A Culture Built for Bold Engineers

When Jerry, a Lead Software Engineer based in Canada, joined DraftKings two and a half years ago, he was drawn to the mix of sports, scale, and complex engineering challenges. He’s building AI tools, solving high-stakes problems, and moving fast with a team that backs bold ideas. Here’s how he’s building game-changing tools and why DraftKings creates a culture where engineers are empowered to innovate.

Why did you want to work at DraftKings? 

I’ve been at DraftKings for about two and a half years now. I remember thinking, "This isn't just another tech company. We’re powering experiences for millions of players in real time, often during major sporting events." That sounded both fun and challenging, which is exactly the kind of environment I enjoy working in.

What does a typical day actually look like? What are your favorite parts about your work? 

Most days kick off with a stand-up and a quick check-in with the team. After that, it’s usually a mix of things. I’ll spend part of the day coding or reviewing projects, and the rest of the time diving into design discussions, writing tech plans, or helping guide decisions across services. As a Tech Lead, I also spend a good amount of time unblocking teammates, giving feedback, and making sure we’re moving in the right direction both technically and as a team.

No two days are really the same. What I enjoy most is working through complex problems with people who care about doing good work. It’s always satisfying when we ship something and see it make a real impact, whether it’s better performance, smoother customer experience, or just a teammate saying it helped with their workflow. 

How has DraftKings helped you thrive in your role? 

What’s helped the most is the way the company encourages growth. There’s a lot of trust here. You’re given space to explore, build, and get better, but there’s also support when you need it. Whether it’s through internal learning resources, knowledge sharing across teams, or just being around really sharp people who are open to helping, you’re constantly learning just by doing the work. I’ve definitely grown a lot here, and I still feel like there’s more to learn every day. 

Before joining DraftKings, I had over 20 years of experience working with Java, but I had never worked with .NET before. Since most of our backend teams use .NET, it was definitely a shift for me. I came in knowing it would be a learning curve, but I was also excited to start fresh. Through a mix of hands-on work, curiosity, and support from my teammates, I’ve gotten really comfortable with it. These days, I work with .NET every day and feel right at home with it.

What’s one recent project you’ve worked on that was special or exciting for you?

One of the most exciting projects I’ve worked on recently involved using AI to help engineers work more efficiently. I built a set of tools that can automatically generate documents across different domains. These documents pull together useful information from code, architecture, and tickets so that engineers can easily find the information they are looking for. 

The idea was to give engineers an AI assistant that actually understands the systems they’re working with, instead of a generic chatbot that gives surface-level help. The best part is seeing it all come together. It’s not just about fancy AI tools, it’s about removing blockers, speeding up understanding, and making it easier for engineers to do great work without spending hours searching or guessing. Creating that efficiency for my team is what made it really rewarding for me.

What makes working at DraftKings different?

One thing that really stands out to me is how open the culture is to trying new technologies. There’s a real sense of trust in the engineering teams. If you find a tool or framework that solves a problem better, you’re encouraged to explore it and bring it into the mix. 

That part really matters to me. When we talk about changing something or adopting a new approach, it’s usually because we’re trying to make things smoother, faster, or more reliable for our players. Even when we’re deep in technical discussions, there’s always a clear line to why it matters. That focus helps us make smarter choices, and it gives our work a little more meaning. 

The culture here feels very collaborative and down-to-earth. People are super friendly and always willing to help out. It’s the kind of place where you can ask questions, throw out ideas, or even challenge something if it doesn’t feel right, and people are open to it. There’s a real sense that we’re all trying to build something great together. Overall, it’s a supportive and respectful environment that makes it easy to do your best work.

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