# Brian Smitches

![Brian Smitches](/resources/cognition/portraits/brian-smitches.webp)

Lead Partner Deployed Engineer at Cognition; ex-Windsurf first partner engineer, ex-AWS public sector SA  
Cognition  
Austin, Texas, United States

## At Cognition

- Role: Lead Partner Deployed Engineer (Engineering)
- Joined: Mar 2025
- How they joined: With Windsurf (https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/acquisitions/windsurf)
- Before Windsurf: Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Overlapped before Cognition with other Cognition people at: Codeium (Windsurf); Amazon (https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/worked-together)

## Identity
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitches
- GitHub: https://github.com/bsmitches
- Domain: cognition.ai

## Notes
- At Cognition he leads Partner Deployed Engineering focused on the GSI, ISV and CSP partner ecosystem around Devin and Windsurf, per his AWS blog author bio. (https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/migration-and-modernization/reimagine-mainframe-workloads-with-a-highly-automated-workflow-using-aws-transform-and-devin/)
- Co-wrote the AWS blog 'Reimagine mainframe workloads with a highly automated workflow using AWS Transform and Devin' with Cognition colleague James Scarr: AWS Transform recovers COBOL business rules and Devin builds the modernized code. (https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/migration-and-modernization/reimagine-mainframe-workloads-with-a-highly-automated-workflow-using-aws-transform-and-devin/)
- Moved to Cognition in August 2025 as Lead Partner Deployed Engineer after Cognition acquired Windsurf (July 2025); his Windsurf role (Lead, Partner Deployed Engineer) ran Mar-Aug 2025. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitches)
- Joined Codeium | Windsurf in March 2025 as its first Partner Deployed Engineer; in his words: "In this role, I will be the primary technologist on the team building out Codeium's partner channel." (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_windsurf-editor-by-codeium-activity-7307435132057989120-P0eU)
- Current role is Lead Partner Deployed Engineer at Cognition. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitches)
- Feb 2026 post: "The autonomous AI Software Engineer is the highest-leverage resource that our GSI partners + Enterprise customers are capitalizing on to do work at scale" — his messaging shifted from Windsurf IDE to Devin as the lead product. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_reasoning-agents-doing-computer-work-the-activity-7432134704994156544-OhqP)
- Contributes to the Cognition-Partner-Workshops GitHub org (100+ repos), which hosts partner workshop codebases (COBOL carddemo, Spring PetClinic, TraderX 'Fork of TraderX for Devin demos', SAS-to-Snowflake, legacy COBOL-to-Java labs) created from Jan 2026. (https://github.com/Cognition-Partner-Workshops)
- Koniag Government Services lunch-and-learn bio: spent 4.5 years at AWS as a Cloud Solutions Architect on the public sector team working with Federal Partners; at Windsurf works with Professional Services, Channel and Technology Partners. Co-presented with Jett Hollister. (https://www.koniag-gs.com/events/accelerate-and-improve-your-software-development-lifecycle-and-ai/)
- GitHub bsmitches (17 public repos) includes a fork of Windsurf's onboarding sample 'windsurf-walkthrough', 'devin-marketplace' (Sep 2026), 'cal.com-infrastructure' (AWS CDK for Cal.com Postgres), 'billable-hours-tracker', a COBOL 'aws-mainframe-modernization-carddemo' fork, and a personal site repo 'smitch.es' (Apr 2026). Mostly demo/workshop code rather than original OSS libraries. (https://github.com/bsmitches)
- Speaker (Cognition) on Checkmarx's 'Vibe Safe: Embedding Agentic AppSec into Windsurf' webinar with Eran Kinsbruner and Frank Emery, held March 19, 2026. (https://checkmarx.com/vibe-safe-embedding-agentic-appsec-into-windsurf/)
- Co-authored 'Software Development with Windsurf x Aikido' with Jin Wong (Partner Deployed Engineer at Windsurf) and Aikido's Tarak Bach Hamba, bylined as Head of Partner Deployed Engineering at Windsurf. (https://www.aikido.dev/blog/security-ai-development-windsurf-aikido)
- Panelist ('Deployed Engineer, Global Partnerships at Windsurf') on Windsurf for Government Series 2 with Achal Amin and Catherine Clinch, covering FedRAMP/hybrid Windsurf and a COBOL modernization demo. (https://windsurf.com/events/windsurf_for_government_series_2)
