AI, Growth, and Game-Day Impact

When Heena joined DraftKings in 2019, she had just finished grad school and was ready to dive into something big. “I was drawn to the opportunity to work in an exciting industry and build products for millions of customers.”

Starting as a Software Engineer on the financial platform backend team, she helped create a distributed accounting ledger for the Sportsbook launch. From there, she grew into Senior and Lead roles, expanding the accounting platform to support every new vertical since 2019. Her projects have ranged from infrastructure modernization to building a new ledger for promotional currency transactions—each step stretching her technical depth and leadership.

“What I love most about DraftKings is the people and how much the company truly invests in them,” she said. “Every project I’ve taken on has opened doors to new technologies, new ways of thinking, and a deeper understanding of how we can make a real impact for our players.”

Owning Her Part with AI

AI has become a significant part of her workflow, enabling her team to move faster and think more strategically. We utilize DraftCode, an internally built AI-powered code review assistant, to expedite the review of pull requests. Tools like Claude Code and ChatGPT help generate tickets, write clearer documentation, and troubleshoot issues.

“I’ve used AI tools for improving test coverage, enhancing technical plans, and refining documentation,” she said. “I’ve experimented with tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and now Claude Code to see how they can improve both the quality and speed of my work.”  

DraftKings actively encourages innovation through AI through things like providing a suite of AI tools and infrastructure to build applied AI systems that deliver more for our customers, to hosting hackathons and spotlight sessions to share and learn from practical use cases. “It’s not about using AI for the sake of it,” she added. “It’s about finding meaningful ways to make our workflows smarter, faster, and more effective.”

Why She Loves Building Here

Heena loves seeing her work directly benefit our customers. She discusses how her work provides critical support to nearly every vertical, ensuring the systems behind the scenes operate smoothly. Whether it’s removing performance bottlenecks ahead of major sports events or rearchitecting backend systems to make gameplay smoother and transaction histories clearer, the feedback loop is immediate. “Every time a new feature goes live and performs flawlessly under peak conditions, it’s a reminder that what we do truly matters,” Heena said. Knowing that her work on our systems shape how millions of people interact with our products is both motivating and deeply fulfilling.

A Culture of Continuous Learning

Her growth mindset has defined her journey. Heena spent six months on the Architecture team, helping modernize our tech stack from .NET Framework to .NET Core, and regularly attends conferences such as Grace Hopper, QCon, AWS re-invent and Women Impact Tech. 

“DraftKings supports continuous learning through internal mobility, access to learning platforms, and incredible internal sessions like Engineering Spotlight,” she said. “People here genuinely love sharing knowledge. That curiosity keeps us evolving.”

Heena said it best, DraftKings offers the best of both worlds: the energy and pace of a startup with the stability and reach of a global tech company. Engineers here get to solve complex problems while working with smart, talented people who care deeply about what they are building.

If you are passionate about technology, data, and building and shipping things that have real impact, DraftKings is a place where you can learn constantly, grow your career, and do your best work. Good news, we’re hiring on Heena’s team! See if you’d be a good fit on our team.