a promising demo and a production system across many teams. That pattern recognition is the leverage I bring to your table. You work directly with me, with no sales layer or junior handoff.
2023-24
One-person platform ownership
Owned roadmap, tooling, and architecture for Wind River's Engineering Excellence function before moving into full-stack platform engineering.
Today
Startup architecture at the decision table
Work with founders and lean engineering teams on AI architecture, agent systems, evaluation, and technical direction through Microsoft for Startups.
Also
Founder and operator
Founded Presencia Studio and operate production systems personally, which keeps the advice honest about what happens after launch.
How I work
Founder context, architecture, and execution stay in the same room.
Every engagement produces decisions the technical team can execute without losing the founder's product context. Tools and models are selected after the operating problem is clear.
- 01
Frame the decision
Before choosing a model or a platform: define the business outcome, the constraints, the cost of failure, and what must be true for the initiative to deserve investment.
- 02
Make tradeoffs explicit
Compare viable approaches across quality, latency, cost, security, maintainability, and what the team can realistically operate.
- 03
De-risk with evidence
Use focused prototypes, evaluations, and failure-mode reviews where they resolve an important unknown — not as theater.
- 04
Transfer the capability
Leave the decisions, the reasoning, and the standards with your team, so the work compounds after the engagement ends.
Model and vendor independence
Architecture preserves options while uncertainty is high
Human review where consequences demand it
Evaluation before automation confidence
Ownership transferred to your team
Two practices, one point of view
Advisory is mine. Engineering capacity is Presencia's.
I advise startup teams personally: the decision, the architecture, the sequence. Presencia Studio is the engineering organization I founded to build and operate software and AI systems for businesses.
Running production systems keeps the architecture work grounded in the decisions teams actually live with after launch. When an engagement needs more implementation capacity than advisory provides, Presencia can become relevant — but it is never the default.
Judgment
Yenson Umaña
What should we build, how should we build it, and what needs to be true before we commit?
Engineering capability
Presencia Studio
What is holding the business back, and what system should we build to solve it?
Before we talk
Useful answers, without the sales call.
Do you implement the systems you design?
I use prototypes and technical validation when they reduce a material risk, and I can support an internal team through delivery. The core offer is senior judgment — direction, architecture, and adoption — not open-ended outsourced development.
What kind of company is the best fit?
Startups and scale-ups with real momentum, a founder or CTO close to the decision, a team ready to execute, and an AI initiative consequential enough to shape the next year. If what you need is implementation capacity rather than technical judgment, I will say so early.
How is this different from what Presencia Studio does?
I advise founders and engineering teams personally on decisions and architecture. Presencia Studio is the engineering organization I founded to build and operate systems. They reinforce each other, but an advisory engagement never assumes Presencia does the building.
How does this work alongside your current role?
I accept a limited number of non-conflicting engagements, each subject to a conflict review. Client work is independent and does not imply endorsement by Microsoft, Accenture, or any current or former employer.
Can you work with a distributed or international team?
Yes. I work from Costa Rica with teams globally in English, using a mix of live working sessions and documented asynchronous decisions.
How do you handle confidentiality?
A mutual NDA is available on request. Engagement boundaries, data access, model usage, IP ownership, and retention expectations are agreed before sensitive material is shared.
My independent work uses only public information and information a client explicitly provides for its engagement. No confidential Microsoft, Accenture, or other client information is used or disclosed.
Current independent work is limited to non-conflicting engagements and does not imply endorsement by Microsoft, Accenture, or any current or former employer.