- Guest on Codacy's 'AI Giants' podcast first live interview with CEO Jaime Jorge: 'Brian Smitches (Windsurf): Staying Secure with Agentic Software Development' (July 11, 2025 live session). (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_ai-giants-the-rise-of-windsurf-activity-7344505823118692352-Tgbh)
- Posted on FedRAMP High / DoD IL4 for Codeium: "Achieving FedRAMP High and DoD Impact Level 4 authorization allows a new segment of users working in regulated environments to be able to realize value from AI Coding Assistants with Codeium" — continuity with his AWS federal background. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_this-is-a-big-announcement-as-the-government-activity-7307437613806690305-TVZz)
- AWS career: Associate Solutions Architect (2020-2021) then Solutions Architect (2021-2025) at Amazon Web Services; author bios describe a specialty in Infrastructure as Code, AWS Amplify and the AWS CDK. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitches)
- Public headline says "Partnerships + Engineering @ Cognition". (https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitches)
- Commented on the AWS Newsroom post announcing Cognition and AWS's multi-year agreement (2026). (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aws-newsroom_cognition-and-aws-have-signed-a-multi-year-activity-7505656732807950336-c6Ym)
- On Windsurf's stack (May 2025): "We manage our infrastructure to host custom models, integrate with 3P frontier models, and built an IDE with a flow tracking system that can derive your next intent to make more relevant suggestions." (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_windsurf-is-innovating-across-the-full-stack-activity-7328930315945541633-G5n3)
- A former AWS colleague (Amanda Smith) posted a farewell in March 2025: "Brian Smitches you will be sorely missed, but I am so proud of all you've accomplished! Onto the next adventure my friend." — timed with his move from AWS to Windsurf. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amandasmith12_the-best-of-the-best-brian-smitches-you-activity-7305204777557127168-kZ-e)
- AWS Mobile blog thought-leadership post co-authored with Nick Kniveton and Pat Wilson (Oct 16, 2023) on AppSync/Lambda/S3; also 'Query heterogeneous data sources through AWS AppSync GraphQL APIs'. (https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/mobile/query-heterogeneous-data-sources-through-aws-appsync-graphql-apis/)
- AWS blog: 'Create a Multi-Region Python Package Publishing Pipeline with AWS CDK and CodePipeline' co-authored with Andrew Chen (Nov 3, 2022). (https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/devops/create-a-multi-region-python-package-publishing-pipeline-with-aws-cdk-and-codepipeline/)
- Wrote a partner contribution for TMAP ('Engineering at high velocity'), bylined Brian Smitches, Global Partnerships at Windsurf. (https://www.tmap.net/article/engineering-at-high-velocity/)
- Earned the AWS Certified AI Practitioner (Early Adopter) credential in December 2024, months before joining Windsurf. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_aws-certified-ai-practitioner-early-adopter-activity-7273070546861330432-nkk_)
- Previous roles include Lead Partner Deployed Engineer at Cognition; Lead, Partner Deployed Engineer at Windsurf; Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS); Associate Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS); Texas Homeless Network at Texas Homeless Network; Software Developer Intern at Flipstone Technology Partners, Inc.; Application Developer Intern at Valero Energy Corporation; Real Estate Agent at Weichert, Realtors - Barton Harris & Company. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitches)
- Pre-AWS: Software Developer Intern at Flipstone Technology Partners, Application Developer Intern at Valero Energy, a role at Texas Homeless Network (2019-2020), and earlier a real estate agent role at Weichert Realtors - Barton Harris & Company. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitches)
- Location is Austin, Texas, United States. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitches)

## Experience
- Lead Partner Deployed Engineer at Cognition (Aug 2025 - Present)
- Lead, Partner Deployed Engineer at Windsurf (Mar 2025 - Aug 2025)
- Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS) (Dec 2021 - Mar 2025): Supported Federal System Integrator Partners with pre-sales Solution Architecture advisory. Represented AWS + the Federal/Public Sector x Partner ecosystem at conferences (National 8(a) Conference, AWS DC Summit, GEOINT, re:Invent) and webinars.

