About Me

Hello! My name is Avin Zarlez. My pronouns are She/Her or They/Them. I’m a proud mother of two, a board game enthusiast, and an advocate for diversity and inclusion. I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and many of the things I care most about revolve around creativity, community, and the ways people connect with one another.

I enjoy storytelling in all its forms, whether through games, music, technology, conversation, or the small moments people create together. I see food as a form of comfort and connection, whether it’s a familiar favorite or trying something new. I’m vegetarian and aspire toward veganism. I also love creativity as both a personal pursuit and a shared part of life, whether that means exploring museums and live shows, engaging deeply with media and the ideas behind it, or experimenting with my own creative expression and interactive forms of art.

I’m happiest when I’m learning something new, building something meaningful, or spending time with people who inspire me.

For a long time, I defined myself primarily through the work I produced and the projects I shipped. These days, I try to maintain a healthier balance between what I create and who I am outside of that work. My career remains an important part of my life, but it is not the entirety of it.

Blog & Socials

Please visit my blog page for a selection of articles, videos, and code repositories that you might find interesting or useful.

You can also find me on BlueSky, Mastodon, and LinkedIn, where I regularly share thoughts, interesting links, projects, industry discussions, and other topics related to technology, creativity, community, and other things that happen to spark my curiosity.

Professional Background

My career has focused on the intersection of software engineering, developer advocacy, and interactive technology. Across startups, enterprise engineering, and developer relations, I have consistently been drawn to work that helps people build, learn, and create with technology.

I began my career in independent game development, where I learned firsthand how product design, engineering, community, and business all intersect. Since then, I have worked across developer advocacy and software engineering roles, building production systems, creating technical education and demos, and helping developers adopt new platforms and tools.

Throughout that journey, I have remained especially interested in interactive software as both a technical and creative medium. Whether building games, working with enterprise engineering teams, or speaking at conferences and community events, I enjoy making complex technology approachable and useful.

Career History

After graduating from college, I co-founded Yobonja, an independent game studio best known for Blast Monkeys, which became the #1 free Android app in 2011. Working in a small studio environment meant wearing many hats across engineering, design, publishing, and community engagement, and it shaped much of how I approach technology and product development today.

In 2013, I joined Microsoft as a Technical Evangelist, helping developers build on Microsoft platforms through technical guidance, workshops, content creation, and community engagement. Over time, my role evolved toward deeper engineering work, eventually becoming a Senior Software Engineer within Microsoft’s Industrial Solutions Engineering organization. There, I worked directly with strategic customers and partners to design and build production systems across a variety of technologies and industries.

Alongside my work at Yobonja and Microsoft, I also ran PlayPerro, a solo game development venture focused on experimental interactive projects. One of those projects, #DanceTogether, was featured at both IndieCade and the Experimental Gameplay Workshop at the Game Developers Conference.

Since 2024, I have worked at Arm as a Staff Developer Evangelist, where I continue to work closely with developers through technical education, demos, workshops, and ecosystem engagement.

I continue to be most energized by work that combines software engineering with education and community.

Resume

For a role-by-role breakdown of my career, you can visit my resume page or my LinkedIn profile.