Sebastian Zangaro
About Sebastian Zangaro
Sebastian Zangaro is an Engineering Manager at Riot Games, where he has contributed to the development of VALORANT and its player experience. He has extensive experience in software engineering, having worked at various companies including HP, DXC Technology, and Quibi, focusing on data pipelines and service architecture.
Current Role at Riot Games
Sebastian Zangaro currently serves as an Engineering Manager at Riot Games, a position he has held since 2022. In this role, he leads engineering efforts to enhance player dynamics and interactions, particularly focusing on the release of VALORANT in China. His responsibilities include overseeing the development of real-time intervention systems and improving player reporting features to enhance the overall player experience.
Previous Experience at Riot Games
Before becoming an Engineering Manager, Zangaro worked as a Staff Data Engineer at Riot Games from 2021 to 2022. During this time, he contributed to the development of in-game infraction trackers and refined service architecture to tackle issues such as stream sniping and smurfing. His work aimed to improve the integrity of gameplay and player interactions.
Professional Background in Software Engineering
Zangaro has extensive experience in software engineering, having worked at several notable companies. His career includes a 14-year tenure at HP as a Software Engineer in HP Storage and later at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where he focused on Virtual Private Cloud solutions. He also held positions at Organizer Inc. and DXC Technology, where he contributed to various software engineering projects.
Education and Certifications
Sebastian Zangaro studied at Universidad Católica del Uruguay 'Dámaso Antonio Larranaga', where he earned a degree as an Informatics Engineer, specializing in Computer and Information Sciences from 1993 to 2001. He furthered his education by obtaining a Certificate in Machine Learning from Cornell University in 2020, enhancing his expertise in data-driven technologies.
Contributions to Data Engineering
Zangaro has made significant contributions to data engineering, particularly during his time at NextVR, where he managed real-time data pipelines using Kafka and Apache Druid. He led the migration from NoSQL to relational databases, improving content management systems for virtual reality experiences. Additionally, he played a key role in establishing data observability across Riot's data teams, enhancing data quality and monitoring.