Rajat Shah

Senior Software Engineer · Tech Lead

Building AI-driven, scalable systems at Optum (UnitedHealth Group)

About

Hi, I'm Raj. I'm a Senior Software Engineer & Technical Lead with 9+ years of experience building AI-driven, scalable systems in healthcare. Currently, I work at Optum (UnitedHealth Group), where I lead the development of AI-powered healthcare solutions.

I have a proven record leading LLM integrations, high-impact platform modernization, and multi-million-dollar efficiency initiatives across applications serving tens of millions of users.

I'm passionate about solving complex technical challenges and building systems that make a meaningful impact. I'm currently seeking senior and staff engineering roles where I can leverage my experience in backend development and AI.

Backend EngineeringAI/MLDistributed SystemsMicroservicesData PipelinesTech Leadership

Experience

Senior Software Engineer / Tech Lead

Optum (UnitedHealth Group)

Oct 2021 — Present · San Francisco

  • Led design and integration of an LLM-powered claims insights system leveraging OpenAI GPT, delivering personalized cost and claim intelligence for millions of members, reducing inquiries by 20%+
  • Directed Stripe-integrated payments modernization powering 80% of MyUHC traffic, saving $100M+ per year in third-party billing fees
  • Architected fine-grained authorization framework improving login latency by 40% and boosting developer efficiency by $250K annually

Senior Software Engineer

Rally Health (acquired by Optum)

Mar 2017 — Oct 2021 · San Francisco

  • Led a team of 5 engineers to deliver new partner integrations 2× faster, helping secure a $3M enterprise service contract
  • Redesigned client onboarding service (Scala, Mongo, Kubernetes), cutting infrastructure costs by $1M annually
  • Managed migration of 14+ microservices to modern frameworks, improving performance and maintainability by 20%

Early Technical Experience

UC San Diego & Rally Health

2014 — 2016 · San Diego & San Francisco

  • Built a real-time data dashboard using Angular, Scala, and Play, saving 2,000+ hours annually for customer service teams
  • Developed an interactive online learning system with JavaScript, Node.js, and Backbone, improving learning outcomes by 40%
  • Taught Object-Oriented Programming (Java) to 80+ students, improving assignment completion and conceptual mastery

Resources

Notes and explainers I've put together while studying AI and computer science.

AI Papers

AI Courses

Coming soon

DSA

Coming soon