Will Yi

Securing AI infrastructure. Leading with intent.
Always learning by doing.
Engineering Manager at Cisco.

SEATTLE, WA

Endlessly curious.
Selectively rigorous.
Always securing.

18+
Years in Tech
10+
Years Leadership
Orchestrator
Leadership Style

Engineering Manager | AI, Cloud & Infrastructure Security

I am an Engineering Manager at Cisco based in the Greater Seattle Area, specializing in building secure, intelligent infrastructure and services. With a deep foundation in product and cloud security, I focus on architecting resilient systems, implementing robust AI security frameworks, and empowering engineering teams to deliver high-impact, secure-by-default outcomes.

My Approach

My leadership is grounded in pragmatism: I prioritize mentorship over directives and deliberate execution over noise, always maintaining a strict balance between rapid innovation and hardening production infrastructure. I focus on embedding secure-by-default principles into the development lifecycle, actively integrating secure agentic AI workflows into daily operations to optimize team velocity. For me, practice is where knowledge becomes skill—whether threat modeling a cloud pipeline or refining engineering strategies, true expertise is forged through execution.

Beyond the Architecture

When I'm not securing infrastructure or optimizing workflows, you can find me logging miles on long-distance runs, playing guitar, or out on the golf course and badminton courts.

Practice is where knowledge becomes skill. That applies to code, leadership, and everything else.

Infrastructure Security AI Security Governance Platform Security Agentic AI Development Security Architecture Design

Software Engineering Manager

Cisco Systems Inc.
2022 — PRESENT

Leading a full-stack security and software development team focused on Secure Intelligent Services across Meraki Dashboard and Cisco Infrastructure. The team owns AI-RRM security hardening, guardrail integration, AI-driven security config recommendations, and secure Agentic AI - ensuring robust threat mitigation and safety are built directly into AI-driven network operations.

Beyond shipping secure code, I'm integrating AI security and threat modeling workflows into how the team develops software—making secure-by-design AI development a first-class part of the engineering process, not just an afterthought.

Infrastructure Security AI Security Agentic AI Security Architecture People Leadership and Talent Management

Engineering Manager | Security Architect

WatchGuard Technologies Inc.
2011 — 2022

Led cross-functional teams through the infrastructure transition from on-prem to AWS cloud architecture, including the WatchGuard Cloud launch. Enforced Cloud Security and secure SaaS delivery, cutting vulnerability risk and customer-reported issues by 60%.

Scaled automated security linting and policy enforcement using Python, embedding compliance directly into distributed APIs, UIs, and CI/CD pipelines. Governed security architecture for 10+ major releases end-to-end, maintaining zero deployment delays while achieving a 7x growth in automated vulnerability and risk coverage.

AWS Security Cloud Architecture Python CI/CD MSSP Product Security

Over 18 years in software and security engineering across network, cloud infrastructure, application, system, and AI security.

● Active AI · Productivity

Context Infrastructure

A personal AI workspace system — rules, memory, skills, and agent orchestration patterns that turn Claude into a persistent, context-rich second brain.

● Production ML · Networking

AI-RRM

AI-powered Radio Resource Management system for Cisco wireless networks. Applies reinforcement learning to optimize spectrum allocation and reduce interference at scale.

● This Site Astro · Design

wiyi.ai

This site. Built with Astro, Tailwind v4, and React. Designed as a living portfolio — the code and design are intentional artifacts, not an afterthought.

● Active AI · Engineering

AI Dev Workflows

A collection of agentic development workflows integrating Claude Code, parallel subagents, and structured memory into the software engineering process.

● In Progress Python · Imaging

Astrophoto Pipeline

Automated image stacking, calibration, and post-processing pipeline for deep-sky astrophotography. Built to handle raw sensor data from long-exposure sessions.

● Exploring Side Projects

Open to Build

Actively looking for interesting side projects and business opportunities — especially at the intersection of AI tooling, productivity, and knowledge management.

Half marathon finisher. Always training further.

Acoustic and electric. Finding rhythm in the noise.

Exploring the world with family — and documenting every moment along the way.

Open to great opportunities
and interesting conversations.

I'm currently exploring senior engineering leadership roles in Security Engineering and AI Security opportunities, and ambitious side projects. If you're building something that matters, or in the need to secure anything, let's talk.

Senior EM / Director Roles AI Security & Consulting Side Project Collaboration Security Advisory