About
I'm Damian Kao. I build the software that runs a small custom manufacturer: the systems behind quoting, production planning, cost, and the customer-facing side of the business.
I studied mechanical engineering at the University of Houston, but most of what I do now is systems building: a full-stack operations platform that I design, write, and deploy inside a live company. Backend services and a pricing-and-production engine, a database, the internal tools the team uses every day, a customer portal, and the AI pieces layered into them. I'm not observing manufacturing from the outside. I'm building inside a working operation, where the constraints are real and the results have to hold up.
Why this site exists
Most of what's written about this kind of software assumes resources a small manufacturer doesn't have: a team, a budget, time. I write to close that gap a little: to document the methodology as I build it, show the projects I'm in the middle of, and share the things I'm learning, including what doesn't work. If it's useful to someone else building inside a small operation, that's the point. The longer version of that, what I am ultimately trying to make possible, hasits own page.
What I'm interested in
How good software changes what a small team is capable of: pricing and production engines that stay correct as the inputs move, AI used with real guardrails rather than for show, and the unglamorous data work that has to happen first. Mostly I care about building systems careful enough that non-technical people will actually use them.
Get in touch
I'm always glad to compare notes with other practitioners. You can find me here:
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Damian Kao?
- A systems builder who designs, writes, and runs the full-stack operations software for a small custom manufacturer: a pricing-and-production engine, quoting, factory costing, sales, an agentic layer, and a customer portal.
- What does Damian Kao write about?
- How AI and automation realistically fit a small manufacturing operation: the methodology, the implementation, what breaks, and the results, documented in the open while it is being built.
- What is Damian Kao's background?
- Mechanical engineering at the University of Houston, now focused on systems building: a full-stack operations platform he designs, writes, and deploys inside a live company.