Developed tools and prototypes for Amazonians and customers using internal build systems and open source frameworks. 

Mentored 5 peers through their early career journey.
- Associate Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS) (Aug 2020 - Dec 2021)
- Texas Homeless Network at Texas Homeless Network (Nov 2019 - May 2020): Working to develop in-house solution to replace vendor's expensive software solution for annual homeless population census. End product will support submitting and aggregating surveys from volunteers and administrative functionality needed for monitoring system. My role uses Flask for APIs, JWT for authentication, and Ionic/Angular for mobile app/front end. I am assisting capstone project team members in building Aurora database, CodePipeline and GitHub Webhooks for CD, and the admin dashboard web app using Flask, Bootstrap (and custom CSS), and JavaScript/jQuery.
- Software Developer Intern at Flipstone Technology Partners, Inc. (Aug 2018 - Oct 2018): Learned basics of the functional programming language Haskell and the benefits of static typing and lazy evaluation. Learned about the Software Development Life Cycle in the context of a large scale project. Gained insights on industry practices on Agile software development, Git version control, continuous integration, testing, Docker, sprints and Scrum Board tools.
- Application Developer Intern at Valero Energy Corporation (May 2018 - Aug 2018): Led an integration development solution to receive trade activity data from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)
- Real Estate Agent at Weichert, Realtors - Barton Harris & Company (Jul 2015 - Jul 2017)

## Education
- Texas McCombs School of Business - Master of Science - MS, Information Technology and Management - (Jan 2019 - Dec 2020)
- The University of Texas at Austin - Bachelor’s Degree, Management Information Systems, General - (Jan 2015 - Dec 2018)

## Sources
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitches
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_windsurf-editor-by-codeium-activity-7307435132057989120-P0eU
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_ai-giants-the-rise-of-windsurf-activity-7344505823118692352-Tgbh
- https://api.github.com/orgs/Cognition-Partner-Workshops/repos?per_page=100
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_aws-certified-ai-practitioner-early-adopter-activity-7273070546861330432-nkk_
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aws-newsroom_cognition-and-aws-have-signed-a-multi-year-activity-7505656732807950336-c6Ym
- https://www.aikido.dev/blog/security-ai-development-windsurf-aikido
- https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/machine-learning/category/learning-levels/page/17/
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_this-is-a-big-announcement-as-the-government-activity-7307437613806690305-TVZz
- https://windsurf.com/events/windsurf_for_government_series_2
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_cognition-partners-with-sonar-to-help-windsurf-activity-7387169557427367936-ipnu
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_reasoning-agents-doing-computer-work-the-activity-7432134704994156544-OhqP
- https://api.github.com/users/bsmitches/repos?per_page=100
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_windsurf-is-innovating-across-the-full-stack-activity-7328930315945541633-G5n3
- https://www.koniag-gs.com/events/accelerate-and-improve-your-software-development-lifecycle-and-ai/
- https://www.tmap.net/article/engineering-at-high-velocity/
- https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/devops/create-a-multi-region-python-package-publishing-pipeline-with-aws-cdk-and-codepipeline/
- https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/migration-and-modernization/reimagine-mainframe-workloads-with-a-highly-automated-workflow-using-aws-transform-and-devin/
- https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/mobile/query-heterogeneous-data-sources-through-aws-appsync-graphql-apis/
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amandasmith12_the-best-of-the-best-brian-smitches-you-activity-7305204777557127168-kZ-e
- https://checkmarx.com/vibe-safe-embedding-agentic-appsec-into-windsurf/
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_devin-your-favorite-mongodb-ai-engineer-activity-7511112870500376577-HKJI
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_go-crush-it-sumit-shatwara-activity-7493760280653426688-ciZS
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_devin-is-officially-everywhere-doing-everything-activity-7468113576214454272-Ls8g
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/smitches_windsurfs-near-term-mission-is-simple-activity-7315431245000122368-5bkt
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxXzq3yImmc
- https://github.com/Cognition-Partner-Workshops
- https://github.com/bsmitches


Researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-04. Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people/brian-smitches · Everyone at Cognition: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people